“Going Green” has been a slogan that many of Florida’s elected officials campaigned on over the last few election cycles. With the 2020 midterm election is just months away from officially kicking off, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is continuing to push climate change legislation in the Florida legislature before she makes her expected gubernatorial run for office against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
In a joint press conference with State Senator Tina Polsky and State Rep. Kelly Skidmore, Commissioner Fried reasserted her position on climate change and praised the Biden administration's efforts to address the issue, adding that Florida was the “natural place for the Biden Administration to start” implementing their climate agenda.
It’s a “Great opportunity to really advance energy, and climate, and water, and carbon solutions,” said Commissioner Fried. “The administration understands the climate crisis, and we’ll continue to be working together with the administration on some of these issues.”
During the Q & A portion of the press conference, we asked Fried if a “broader climate change program” like the Green New Deal, would serve Florida better and any current legislation.
Fried half-stepped the question, saying that Floridians “have to get behind this climate crisis” more so than in any other state in the union.
“But because we have such an impact here on the climate crisis, it has to be all hands on deck,” said Fried. “That means that a lot of things that we have approached inside of this piece of legislation is a plan.”
Fried dodged the question, but so have a lot of other Democrats who see the controversial federal energy bill as toxic for their chances of being re-elected to office.
Sen.Polsky also refrained from showing support of the GND, saying that she didn’t “want to label anything Green New Deal” because of the political issues it drums up.
Polsky went on to say that GND was not “political.”
“I think anything we can do to benefit the climate change situation is what we need to do,” said Sen. Polsky. “I don’t want to label anything “Green New Deal” because that just creates a whole new host of other issues, but the point of it is to do what we can for the climate while at the same time creating new jobs. That’s why it is called the “New Deal” that’s what Franklin Roosevelt did.”
Polsky does not believe in making this about politics and did not comment further on the Green New Deal as she claims, “It’s not, it shouldn’t be political.”
