To the editor:

I was teaching on Long Island, New York, when Superstorm Sandy hit, and I saw firsthand the hardship it caused many of my students and their families. It was a teachable moment, the best time to connect the dots regarding our use of fossil fuels, global warming, and catastrophic weather events. Here in Florida, Irma was a teachable moment, too, as is Michael now. Are we learning?

Our current president and Congress don’t believe in global warming and are undoing and gutting important environmental policies and regulations they consider burdensome to fossil fuel industries. These industries profit, the earth suffers, and we pay the environmental, health, and recovery costs. The president and Congress don’t want to understand that, ultimately, a healthy economy depends upon a healthy environment.

Our water crisis is a teachable moment, too. The same mentality has been at play. In the name of business and economic growth, Rick Scott and the state Legislature undid or gutted environmental policies and regulations and crippled watchdog environmental agencies essential to protecting our water. Again, they elevated short-term economic interests over environmental protection,and our local economy has taken a tremendous hit, one that may have long-reaching consequences to our tourism industry. If you were at the recent Florida Water Economic Summit, reported here in The Breeze,you heard the same terrible numbers I did.

One party proudly touts its anti-regulation platform. One party knows the key role regulations play in protecting the environment our economy depends upon.

Are we learning from these teachable moments? I desperately hope so. November will tell.

Joseph Bonasia

Cape Coral