U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., took to the Senate floor on Wednesday to weigh in on the “Green New Deal” proposed by some congressional Democrats. His speech was as follows:
When it comes to bankrupting our country, the Green New Deal puts all other ideas to shame. It calls for rebuilding or retrofitting every building in America in the next 10 years, eliminating all fossil fuels in 10 years, eliminating nuclear power, and working towards ending air travel.
This Green New Deal is not a serious policy idea; it’s a unicorn.
Democrats fail to grasp something basic — Republicans and Independents care about the environment. We want clean air, we want clean water, and we want to take care of our environment and natural resources. At the same time, we also care about our economy, jobs for families in our states, and making sure that everyone in our country has the opportunity to succeed.
We believe that taking care of the planet and working to create a better economy are objectives that can and must be pursued at the same time. You can’t afford to take care of the environment if you don’t have a strong economy. The Green New Deal would destroy our economy.
To embrace this Green New Deal plan is to be an enemy of the American economy and the American worker. Because when you stop and think about it – the “Green New Deal” is, in reality, the “Green Job Killer.”
Some will say, “Why bother picking on this plan? It’s not like it has any chance of being enacted.” Here’s the problem: A socialist from New York City with a massive Twitter following introduced this non-serious plan and every single major Democrat running for president immediately embraced it. Let that sink in for a moment.
Climate change is real and requires real solutions. But the Democrat party has accepted this economy-destroying New Deal as a new commandment, to go alongside single-payer healthcare and higher taxes on job creators. But for most Americans, this plan is a declaration of war on the economy, our way of life, and the standard of living for working-class families across the country.
And what does this mean for Florida? Well, it would mean the end of the tourism industry, massive job loss and unemployment. As for me, I love and cherish the environment; it’s what makes Florida so great. What I don’t love are naïve plans that would destroy Florida’s economy.
During my time as governor of Florida, we made record investments in our environment. And we were only able to do that because Florida’s economy was booming and we had the resources to make these investments.
The Green New Deal would reverse every ounce of progress we have made.
The most incredible part of the Green New Deal plan is the statement that they will provide “economic security for all people of the United States.” The government can never do that, to argue otherwise is a disservice to all hard-working Americans and nothing more than phony political posturing.
I look forward to a time when we don’t have to argue about ridiculous proposals being amplified in the media and can actually focus on real solutions to protect our environment and build our economy.
Thank you, and I yield back.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018 after two terms as governor of Florida.
