Gov. Rick Scott wants the federal government to catch up on payments for the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee, as President Barack Obama heads to South Florida on Wednesday to discuss climate change.
Obama is set to appear at Everglades National Park to address the economic impact of climate change, a topic and phrase that was not mentioned in a release from the governor’s office Tuesday.
“President Obama needs to live up to his commitment on the Everglades and find a way to fund the $58 million in backlog funding Everglades National Park hasn’t received from the federal government,” Scott said in the release.
In his weekly radio address Saturday, Obama spoke of combating the threat of climate change in South Florida.
“The Everglades is one of the most special places in our country,” Obama said. “But it’s also one of the most fragile. Rising sea levels are putting a national treasure — and an economic engine for the South Florida tourism industry — at risk.”
Obama added that the impact of climate change “can no longer be denied —or ignored” because it means stronger storms, deeper droughts and longer wildfire seasons.
“The world’s top climate scientists are warning us that a changing climate already affects the air our kids breathe,” Obama said. “Last week, the surgeon general and I spoke with public experts about how climate change is already affecting patients across the country. The Pentagon says that climate change poses immediate risks to our national security.”
Scott became embroiled in a controversy after the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting last month reported that former Department of Environmental Protection officials said they had been told to avoid phrases such as “global warming” and “climate change.” Scott has denied that he prohibited state agencies from mentioning “climate change” or “global warming.”
In the release Tuesday, Scott said Florida is seeking “real solutions when it comes to protecting our environment.”
“We also need the federal government to step up their commitment to Everglades restoration by immediately requiring the Army Corps of Engineers to repair the Lake Okeechobee dike,” Scott said. “As we continue to make important investments in our environment, the president’s latest budget cuts millions from the repair of the Lake Okeechobee Dike — the rehabilitation of which is critical to the protection of South Florida’s estuaries.”
Obama’s trip comes as some environmental lobbyists are turning their focus from the Legislature toward Scott in seeking funding for land acquisition and the Everglades. The governor, House and Senate have taken different stances on the issues in their budget proposals.
“Against the House and Senate budgets, Governor Scott’s budget offers a compelling framework for funding conservation needs,” Audubon Florida advised members in a weekly newsletter Saturday.
Scott proposed designating $150 million annually for land acquisition and management, $150 million a year for the Everglades for 20 years and $50 million a year to protect natural springs.
The House has proposed selling $205 million in bonds for the Florida Forever program and using about half of the money for water resources, protection of the state’s natural springs, Kissimmee River restoration, and ranchland preservation. The Senate is offering $37 million for land acquisition, which includes the Kissimmee River restoration and springs preservation.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers with the firmest grasp on the state’s budget have been cool to efforts to use a voter-backed increase in funding for conservation land acquisition and management to purchase U.S. Sugar land to serve as a reservoir and flow-way for water from Lake Okeechobee through the Everglades.
A 2010 deal requires the state to purchase 46,800 acres, of which 26,100 acres would be used for construction of the Everglades Agricultural Area reservoir, by Oct. 12. Otherwise, Florida would have to buy an additional 157,000 acres to get the land for the reservoir.
Lawmakers note that among their reasons for opposing the purchase, estimated to start at $350 million, is that U.S. Sugar is currently not a willing seller.
–Jim Turner, News Service of Florida
Obama 2015 says
So Scott wants $58 million to take care of the Everglades but can’t take federal money for expanding Medicaid. He also declined to meet with Obama today as every Governor should when the leader of the country comes to your state. Tell me again why people voted for this guy?
Lancer says
“Climate Change”…the hoax created by statists, based solely on computer models, to expand government power. 0bam-bam considers it to be “the greatest threat to our country”???
Not…Iran?
Not…ISIS?
Why waste tax dollars to travel and meet the President when all he’s here to do is speak about stupidity? In fact, why is 0bam-bam wasting tax dollars for this reason? Must have had a fundraiser in Miami because the campaigning never stops.
People voted for Scott because dems supported the wishy-washy, flip flopping Morgan puppet. Scott was ripe for a beating and democrats chose to get behind “name recognition” instead of a decent candidate.
YankeeExPat says
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
― Isaac Asimov
Lancer says
More “do as I say, not as I do” from global warming liars…9,000 gallons of burning fuel!!
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2015/04/22/more-than-9000-gallons-of-fuel-to-be-used-on-air-force-one-for-obamas-trip-to-everglades-on-earth-day/
Obama 2015 says
Give me a break..
Obama 2015 says
Ok so lets say Climate Change is a hoax.
Is it really going to kill you and everyone else to take better care of the environment? I mean just do little things like recycle your trash and give away stuff that is still useful to a charity instead of leaving it at the curb.
Also is it going to really grind your gears if we make things more fuel efficient and try and push solar options and put in laws to be nice to animals, the air, the water we drink and the ocean?
Everyone is so worried about the debt but what good is money if you don’t have a place to live?
Lancer says
http://www.naturalnews.com/041981_global_warming_computer_models_cooling.html
Sherry E says
“Naturalnews.com” is garbage published by a conspiracy theorists! This from Wikipedia on naturalnews.com:
Natural News (formerly Newstarget) is a website founded and operated by Mike Adams. It is based in Cedar Creek, Texas.[2]
It is dedicated to the sale of various dietary supplements, promotion of alternative medicine, controversial nutrition and health claims,[3] and various conspiracy theories,[4] such as “chemtrails”, the purported dangers of fluoride in drinking water[5] (as well as those of monosodium glutamate[6] and aspartame), and purported health problems caused by allegedly “toxic” ingredients in vaccines,[3] including the now-discredited link to autism.[7]
Characterized as a “conspiracy-minded alternative medicine website”, Natural News has approximately 7 million unique visitors per month.[8] Founder Mike Adams has been accused of using sockpuppet accounts to fraudulently increase the vote count in his self-nomination for a Shorty Award. The journal Vaccine accused Adams of spreading “irresponsible health information” through Natural News. He has also been accused of using “pseudoscience to sell his lies”.
Sherry E says
Try reading factual research on climate change from actual “scientists” at NASA:
http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
A.S.F. says
The governor press office is too busy touting the governor’s splendiferous record to have time or space to devote to anything having to do with anything else (but especially Obama.)
Lancer says
NASA is a government agency. Dependent on government funding and politicians, Sherry. Of course, they’re going to say anything!
It’s about the data! “Global Warming” is entirely predicated on computer models, data entry.
There have been, more than a few times, where it has been found, in the last five years, that the data entered was completely fabricated.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/11561629/Top-scientists-start-to-examine-fiddled-global-warming-figures.html
No one should be against conservation, 0bam-bam. Why do you and yours take things to their illogical extreme? That’s simply not the case with “climate changers” or “global warmists”…they want regulation, taxation and more control, period.
Algore isn’t a smart man, but he figured out to stay remotely relevant…galavanting around the world, burning thousands of gallons of fossil fuels promoting a baseless scheme. Same as “global cooling” in the 1970s and “Acid Rain” in the 1980s.
“Global warming is our greatest threat”,0bama says. I say that is completely ridiculous, only trumped by the fact that there are actual idiots who believe it.
a tiny manatee says
Remember folks, regardless of the fact that thousands of papers have been peer-reviewed and published in legitimate science journals detailing numerical models, results, predictions, data, etc. it’s all just a conspiracy somehow engineered by the government. A massive conspiracy, engineered by the communist left and rightfully discredited by noted scientists like rush limbaugh, sean hannity, and glen beck.