Florida Names Climate Czar to Guide Adaptation to Rising Seas

Florida’s first chief resilience officer, a former U.S. State Department official dealing with energy policy and security, has been named to coordinate the low-lying state’s adaptation to rising sea levels.

Julia Nesheiwat, whose appointment was announced late Aug. 1 by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), is a native of Lake County in central Florida and was a deputy assistant secretary of state, building the agency’s first Energy Resources Bureau. She spent the last four years as the deputy special envoy for hostage affairs at the State Department.

“For a resiliency officer, you need somebody that’s going to be able ...