Rick Scott Cannot Rewrite His Record on the Environment

Rick Scott Cannot Rewrite His Record on the Environment

In response to Rick Scott’s attempt to rewrite his record on the environment during an election-year campaign stop, Florida Democratic Party spokesman Sebastian Kitchen released the following statement:

“Rick Scott cannot erase his damaging seven-year assault on the environment. Floridians  know Scott banned the terms ‘climate change’ and ‘global warming,’ that he took money Florida voters approved to protect natural resources and used it to pay a legal settlement for his use of private email, that his administration waited days to alert the public when a company he invested in dumped more than 200 million gallons in contaminated wastewater into an aquifer, and that he defended drilling near Florida shores and beaches even after a disastrous oil spill. Scott is a self-serving politician who is looking out for himself and his investments – not for the health of Florida’s citizens and natural resources.”

Read here for a reminder of Rick Scott’s extreme record on the environment:

Florida DEP Officials Were Ordered Not To Use Terms ‘Climate Change,’ ‘Global Warming’ In Any Official Communications. “DEP officials have been ordered not to use the term ‘climate change’ or ‘global warming’ in any official communications, emails, or reports, according to former DEP employees, consultants, volunteers and records obtained by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting. The policy goes beyond semantics and has affected reports, educational efforts and public policy in a department with about 3,200 employees and $1.4 billion budget.” [Miami Herald, 3/8/15]

Headline: Florida Gov. Rick Scott Has Repeatedly Flip-Flopped On Offshore Oil Drilling. “The Republican is trying to burnish his green cred before running for Senate. But he has a history of bait-and-switch.” [HuffPost,1/09/18]

Scott Invested In Mosaic. “Many investments disclosed a year ago were held by Scott, along with some in the name of his wife, first lady Ann Scott. They included holdings in limited partnerships, energy firms and stock of Fortune 500 companies, some of which lobby the executive branch in Tallahassee, including Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft and Mosaic, a phosphate company.” [The Bradenton Herald, 7/2/15]

• WFLA: The Government “Kept The Lid” On Mosaic Sinkhole. “A giant sinkhole sucked hundreds of millions of gallons of radioactive water from a gypsum stack in Mulberry and dumped it into our aquifer.Now, we’ve found out the government kept the lid on it.” [WFLA, 9/16/16]

The Miami Herald Editorial Board: Scott’s $700,000 Settlement Was “Outrageous,” Used Taxpayer Money To Get Out Of Jam After Attempted To Prevent Public From Seeing Communications. “Even for someone who has amply shown contempt for open government, Rick Scott’s latest failure to play by the rules is outrageous. The governor has agreed to pay $700,000 – in state funds – to settle seven public-records lawsuits involving alleged violations of Florida’s public-records law. That’s our money that the governor is using to get out of a jam involving an arrogant attempt to prevent the public from seeing communications with his staff.” [Editorial, The Miami Herald, 8/12/15]

The Miami Herald Editorial Board: Scott Used Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars Meant To “Protect Florida’s Natural Resources” To Settle Case Over His Use Of Private Email On State Business. And here is the final indignity: The $700,000 settlement in the Andrews case will include $120,000 from the governor’s office, $60,000 from the Department of State and $75,000 from the office of Attorney General Pam Bondi. But the bulk of the money, $445,000, will come from the Department of Environmental Protection. Why DEP? Because DEP is flush, thanks to the voters’ overwhelming approval of Amendment 1, which sets aside money to protect Florida’s natural resources.’ [Editorial, The Miami Herald, 8/12/15]

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