Weren’t all those taxes raised from new development supposed to make Florida wealthy beyond our wildest dreams? “Mostly, though, it’s the House spending plan looking to claw back decisions made within the last two years. It also wants to eliminate the law distributing gambling revenue funds for environmental programs. “A law from last year puts at least $100 million in the Florida Wildlife Corridor and $100 million for land management activities, including $32 million for state parks. The House budget would sweep the funds into general revenue, the main funding source for state government operations.” And here’s the big picture of what the future holds for the Sunshine State. Needless to say, habitat conservation is not going to be prioritized. Also consider the $6.7 billion in tax cuts the Governor says he has implemented since 2019. “House leaders say reneging on spending for new initiatives is necessary in the light of the potentially dicey budget picture they’ll face in the years to come. State economists project a $2 billion surplus for the next fiscal year, but a nearly $7 billion shortfall two years later if current spending trends continue.” (fb)

For those who still believe climate science is BS, saving $164,391 by shutting down the office that manages NOAA's observatory on top of the Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii might seem like a good deal. For the rest of us, it's miserable news. This is the longest running climate observatory on the planet - with 67 years of continuous and irreplaceable data. As the article below explains, neither satellites nor other ground-based locations will be able to replicate the important research done here (up high in the well-mixed troposphere and far from CO2 emissions from urban areas which emit massive amounts of CO2 and forests which absorb it). Excerpt from the article below explains the 35% increase in atmospheric CO2 documented by the Mauna Loa observatory in 67 years of operations. The observatory has also shown the daytime-nighttime fluctuations in CO2 content plus winter-summer changes due to increased or decreased uptake of CO2 by plants during times of day and seasons. But regardless of fluctuations, our emissions of CO2 - and the actual amount in our atmosphere - are on a steady, uphill climb. As are the consequences. "When the elder Keeling began his measurements in 1958, CO2 levels were around 315 parts per million. Now, they're at 427 ppm. CO2 makes up just 0.04% of the atmosphere, which is a lot less than oxygen, for instance, at 21%. "That may not sound like much. But CO2 has an outsized impact in the same way that "cholesterol is only a tiny component of your blood, but it has special properties, so it matters how much you have," said Ralph Keeling." Hopefully, folks make enough noise to keep the DOGE folks far away from this important and unique center of science and research. (fb)