In response to Rick Scott’s press conference today on hurricane preparedness, State Senator José Javier Rodríguez and local environmentalists joined a press call and called out Rick Scott’s poor record on the environment and lack of action in actually preparing Florida for hurricanes.

State Senator José Javier Rodríguez: “There are a lot of missed opportunities which Governor Scott could’ve used to make sure the state is actually prepared for hurricane season. Unfortunately when we look at preparing the state, it appears Scott is motivated by press opportunities to wear his hat and to be in the spotlight than actually doing anything over the past 7-plus years he has been in office.”

Salome Garcia, 350 South Florida: “Today, I’m sure Rick Scott will try to pretend he cares about preparedness. He won’t mention climate change. As we’ve seen time and time again Rick Scott is a climate change denier. It is irresponsible to talk about hurricane preparedness without talking about climate change. He will try to pander to voters. But his actions speak louder than his words. He has done close to nothing to make Florida more prepared to mitigate the impacts of storms. He has done the opposite.”

Laura Bauman, Upper Keys Action Network: “This is as real of a threat as it gets for the vitality of people living and working in the Keys. We are at ground zero for climate change effects, but Rick Scott continues to deny that climate change even exists. To elect Rick Scott to the U.S. Senate would be disastrous and would have negative ripple effects for generations to come. To put it plainly, it is against the best interest of any voter in Florida to vote for Rick Scott.”

Aliki Moncrief, Florida Conservation Voters: “Rick Scott has had an abysmal environmental record, and it’s only really been in the last few months that he’s tried to greenwash that. He cares more about winning the election, more about getting a promotion to the senate, then he cares about actually making the state prepared for the effects of climate change. Unfortunately, this has become more of a publicity stunt.”