Why is the republican party suddenly entering the climate change conversation? Is it because many have seen the light and know there is a problem or is it because the conversation is so loud, they can't hear themselves think? I'm hoping it is both and they are thinking about the conversation and want to be a part of the change that will affect everyone's future.

During the eight years Rick Scott was Florida's Governor, the words climate change never came out of his mouth. He even went as far as not allowing those words spoken in his administration. As Hurricane Dorian headed towards Florida, the newly-elected Senator Scott put on his trademark Navy cap and went on Fox News to discuss safety preparation for the storm. When Chris Wallace brought up Governor Scott's climate change stand the fancy footed politician did a slight turn and acknowledged the facts of hurricanes getting bigger, stronger and more intense. He went as far as saying there must begin some investigation into why this is happening. Maybe Senator Scott should ask the Navy, or NASA, or any scientific journal for the past thirty years.

Weeks before Hurricane Dorian was menacing the coast of Florida, Senator Rubio wrote an op-ed in USA Today that stated he is accepting there is a climate change problem, but he isn't going to overreact to the effect of it. He believes we can adapt. That seems like a prehistoric way of looking at the problem. I am also guessing he doesn't own oceanfront property that years ago was not knocking on the oceans back doors. However, his comments were not an acceptance of the truth of climate change, only a push for his agenda.

This past week the current administration had a free for all with the media regarding a comment the President made about Alabama. This took the conversation away from climate change and into a media frenzy that keeps the powers that be from making any type of commitment or statements regarding the devastation a storm like Dorian does.

The catastrophe in the Bahamas is an example of the true effects that climate change has produced. Category 5 hurricanes more than two decades ago were few and far between, there has been eight in the last nineteen years in the Atlantic Ocean alone. And even though Florida might dodge a category 5 this season, it does not mean that it won't happen in the next year or two.

I am an optimist and believe that the deniers of the science behind climate change will eventually come to understand that it is in their back yards and will have to accept and help work to solve this problem that is not a United States problem, but a global problem. The more we alienate our allies and work against the scientific proof of global warming, the harder it will be to reverse the effects.

It will take more than an Op-Ed from a few Republicans that say they are conservatives that believe in climate change, but it is a start. On September 11th, Florida Representative Frances Rooney posted in Politico,

"It is time for my fellow Republicans in Congress to stop treating this environmental threat as something abstract and political and recognize that it's already affecting their constituents in their daily lives."