A south Florida meteorologist made a rare plea with his viewers to take climate change seriously—while calling out the state’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis for his recent efforts to roll back “important climate change legislation” and pass a bill he derisively referred to as “Don’t Say Climate Change.” NBC 6 Miami’s Steve MacLaughlin said on-air that these measures came “in spite of the fact that the state of Florida over the past few years has seen record heat, record flooding, record rain, record insurance rates, and the corals are dying all around the state,” He added during the Saturday segment: “Please keep in mind, the most powerful climate change solution is the one you already have in the palm of your hands — the right to vote. And we will never tell you who to vote for but we will tell you this: We implore you to please do your research and know that there are candidates that believe in climate change and that there are solutions, and there are candidates that don’t.” The statement drew praise from others in the profession, who recognized the difficulty Maclaughlin faced in speaking out. “This is not an easy statement for a meteorologist to make, Jeff Berardelli, the chief meteorologist at WFLA in Tampa Bay, said. “Big kudos to Steve for being bold and honest.”
