By Brandon Rosado for Political Cortadito
Florida House District 120 — which encompasses the southern part of Miami-Dade, all of the Florida Keys and the Everglades — is a major flashpoint of the global climate emergency. The southernmost district is plagued by poor water quality and threatened existentially by sea-level rise while emitting carbon dioxide at an exorbitant rate.
It is also up for grabs Nov. 3.
The Democratic candidate for the seat, Clint Barras, has accordingly thrust the climate emergency into the forefront of his campaign, focusing on what he would do to address it if elected, but interestingly enough, so has his opponent Jim Mooney, a Republican, which is what drew me into this race, naturally (because we all know of the Republican prowess on the issue of
the environment).
Read related: Legislators let clock run on Everglades — and ignore our vote
Let’s start with Mr. Barras, the vice-president of a digital marketing agency and former member of the Keys Sanctuary Advisory Council for 12 years, during which he served as chairman. He told me that he’s “not a scientist” — which I could have told him — but he knows that we need to “turn the ship around” when it comes to the environment. Cue his 4-point plan to address the climate emergency, which includes plans to establish a Carbon Emissions and Impact Panel have Florida produce 100% clean energy by 2050, establish a natural carbon sequestration system (namely by expanding native mangroves), and reduce Florida’s Carbon Footprint. Barras ran uncontested in the Democratic primary.
In the other corner, Jim Mooney was born, raised, and is still living in the Florida Keys. He has a long record of public service, having served two terms as the mayor of Islamorada, after serving on the city council and on the board of a variety of different organizations. He stood out to me because he is a Republican politician (in Florida, no less) that seemed to accept the reality of climate change, willing to address the problem through legislation — seemed (but more on that in a second).
Mooney narrowly edged out Republican sweetheart and self-proclaimed “#TrumpGirl” Rhonda Rebman Lopez in the August primary — by exactly 1.1%, scoring 35.4% of the vote to her 34.3%. Rebman Lopez outraised the Mooney by a comfortable margin, but he was able to bag a couple of key endorsements that won the primary for him, including one
from current District 120 State Rep. Holly Merrill Raschien.
Read related: Daniella Levine Cava defends Everglades — and democracy
Raschien, who has served as the district’s rep since 2012, is now being termed out, and has selected Mr. Mooney to be her successor which makes sense because Mooney has gone on record saying things like “we’ll carry forward what Holly’s done, improve on what Holly’s done…”
There’s only one problem with this fairy-tale setting, however: If you knew what Holly has done with regards to the environment, you’d know why las malas lenguas call her Ms. Big Sugar.
And it appears that Jimmy will keep his word with respect to this, because before even taking office, he is already following in Raschien’s footsteps: Aside from refusing to fill out VoteWater’s Clean Water Pledge, he has taken $4.5k in campaign contributions from the sugar industry, including major U.S. Sugar lobbyists Ballard Partners and U.S. Sugar law firm GrayRobinson.
It seems that my faith in Jim Mooney was misplaced on a more rudimentary level as well: He may not be a climate denier, but what he is isn’t much of a step higher. Here’s Mooney at the 11th annual Regional Climate Leadership Summit: “Look, the Earth has been going through climate change long before we ever walked on it, and we just happen to be here to witness it.”
While technically true, that kind of sentiment ignores the harmful effects of years human industrial activity (i.e. carbon dioxide emission, pollution) that are quickly manifesting in unprecedented ways. That kind of sentiment refuses to go to the root of the problem and correct it. That kind of
sentiment is dangerous to guide decision making in Tallahassee.
Read related: Congressman Carlos Gimenez would piece out the Everglades for his fam
Frankly, Clint Barras said it best when he said: “Clean Water and addressing the greatest existential threat to District 120 requires a leader who accepts science and understands the connections between our environment and our economy.”
Ultimately, between the support from those who display their utter disregard for Florida’s environment & those who pollute it, and his own shortcomings when it comes to ecological ideology, I feel like I’ve been sold a bill of goods by Mr. Mooney when it comes to the environment.
And, unless you want to be swimming a few years down the line, it’s imperative you don’t buy into it either come November.
P.S. I contacted Jim Mooney for a comment but he could not be reached.
Brandon Rosado was born in Miami and graduated from Coral Reef Senior High School. He is currently a student at the University of Florida majoring in English and Anthropology. He loves writing and politics and sarcasm and has been adopted by Ladra as her first cachorro, er, intern. Brandon will be helping Ladra cover the South Florida political landscape for Political Cortadito through the 2020 election and beyond. He can be reached at BrandonRosadoGonz@gmail.com.
Don’t believe GOP hype in House 120 campaign for Miami-Dade & the Keys added by Ladra on
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