Rep. Kristin Jacobs, D-Broward, speaks on the floor of the Florida House of Representatives during the recent special session. Behind her is the mural, “In Ages Past,” one of eight murals that depict state history. (Photo: Democrat files) Kristin Jacobs found inspiration in Florida’s springs, lakes and oceans. Her arrival in the state marked a turning point, a way out of an abusive marriage and the start of a new life. Fortunately for Floridians, she never left, becoming one of the state’s most prominent environmental advocates, testifying before Congress and the U.S. Senate about clean water and climate change, then serving on a task force at the request of President Barack Obama. She remained active in civic groups even after being elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2014, winning reelection in 2016 and 2018. Rep. Jacobs, who drank deeply of the natural beauty she fought to protect, whether racing through open pine forests on a trail bike or creating a regional system of collaboration to reduce climate change, died early Saturday morning, of cancer. She was 60. Rep. Kristin Jacobs (Photo: Your Turn) Of her many accomplishments, her proudest might be spearheading the development of the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact, a four-county initiative built in 2009 on local governments working together. “It’s become a model not just for the country, but for the world,” Obama said of the bipartisan group five years later. “But to hear Kristin tell it, it was partly about protecting an area of the state she loved dearly,” said Steve Vancore, 59, her romantic partner. “But part of it was also for the people who put others first, who came together for a common cause and who set aside political, partisan, regional and personality differences to go out and put good things […]
