MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Miami-Dade County leaders discussed their plans to help combat climate change on Monday in Miami Beach.
South Florida is hosting the International Aspen Ideas forum on climate change at several venues on Miami Beach from May 9-12.
On Monday, Miami-Dade County Mayor, Daniella Levine-Cava and area leaders started the conference at Port Miami with a panel of cruise industry leaders.
“We are here on the front lines of climate change in Miami-Dade County,” said Levine-Cava.
They highlighted the county’s efforts to implement shore power at Port Miami, an initiative that allows ships to “plug in” and reduce emissions from cruise ships, an industry widely criticized for pollution.
“We are ground zero for our changing climate,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla.
The global nonprofit Aspen Institute is hosting the “Ideas” summit with many of the world’s leading thinkers, policy makers, and scientists. Locally, Miami Beach is experiencing the impacts of climate change years ahead of the rest of the world and we know Florida is getting hotter. On average, South Florida has been experiencing an increase of two degrees Fahrenheit every year since 1985.
Speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi, will be at Aspen Ideas Monday night on Miami Beach, taking part in the climate change conversation.
If you’re not registered for the event you can stream it online or watch it broadcasted on the big wall at Soundscape Park.
For more information on the conference, click on this link.