Hurricane Ian has dealt the state of Florida the harsh reality of “An Inconvenient Truth” (Al Gore 2006). 

Former Vice President Al Gore once stated, “We have everything we need to begin solving this crisis with the exception of the will to act. However, in America, our will to take action is itself a renewable resource.”  

I opine that there has been an eerie silence from Republicans on “the will to act.”  

More:How to send a letter to the editor

Florida Republicans Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott have continuously trashed President Joe Biden for his climate change policies and actually voted against FEMA funding! 

Now they want that same FEMA funding for Florida. Look how fast they capitulated to Biden’s socialist bailout policies.  

Florida Republicans have a clear record of climate change denial. In 2016, Rubio argued that “policies to reduce carbon emissions are economically inefficient.” 

As governor, Scott banned the phrases “global warming” and “climate change” in 2015. 

In 2018, DeSantis mused, “I am not in the pews of the church of the global-warming leftists. I am not a global-warming person. I don’t want that label on me.” 

Don’t worry, Florida! Republicans do have a winning plan: Ban hurricanes! 

The recent hurricane has shown a great failing of our communication infrastructure. Our government and utility agencies, and many other services, asked us to keep in touch and seek information from their websites and apps for the duration of the situation.

However, all those sites and apps depend on power.  Once power is lost, and cell towers are down or overloaded, there is no way to communicate. There is no TV, no cable, no cell service, no website, no app.  And no landline phone.

Radio? Maybe, but stations are mostly chain-owned and may not have local personnel with access to local information. 

Consider licensing Manatee and Sarasota counties to broadcast on medium-powered AM radio during times of major incidents. The counties have extensive websites with all the information required. First responders and other services are accessible to them, and they can require FPL and other utilities to report status.

They have phone numbers where citizens can call in for information. All pertinent info can then be repeated to all citizens via local county radio through a combination of live and recorded speech that is repeated every 30 minutes, and all you need is an old 9V transistor radio.

Our modern world needs some old world means of communication!

As a resident of the Jersey Shore who lived through Superstorm Sandy, I saw firsthand the destruction it brought to hundreds of miles of coastline in New York and New Jersey in 2012.

I did not need assistance as my house was built to take on the 36 inches of water that came through my garage, but many of my older neighbors lost their homes, some of which sit vacant to this day. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis is doing the right thing by asking Washington for a huge aid package to assist Hurricane Ian’s victims – and to also help rebuild the state after the catastrophic damage that Ian caused.

But his hypocrisy is astounding.

As a member of Congress in 2013, DeSantis voted against the desperately needed federal aid package for Sandy’s victims. But as a governor, DeSantis has accepted federal money and taken credit for the programs and benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act, – and now he's seeking hurricane aid from Washington.

DeSantis and Florida are lucky the federal government isn’t still run by a vindictive narcissist. Maybe DeSantis should stop spending our tax money to send migrants north from Texas and instead bring them here to help in the rebuilding effort. We already were short of workers before the storm. 

When I woke Oct. 2 and saw again the huge branches down and the roof shingles scattered over my lawn, it looked hopeless. 

And then I saw your Sunday paper in my driveway and thought, “We’re going to be OK!” 

How were you affected by Hurricane Ian? Was your home damaged? Did you hunker down or evacuate?

Send us a letter of no more than 200 words, along with your name, full address and phone number. Email your letter to editor.letters@heraldtribune.com.