Florida governor has consistently opposed any legislation to curb planet-heating emissions, calling it a ‘radical climate agenda’

A life-sized statue of Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, was unveiled and promptly began melting in front of an audience in Tallahassee in a symbolic protest at his rejection of action on the climate crisis.

The silvery statue, revealed to an audience of onlookers last week, melted away to show a skull under DeSantis’s face. The structure was cast from solid gallium, a metal that melts at 85.6F (29.8C), which is below summertime high temperatures frequently reached in Tallahassee, Florida’s capital.

James Robertson was the state’s 17th execution this year, amid scrutiny over failed lethal injection of Christa Pike

• US plan to livestream execution elicits global condemnation

Florida put to death a convicted murderer in the state’s first execution since September’s botched attempt involving Christa Pike in Tennessee, on Tuesday.

Officials said James Robertson, 63, was pronounced dead after he received a three-shot series of lethal injections at a Florida state prison in Raiford.

Governor halts execution of William Lee Thompson, after Christa Pike survived failed lethal injections

Ron DeSantis cancelled a planned execution in the state on Friday, days before a 74-year-old man was due to be killed by lethal injection.

The move – the first time Florida’s governor has withdrawn a death warrant in his nearly eight years in office – comes just over a week after the botched execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee.