In response to Rick Scott’s event today in Cape Coral, and Scott’s subsequent State of Emergency declaration, John Capece, Ph.D, of the Florida Democratic Environmental Caucus released the following statement:

“The algae bloom problem is Rick Scott’s problem, and is yet another reminder of how Rick Scott has been a bad governor by putting himself over Floridians. Now that it’s an election year, Scott is saying and doing anything to get elected, but his record speaks for itself. He slashed the Department of Environmental Protection’s budget, eliminated the DEP’s ability to enforce their protection mandates, drastically reduced key local planning requirements, and spent years vehemently fighting water quality standards. On top of all that, he is a prolific climate denier, even going so far as to ban the words ‘climate change’ from being used in state communications. No matter what he says today, the facts remain — as governor, Rick Scott has done nothing to actually help the algae bloom problem.”