A poll being released today by Public Policy Polling will show a majority of Florida voters consider climate change a serious problem.
The poll was done in eight battleground states including Florida. The left-leaning group Americans United for Change, which supports President Barack Obama’s policies, commissioned the poll.
It follows the Clean Power Plan recently released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in an attempt to cut carbon pollution.
From the press release about the poll, a summary of results for Florida shows:
“When asked ‘How much of a problem do you consider climate change to be?’, 62% of voters in Florida consider it a “serious problem”, compared to 36% who don’t. After hearing a brief description of the Clean Power Plan and top arguments from proponents and opponents, 63% of voters in Florida say they support the plan while 35% oppose it. 66% of voters in Florida say they would either be more likely to support an elected official or it would make no difference if they supported the Clean Power Plan, compared to only 26% who would be more likely to oppose.”
Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s administration has been criticized by environmentalists for not addressing climate change. Earlier this year, the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting broke a story that cited former DEP officials who said they had been told verbally to phrases such as “climate change.”
But that hasn’t stopped Scott from bragging about his own environmental record. At a summit with presidential candidates in June, Scott said: “If you care about the environment, we've got record funding."
Scott's team points to investments the state has made to restore the Everglades and springs during Scott’s tenure -- and he has championed both. However the budget for the state Department of Environmental Protection and for Florida Forever were not a record under Scott -- two major pots of money that relate to the environment. PolitiFact Florida rated his claim Pants on Fire.
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