Gov. Ron DeSantis’ veto of a new marine science hub at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg is a betrayal to Tampa Bay and a travesty for all Floridians. It’s bad enough the governor put his presidential ambitions ahead of his obligation to protect 22 million people in this coastal state. But watching him gloat Thursday over this foolish, self-serving move was simply grotesque.

The Legislature budgeted $75 million this year to enable USF to build its planned Center of Excellence in Environmental and Oceanographic Sciences. The $80 million facility would have been located on USF’s St. Petersburg campus, and built on the world-class reputation of its College of Marine Science to serve as a research and education hub on issues related to the environment, oceanography and sustainability.

The Legislature’s full-throated support reflected the importance to Florida in addressing climate-related impacts, from rising seas to water quality, and the rare alignment of stars that is having two area legislators in charge of the Florida House and Senate. Florida is uniquely vulnerable to the extreme weather and flooding associated with climate change, and having a home base here exploring coastal resiliency research would have provided enormous benefits to residents and industry alike. The World Bank has named Tampa Bay one of the 10 most at-risk areas in the world from damaging floods, and one study pegs the damages of a major hurricane here at $175 billion. No wonder the facility was USF’s top legislative priority, and no wonder the region’s business and civic leadership rallied to bring it to life.