For the most basic reasons; Florida's Natural resources are irreplaceable and are increasingly threatened by climate change. A policy of not recognizing Global Warming, or at least recognizing that climate change is plausible and worth addressing, is a reprehensible oversight for a state with such a large coastline and populations living in low lying areas.

The Effects of Global Warming in Florida: Via NRDC (http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/florida/execsum.asp)

Scientists have already observed changes in Florida that are consistent with the early effects of global warming. These changes include retreating and eroding shorelines, dying coral reefs, salt water intrusion into the freshwater aquifer, increasing numbers of forest fires, and warmer air and sea surface temperatures. In coming years, these effects may become more common, and increasingly severe.

Projected global warming will raise Florida's average temperature by between 4 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next 100 years. The summer heat index increase of 8 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit will be the most dramatic in the nation. Sea levels could rise by 8 inches to over 2 feet by the year 2100. Rainfall is anticipated to become more intense but also more sporadic, causing worse droughts and storms.

Coastal Florida

Florida's valuable coastal property and key tourist resources will be damaged by the most obvious result of global warming: rising sea levels. In low-lying areas, anticipated sea level rise could force water to flow horizontally as much as 400 feet or more inland -- flooding shoreline homes and hotels and eroding Florida's famous beaches. Attempts to block rising seas through sea-wall projects and erosion control will be expensive and will almost certainly fail to protect undeveloped shoreline.

Freshwater supplies that feed cities, agriculture, and tourist centers may be endangered by salt-water intrusion. Sea level rise, rising temperatures, and alterations in rainfall will also combine to harm the very coastal ecosystems such as the Everglades and coral reefs that make Florida a unique and appealing destination. These changes will alter the $45 to $50 billion annual revenue from Florida's tourist economy.

Conclusion:

This is not a matter of policy. Whatever your political views, we should all be concerned with the rise of sea levels, and the health of our environment. We will lose the Keys and most low lying coastal areas if the state fails to begin to address these problems.