You might have thought that with all the bad news on climate
change recently – faster
ice sheet melting, and no breakthroughs in Doha – the mood at the Southeast Florida
Regional Climate Change Leadership Summit this December would have been
rather gloomy. After all, South Florida has topped lists of the world’s
most vulnerable places to sea level rise. To be sure,
the nearly 300 participants gathered – county and municipal staff, planners,
activists, and scientists – were clear on the challenges we face.
But even with this sense of urgency the mood of the summit was more “can do” than
hand-wringing. The atmosphere felt more upbeat than beat-down. For one of the
thorniest issues of our day, that seemed remarkable.
