Is Rick Scott the Anti-Christ?

Wednesday the Portland City Council adopted a new Climate Action Plan to achieve 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/article/531984 In 1993, Portland was the first city in the United States to adopt a plan to reduce its carbon footprint.  Since then its  population has grown by 31 percent, but carbon emissions have dropped by 14 percent.  This accomplishment secured Pope Francis's invitation to Mayor Hales to attend the Vatican summit on climate change.

Biking and walking are the most ecological forms of transportation, and reducing automobile dependency is key to the Portland initiative.  The tipping point occurred in 1996 when a new freeway project, the "Western Bypass," was killed.  LUTRAQ, a definitive study assessing the interconnection of Land Use, Transportation, and Air Quality, determined that investing in transportation options would secure a better return of public funds. http://www.friends.org/resources/reports  Replacing a drivable suburban standard with a walkable urbanism pattern centered on light rail also achieved the goal METRO, Portland's Regional Government, set in its 2040 plan.  Building on this foundation, the new Climate Action Plan expects to reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled by 30 percent from 2008 levels by creating "Complete Neighborhoods," where "residents can walk or bike to meet all basic daily non-work needs and have safe bicycle or walking access to transit."

Portland's regional rail corridors and walkable urbanism sites 

This week Florida Governor Rick Scott, a notorious climate change enabler, http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121341/florida-gov-rick-scotts-ban-climate-change-hasnt-halted-action dealt a death blow to Orlando's plan to become one of "the most environmentally friendly cities" in the Southeast.  Scott vetoed 15 million dollars slated to build an urban campus for the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Creative Village, the linchpin in Orlando's quest to create a "series of unique vibrant pedestrian-friendly urban villages." http://www.cityoforlando.net/greenworks/livability-2/

Creative Village occupies a prominent 60 acre infill site on the edge of downtown, and building an urban campus for nation's third largest university (its 60,000 students attend a sprawling suburban campus) could ignite Central Florida's tech industry and revitalize Parramore, the adjacent historic African-American neighborhood.  UCF's energy and expertise was set to activate plans to improve the health: physical, social, and economic, of a historically underprivileged population. http://www.cityoforlando.net/city-planning/plans-and-studies/parramore-comprehensive-neighborhood-plan/ In a state burdened by a history of racial injustice, this project offered an essential prototype to offer, as one city council member put it, "a hand up and not a hand out."

Scott's actions are part of a depressing pattern.  He rejected federal dollars for the Affordable Care Act and high speed rail, delayed the construction of SunRail, emasculated the state's water management districts, and hijacked Amendment 1 http://www.1000friendsofflorida.org/amendment-1-funds-allocated/ Rick Scott is directing the systematic failure of Florida's urban and natural systems.  He is the anti-Christ to Pope Francis's encyclical calling Christians to "Care for our Common Home."

Sermons and Deeds of the Anti-Christ

Add horns and Rick Scott is a stand in for the demonic prompter in Luca Signorelli's iconic "Sermons and Deeds of the Anti-Christ." The Anti-Christ, who appears to be Jesus delivering the Sermon on the Mount, is literally hand-in-hand with the evil perpetrator.  Scott does have the ear of his party.  Moreover on the defining issues of the day, health insurance, climate change, and income inequality, his position is irrefutable.  Rick Scott is the voice Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio cannot forsake, however "moderate" their speech.

Signorelli's message is timeless.   A pile of riches lay at the feet of the Anti-Christ, who obviously had a successful fund raising campaign.  Notice the demonic figure is sharing information, perhaps the secret to leech more wealth from his audience.  Rick Scott spent millions of his own money to get elected, perhaps that is the saving grace.  Who would listen to him?

To read more on racal injustice and city planning in Florida, consult my article in the forthcoming issue of VIEW http://lalh.org/magazine/