Plan to Save Florida's Environment | Candidate Richard Lamondin, Florida Senate District 38
Richard Lamondin and his brother started their company 13 years ago after reading that a fifth of all toilets leak, learning to replace them from YouTube videos, and going door to door at apartment communities. That business became ecofi, a national firm that cuts energy and water use in buildings. On this episode of Climate Change Environment Science & the Law, he tells host Gregg Goldfarb why that work led him to run for the Florida Senate in District 38. The through line is affordability. Richard lays out what he sees as the squeeze on Miami families, from preschool costs to rents to a property insurance market he says has become unaffordable, and argues that Florida's problem is one of priorities rather than funding. He also explains what a legislative supermajority is, why he says most of the decisions that touch daily life come from Tallahassee rather than Washington, and what breaking that math would change at the committee level. Gregg, an environmental lawyer, brings his own history to the table, including an early case in the Keys built on the argument that in South Florida the environment is the economy. From there the two get into coastal resilience: storm surge, living sea walls, mangroves, fish stocks, fertilizer runoff and algae blooms, and saltwater intrusion into the aquifer. Richard's case is that decades of inaction on coastal risk are a direct upstream cause of today's insurance bills. They also cover why South Florida has so little rooftop solar despite the climate, the Everglades restoration work Richard says has stalled, and what his first 100 days and first three bills would look like. Join Gregg and Richard Lamondin on Climate Change Environment Science & the Law as they explore: TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 – "Can people actually make it here?" The real Florida crisis 0:40 – Meet the guy trying to flip Florida's most winnable Senate seat 1:33 – From fixing toilets to running for Senate (the EcoFi origin story) 2:43 – $2,000/month for preschool. Florida's affordability breaking point 3:59 – Alligator Alcatraz and the $10 land deal for Trump's private library 6:05 – "Silence is complicity." Calling out his opponent 8:58 – Did she back Alligator Alcatraz? His answer will surprise you 10:43 – The one seat that breaks Florida's Republican supermajority 13:44 – Is protecting the environment going to cost you money? His answer 16:55 – Florida is the Sunshine State, so why is solar this hard? 19:23 – Alligator Alcatraz's hidden victim: Florida's darkest skies 21:31 – His first 100 days in office, mapped out 23:46 – How to help flip the seat Richard Lamondin is a born and raised Miamian and the co-founder and CEO of ecofi, a sustainability firm that works with real estate owners nationwide to reduce energy use, water use, and utility costs through renewables, LED lighting, water efficiency, and EV charging infrastructure. He and his brother started the company 13 years ago after learning to replace leaking toilets from YouTube videos and going door to door at apartment communities. He is a first-time candidate for the Florida Senate in District 38, which covers coastal Miami-Dade from Brickell and Key Biscayne to Homestead, where he is challenging the district's incumbent. Contact/Follow Richard Lamondin: Website: https://richard.vote/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richard-lamondin-jr-7a1b221a Contact/Follow his company: Website: https://goecofi.com/ Email: hello@goecofi.com Want more conversations that cut through the noise on science, climate, and the issues shaping our future? Subscribe to Climate Change Environment Science & the Law with Gregg Goldfarb for new episodes every week.
