Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Marco Rubio (R-FL) delivered opening remarks and questioned witnesses at a hearing on countering China’s influence in the United States. Watch Rubio’s opening remarks here as well as Part I and Part II of...
Approximately 302,000 Americans live with spinal cord injuries. To help these people achieve a better quality of life, there is a need to increase education and invest in research. U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) successfully led a bipartisan...
Foreign investment is one of the legal means that adversaries, like China, can use to collect Americans’ data, exasperating both privacy and national security risks. To counter this, U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) reintroduced the...
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined Special Report with Bret Baier to discuss the impending government shutdown, the possibility of a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal, and the indictment of Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ). See below for highlights and watch the full...
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced three additions to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. These are the first additions by the Biden Administration since June. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), author of the bipartisan...
Congress should think before it regulates AI U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) September 26, 2023 Washington Times To prevent next-generation computer programs from wreaking havoc on American society, [some members of Congress want] to enact comprehensive regulation at...
We have the resources to save Florida’s dying coral reefs. Now, we just need the will.
By U.S. Senator Marco Rubio & Dr. Michael P. Crosby
September 6, 2018
Florida’s coral reef system is the third-largest living reef on the planet and the only barrier reef system in the continental United States. It supports more than 70,000 local jobs, draws $6.3 billion into Florida’s economy and buffers our coasts from wave energy and storm surge in our hurricane prone region. The fact that our reefs, despite their severely diminished condition, are capable of providing Floridians so many benefits is a testament to their importance and an indication of the enormous value restored reefs could deliver.
While much of the attention on Florida environmental issues — including our own — has rightly been focused on harmful algal blooms, an ecological catastrophe has also been unfolding on our reefs. During the last four decades, Florida’s indigenous corals have declined in some areas by more than 90 percent, with some species losing more than 97 percent of their populations.
Today, Florida’s coral reefs are experiencing a devastating, multiyear outbreak of a new, unidentified coral disease. Evidence suggests the disease may be transmitted by touch and carried by water currents, making it difficult to contain. While some have shown resistance, the vast majority of corals coming into contact with the disease, including some that may have taken hundreds of years to grow, die in as little as a month.
Corals growing in good water quality conditions typically are more resistant to disease. And it was recognized decades ago that to save the Florida reef tract, drastic action to improve water quality was required. Critical efforts currently are under way to restore the Everglades to enhance freshwater flows and salinity levels in Florida and Biscayne Bays, complete the Florida Keys Water Quality Improvement Program, and reduce wastewater discharges through ocean outfalls. These infrastructure projects will all augment nearshore water quality and habitat for reef species.
Despite continued progress on water quality, however, it is likely that our devastated coral populations will be unable to execute a quick, natural recovery of the reef. That means conservation strategies alone cannot solve this dilemma. A bold restoration program to actively assist the recovery of this ecosystem is essential, and we are closer than ever to amassing the scientific knowledge, technological tools and public investment and support needed to make reef restoration a reality.