Florida mayors calling for a life ring in climate caused rising seas.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio just threw them an anchor.

Raw Story:

Tomas Regalado, the Republican mayor of Miami, has endorsed Rubio but via the debate’s host Jake Tapper he questioned whether the senator accepted the mainstream scientific position on climate change and his commitment to combat the problem.

Rubio said Regalado is a “great mayor and a good friend” but said that any laws to reduce emissions would drive up power bills in Miami and cause the mayor a political headache.

Philip Levine, mayor of neighboring Miami Beach, said Rubio was “100 percent using the language of a climate change denier” and has overlooked the escalating problem of sea level increases for south Florida.

Miami Beach has already spent $100 million on new sea defenses to curb the regular flooding of its western half. Sea levels are expected to rise in south-east Florida by six to 10 inches by 2030, with ever increasing levels throughout the century unless greenhouse gases are severely cut. These increases risk inundating large areas of the region, with 2.4 million people living within 4ft of the local high tide line.

“Unfortunately, Senator Rubio went to his usual talking points, fed to him by his donors in the sugar and energy industry,” said Levine. “According to him, America shouldn’t be a leader in the greatest challenge of our generation. If he were around during World War II, he’d want us to sit on the sidelines and leave Britain to its fate.

“He made the amazing statement that America is not a planet. I’m sure he had to go onto Wikipedia to get that information. He said he’s all for making cities resilient but he’s done absolutely nothing as a US senator for us, he’s never come to Miami Beach to meet with us. The only time he comes down here is for a fundraiser.”