The Miami Herald
By Manley Fuller, president, Florida Wildlife Federation
December 27, 2012
We concur with the Dec. 1 editorial Hot and hotter and believe that the United States should lead the way on international climate policy. The piece convincingly argues that Florida’s leaders should implement changes to address the state’s current and increasing vulnerability to storms, flooding and rise in sea level. The changes should include smarter land-use and traditional environmental policies as well as reform of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund.
As a low-lying landscape vulnerable to sea level rise and storm damages, we should protect our natural features that have a range of benefits, from providing vital habitat for fish and wildlife to buffering us from the inevitable storms we experience.
Yet we require private citizens to assume the financial costs of storms’ risks, rather than shifting the burden to all Floridians. We support laws and policies that remove public subsidies for development of our most storm- and flood-prone coastal properties, namely by making new construction ineligible for Citizens coverage or making improvements to existing structures seaward of Florida’s coastal construction control line or within the Coastal Barrier Resources System.
We urge the Legislature and Citizens Board to consider our recommendations and support legislation that strengthens structures across the state, making them more storm resistant. By returning Citizens to the insurer of last resort and right-sizing the Cat Fund, we can better protect our state’s natural environment, reduce the public’s exposure to massive “hurricane tax” assessments and put Florida back on a glide path to stability.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/27/2563322/spread-the-risk-in-storm-prone.html
