Testing the politics of red tide science

Science is hard.

So is politics.

Science combined with politics is really hard.

Ask Michael Crosby, the chief executive officer of Sarasota-based Mote Marine Laboratory, who has been swept up in the politics of red tide science.

Red tides, including the episode that has ravaged the Southwest Florida coast this summer and threatens to linger, have long been the subject of study by Mote and other science-based organizations.

This isn’t the first time harmful algal blooms have devastated marine life, decimated the tourist-based economy and caused respiratory ailments among residents and visitors. The 2005-06 and 1994-96 events, for example, had similar impacts.

But the current event, which has dissipated but not disappeared, has created an unprecedented level of public outrage and political reaction for at least four powerful reasons: the intensity of the outbreak and its impacts on wildlife and businesses; the popularity of social media, which is spreading images of tons of fish washed up onshore, as well as fact and fiction; dramatic photographs of bright, blue-green freshwater algae making their way from Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico; an election year that features closely fought, high-profile campaigns for state and federal offices.

Red tides have put Mote Marine on the defensive in the past, due in part to widely held expectations that the research institute should have found a cure for the harmful algal blooms by now.

Tensions have been exacerbated recently as Gov. Rick Scott, whose commitment to limiting nutrient-level runoff has been questioned, proposed increased funding for research and testing by Mote and other organizations.

On Monday, when new state initiatives were unveiled during a press conference at Mote, Crosby was asked to reconcile the sudden political interest in red tide with regulatory and environmental decisions made in Florida during the past decade.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Crosby responded truthfully yet defensively, warning against blaming individual politicians, including Scott, for red tide — a naturally occurring phenomenon observed for centuries.

Indeed, the conditions that created the freshwater blooms and fueled red tide have been brewing for decades.

But the challenge for Mote, credible environmental organizations, business interests and the public is to leverage the political outrage that has emerged to demonstrate the need for continued research aimed at pinpointing the most cost-effective strategies for minimizing red tide’s effects.

The same sustained energy is necessary to promote investment in applied science that could — emphasis on “could” — lead to the discovery and implementation of effective mitigation measures that don’t cause negative, unintended consequences.

Crosby on Monday said he applauded the “renewed focus” on red tide and “strategic” investments in research, no matter the timing and political season. We do too.

Here is the question about the science of politics: Once this red tide dissipates and returns offshore, will currently outraged Floridians continue to demand change with the force that makes elected officials respond as if their political careers are at stake?

This editorial originally appeared in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, a sister publication of the Daily News with Gatehouse Media.