WilliamCoty Keller| The Daytona Beach News-Journal

Before the pandemic,in spite of growingGDP, stockmarket highs and low unemployment,almost half American families were in bad shape financially.

Plus,we were doing nothing to avert the climate crisis. Lets not return to that scenario. Instead,we needa recovery that solves boththeseproblems.

United Wayreports thatwhen COVID-19 hit, nearly 2.6 million Florida households were considered ALICE (AssetLimited,IncomeConstrained,Employed)unable to afford the basics for survivaleven though theywereworking. When we add inonemillion families that were in poverty, 46% of Floridas 7.8 millionhouseholds were inadirefinancialsituation before the pandemic.

Meanwhile,wewereexperiencingmoreextreme weather,wild fires,droughtsand floods. What lies ahead isevenmore frightening.TheUnion of Concerned ScientistspredictsthatpartsofFlorida will becomemiserable, if not unlivable,withkiller heat.

Asthe UN panelon climatereported, Absent radical changes in energy policy and human behavior, we should expectsevere economic and humanitarian crises by as early as 2030.

What can we do to recover?Here are four steps:

Other benefits of carbon farming are increasing the soils ability to hold water and protectagainst erosion.

Lets support policies thatsequester carbon such as theHouse DemocratsClimateCrisis Action Plan,which dedicatesa chapter to investing in agriculture as a climate solution.In hisPlan for Rural America,presidential candidate Joe Biden promises to make the United States agricultural sector the first in the world to achieve net-zeroemissions, in part by increasing payments to farmers for carbon farming.

Lets abandon any ambitions to return to the pre-COVID 19 status quo.Lets instead set our sights on a recoverythat is effective (in that it will provide good-paying jobs and eliminate the cause of global warming) andthat isjust (it will benefit all Americans).

WILLIAM "COTY" KELLER, PORT CHARLOTTE

Editor's note:Keller is an ecologist wholives and works in Port Charlotte.This was first publishedin the Fall 2020edition ofCritical Times.

The Invading Sea isthe opinion armof the Florida Climate Reporting Network, a collaborative of news organizations across the state focusing on the threats posed by the warming climate.

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Point of View The same strategies can help us recover from both the pandemic and the climate crisis - Palm Beach Post