00:44 New York Sinks Tug Boat, Rail Car into Atlantic Ocean Officials in New York dropped an old rail car and a tug boat into the Atlantic Ocean on the South Shore of Long Island – here's why.

At a Glance Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the establishment of a blue-green algae task force.

He wants an Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection to address sea level rise.

He also wants work on a reservoir to stop pollutants from reaching the Everglades sped up.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled plans Thursday to spend $2.5 billion to help restore the Everglades and get a handle on algae blooms that have fouled the state's waterways and shorelines.

"I pledged I would take action, and today, we are taking action," DeSantis said. "What we've done is really, really strong ... I think this is something that can unite all Floridians."

DeSantis, who was sworn into office Tuesday, made his announcement at a Florida Gulf Coast University field station in Bonita Springs, one of the areas overwhelmed with toxic blue-green algae last year .

Part of the new governor's plan includes establishing a blue-green algae task force whose mission is to reduce the impacts of the harmful algae blooms caused by nutrients from farmland washing into Lake Okeechobee and then flowing downstream.

The algae blooms coincided with a lingering red tide outbreak that littered the state's Gulf Coast beaches with tons of dead fish and left visitors with irritated lungs and eyes. This week, Florida wildlife officials have said tests are again showing red tide off of Sarasota and Manatee counties .

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<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/flagovdesantis011019.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273" srcset="https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/flagovdesantis011019.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273 400w, https://s.w-x.co/util/image/w/flagovdesantis011019.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551 800w" > Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced major changes to clean up Florida’s waters, including spending $2.5 billion and launching more aggressive policies to address algae choking Lake Okeechobee and polluting the state’s coasts. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

While campaigning for the governor's office, DeSantis promised to restore the Everglades and protect Florida's beaches. Still, as the Miami Herald reported, environmentalists were angered when he dismissed climate change as a significant threat.

WUSF reported that after a tour of the Everglades last September , DeSantis told reporters, “the sea rise may be because of human activity and the changing climate, you know, maybe it’s not. I don’t know. But what I do know is as I see the sea rising I see the increased flooding in South Florida. So I think you’d be a fool not to consider that an issue that we need to address.”

In December, environmental groups presented the newly elected DeSantis a petition with more than 3,400 signatures asking him to declare climate change a threat to the state.

On Thursday, DeSantis announced that as part of his water policy reforms, he is creating an Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection to help prepare Florida’s coastal communities and habitats for impacts from sea level rise.

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"As we've seen things like increased flooding (and) rising waters, we want to make sure that Florida is doing what it needs to do to protect its communities," DeSantis said.

However, he did not mention fighting the causes of climate change or the need for renewable energy, the Herald reported.

The Sierra Club Florida Chapter said in a statement the group is concerned that DeSantis' plans lacked a direct mention of "the need to combat climate change which is making Florida's waters warmer and intensifying harmful algae blooms." Still, chapter director Frank Jackalone said, “In his first week in office, Gov. DeSantis has done more to address Florida’s water quality crisis than Gov. Rick Scott did in eight years.”

Other changes that DeSantis called for in an executive order include:

Speed up approval and construction of a reservoir project to prevent pollutants from reaching the Everglades.

Expedite projects with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to improve management of Lake Okeechobee.

Work to replace septic tanks.

Appoint a chief science officer to coordinate and prioritize scientific data, research, monitoring and analysis needs.

Explore options to stop Georgia's upstream water use from causing further adverse impacts to the Apalachicola River and Bay. The region's oyster industry has been harmed because less fresh water is reaching the bay.

Oppose all offshore oil and gas activities off every coast in Florida and hydraulic fracturing in Florida.

Environmental groups praised DeSantis' plans, the Herald reported.

“It’s a little bit like Christmas morning to see all of the things in this executive order, everything from fully funding and accelerating Everglades projects to standing strong on keeping the eastern Gulf of Mexico closed to drilling to creating an office of resilience,” said Audubon Florida Executive Director Julie Wraithmell.

Everglades Foundation CEO Eric Eikenberg called the measures a bold first move.

“Here is a governor who is relying on science, and as a science-based organization, that is what we’ve been yearning for,” Eikenberg said.