It will take decades to measure the success of Gov. Charlie Crist's ambitious campaign to slash Florida's global-warming pollution, but for environmentalists at least, he has already changed one important climate:
The political one.

The governor, scheduled to speak Friday night in Captiva to the 23rd Everglades Coalition conference, is assured of a rousing green-carpet reception from the state's largest annual gathering of environmentalists.

Short of trading his dapper attire for hiking shorts and Teva boots, Republican Crist has proved greener in Year One of his administration than even the most optimistic activists expected -- derailing a coal-burning power plant near the Everglades; ordering landmark standards for greener cars, electricity and homes, and blocking plans to strip the manatee of its endangered species status. He even ordered solar panels for the governor's mansion.

''He's turned out to be way better than we ever thought,'' said Eric Draper, a longtime lobbyist for Audubon of Florida. ``He came out of the box swinging on the energy issues, and he's kept at it.''

In a interview with The Miami Herald last week at his Tallahassee office, Crist called this a critical time to confront mounting environmental and climate concerns, saying investments over the next few years will pay dividends in the future -- in cheaper energy, cleaner skies and happier tourists.

''I want to do more and more as we go forward as it relates to Everglades funding, the environment generally and protecting Florida,'' Crist said. ``I don't think any state in the country is more susceptible to climate change than Florida.

''Our economy and environment,'' Crist said, ``are inextricably linked.''

Members of the Everglades Coalition, which includes 45 groups, have made similar arguments for decades. There has been slow progress, but despite billions already spent, the environmental advocacy groups' list of unresolved concerns looks pretty much as it has for years.

Pollution taints Lake Okeechobee and its major rivers despite a $1 billion-plus state cleanup effort. Growth management laws haven't prevented suburbs, roads and rock pits from consuming more water and carving further into dwindling habitats for Florida panther, gopher tortoise and an array of other imperiled wildlife. Worsening water shortages have affected all areas of the state.

The River of Grass isn't flowing any better seven years after the state and federal governments reached a landmark agreement to restore the Everglades. Most projects essential to reviving the wild Everglades remain years behind schedule.

With the projected restoration price tag pushing $20 billion, state and federal agencies talk about scaling back. Facing the prospect of rolled-back property taxes -- a proposal is on the Jan. 29 ballot -- the South Florida Water Management District is making contingency plans for cutbacks that could affect Everglades work.

Still, Crist remains optimistic in the face of shrinking budgets and growing challenges. Last year, with the state running $2 billion in the red, he supported legislation doubling Everglades funding to $200 million, with half the money targeting long-ignored pollution problems north of Lake Okeechobee.

''That's a strong signal at the highest levels that political leadership supports Everglades restoration,'' said Ernie Barnett, the district's legislation director.

Crist dismisses concerns that property tax reform will undermine state support for Everglades or other environmental projects.

''I think that argument is dead wrong,'' Crist said. He predicts consumer windfalls will boost the economy and state revenues. ``We'll end up with more rather than less.

''There truly is gold in green,'' he said.

Some activists remain dubious about the environmental benefits of a tax system overhaul, but it's one of the few quibbles they've had with Crist.

As a state legislator, Crist supported Everglades cleanup, manatee protection and a ban on commercial netting that had devastated coastal fish stocks. While campaigning for governor, Crist promised an environmental plan but never produced it, since the issue never became a hot topic.

But no one envisioned the first-year Republican governor becoming a global-warming crusader.

At a climate conference he hosted in Miami, Crist vowed to make Florida, producer of 1 percent of the world's greenhouse gases, a leader in cutting emissions, setting a target of an 80 percent reduction by 2050 -- a cut scientists applaud but warn may not go far enough fast enough.

He has sided with environmentalists over big controversies on coal and sea cows, bucking influential business, marine and fishing interests, and has won support for most agency appointments.

Crist has opened doors that were shut to conservationists for several years after relations with Gov. Jeb Bush turned nearly as chilly as a Greenland glacier -- largely over an overhaul of Everglades pollution standards.

Key Crist aides, along with top agency managers, now hold regular informal ''listening sessions'' with environmentalists. It's a sea change in attitude and approach.

''It is absolutely wonderful to be welcomed into the governor's offices,'' said Laurie MacDonald, Florida director of the Defenders of Wildlife.

''He has changed the dynamic,'' said Mark Perry, co-chair of the Everglades Coalition. ``This guy, he's different. He's not just giving lip service. He's doing something about it.''

The fight over the next state budget will reveal how much environmental clout Crist has over the Republican-controlled Legislature. Crist likely will face a mounting backlash from influential business and political forces in his own party.

House Speaker Marco Rubio, a West Miami Republican, ripped Crist's energy initiative as pricey, pie-in-the-sky proposals that could have ''negative consequences'' for Florida. And former Republican U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas, now head of a conservative think tank, accused the governor of ``pandering to radical environmentalists.''

Crist counters that the cost of failing to slow rising sea levels would be far greater for a state with more than 1,300 miles of low-lying coastline.

Crist dismisses political calculations.

He says he's more worried about preserving the sort of experience he enjoyed growing up in St. Petersburg and fishing with his father.

''This comes from me, from my heart,'' he said. ''If you look back to people like Teddy Roosevelt,'' who created the national park system, ``this is nothing new to the Republican Party at all. This goes back to the roots.''

Miami Herald staff writers Mary Ellen Klas and Sarah Tompkins contributed to this report.