TAMPA, Fla — Masked and sitting in the Oval Office for the first time as president of the United States, Joe Biden signed 17 executive orders.
"I think some of the things we're gonna be doing are bold and vital, and there's no time to start like today," Biden said.
Two of the orders on the table could have impacts in Florida.
First up, an executive order for more support to fight COVID-19. The administration is mandating masks and social distancing on federal property for the next 100 days.
"To have it at a federal level is really fantastic. I wish it had further reach to be honest, because we still do have so many places where people aren't paying any attention or aren't using the masks, but this is a start," USF Public Health epidemiologist Dr. Jill Roberts said.
Roberts says the order should promote mask-wearing in Florida. She also says Biden's plans to rejoin the World Health Organization and create federal sites across the country to help distribute vaccines will benefit the state.
"What I think is going to be accomplished here is that you're going to be able to distribute the vaccine much faster. You're going to have more money involved. Our re-entry, if you will, to the World Health Organization is a huge, huge player just simply because that gives us so much more resources," Roberts said.
USF Professor Ed Benton and Political Analyst Lars Hafner say the same could happen with climate change.
"The fact that he went back into the Paris climate agreement is a big deal for Florida. Florida, as much as any other state in the union, is affected by climate change and so putting a priority on that can only help Floridians," Hafner said.
Biden's effort to rejoin the Paris Agreement means the U.S. would once again be one of 196 countries working together to limit global warming.
With a focus on climate change at the federal level, Benton says Gov. Ron DeSantis may be able to garner more support from the feds to help support the state's environmental issues.
"There may be a path for the two of them to work on an issue where Democrats and Republicans typically differ. Because DeSantis is an unusual Republican, in that sense for the climate, it could be optimistic they could work together," Benton said.
It will take the country 30 days to rejoin the agreement.
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