How Senate rivals Scott, Mucarsel-Powell differ on Florida’s climate change issues

Denise Hruby, Miami HeraldMiami Herald

From the food we eat and whether we’ll be able to afford buying it to whether a place is too hot, too dry or too frequently flooded to live, climate shapes our civilization, culture, and economy. Yet climate issues have yet to take center stage in an election, even in Florida, the state most affected by climate change.

But back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton have now put a spotlight on climate change in the months before a pivotal U.S. Senate election. The massive multistate destruction at the very least persuaded Sen. Rick Scott, known for his aversion to speak about climate change, to address the issue in an interview with CNN.

Though he still questioned the scientifically proven fact that the burning of fossil fuels is causing the bulk of this change — “Who knows what the reason is,” he said — he did acknowledge that “the climate’s clearly changing.”

It’s a small shift reflecting a political reality that almost all Floridians understand that climate change is happening. Colin Polsky, a climate social scientist at Florida Atlantic University, also found that, in a survey conducted shortly before Helene and Milton hit, 52 percent of respondents favored candidates known to take climate action. Though partisanship is on the rise when it comes to climate issues, Polsky said that “we still have a majority of Floridians who support climate action and a candidate who is strong on that issue.”

The Herald asked both candidates – Scott, a Republican, and Democratic challenger Debbie Mucarsel-Powell – what actions they plan to take if they were elected.

Critics have long viewed Scott as roadblock to progress on climate issues. As governor, he reportedly directed state staff not to use the words “climate change”, a claim he has since denied. He also aggressively pushed to depopulate the state-run Citizens disaster insurance company of last resort while failing to create a stable private insurance market, which is continuing to cost Floridians during the tenure of current Gov. Ron DeSantis. As senator, Scott also voted against the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law which included Everglades funding he has since celebrated as “the largest single amount ever allocated by the federal government”.

Mucarsel-Powell’s political record is much shorter, including on climate change: A former FIU administrator who moved to the U.S. from Ecuador as a teen, she became a US representative in 2019 and helped deliver a bipartisan bill continuing the effort to restore the Everglades, which helps protect South Florida’s drinking water from threats like salt water intrusion. Though she failed to secure a second term, she is now running for the Senate in part because she says she understands the threats of climate change, and wants to push for federal funding to help Florida build more resilient infrastructure.

The Herald’s questions focused on key questions for the future: How is each candidate planning to help address the insurance crisis, cut the emissions that are worsening disasters, and protect Floridians’ lives and livelihoods for the ones yet to come?

Both candidates generally replied with vague ideas and statements pulled from previous press releases. We condensed answers for readability, excluded statements that didn’t pass a fact-check, and cut attacks on their opponents.

Fixing the skyrocketing insurance market

Mucarsel-Powell said she’d use her power in the Senate to push for a federal homeowners insurance policy “to compete on the private market and lower costs for Floridians” by spreading the costs of disasters like hurricanes beyond the state.

This, she said, would be part of a wider “affordability plan” that includes a bill “that would bring down the cost of home insurance by 25 percent,” by lowering the payments insurers have to make to their reinsurers. The bill was introduced earlier this year in the House of Representatives, and would be supported by Mucarsel-Powell in the Senate.

READ MORE: Rick Scott’s opponent blames him for Florida property insurance crisis. Is she right?

Scott pointed to three bills he says would make different types of insurance more affordable. One of those bills was introduced just this August and counts three pages, including a line stating that individuals “shall be allowed as a deduction an amount equal to so much of the qualified insurance premiums paid or incurred during the taxable year as does not exceed $10,000.” None of the bills he pointed to have passed. Other than that, he said, the business of property insurance is handled by the states.

On hurricane recovery and climate resilience

Scott said he wants to “make sure Floridians are able to take personal action that protects their home and make recovery from the next storm less burdensome,” and pointed to his idea for a “Residential Emergency Asset Accumulation Deferred Taxation Yield Account”. Homeowners’ contributions into this “READY Account” would be capped at $4,500 and exempt from taxes. Scott, who has been in office since 2019, announced the plan last week in the wake of two hurricanes.

Mucarsel-Powell says she’d aim to work across the aisle to get investments that will bolster climate resilience projects, as she has in the past. She said she “will always be a vote to fund disaster relief in the Senate, and a vote for climate resiliency.”

On reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Mucarsel-Powell says she’d not only support the Inflation Reduction Act, which has spurred hundreds of billions of dollars in investments in renewable energy, but wants to expand it to bring more solar manufacturing to Florida “and create good-paying jobs while reducing our energy bills and moving us away from reliance on fossil fuels.”

Experts have long pointed to Florida’s largely untapped potential for solar energy and criticized its growing reliance on carbon-emitting natural gas, which supplies more than 75 percent of demand.

Rick Scott pointed to on-going progress in reducing damaging emissions and said he trusts that American innovation “will lead the way to solving problems related to climate change.” He did not elaborate how innovation might solve climate change, nor whether he supported specific legislation that would bolster innovation.

This climate report is funded by Florida International University, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the David and Christina Martin Family Foundation in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald retains editorial control of all content.