ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Senator Rick Scott was in St. Augustine Wednesday, thanking first responders for their life-saving work during Ian.
The former governor went around the Davis Shores neighborhood, which was especially hard hit by flooding, and says residents there want to make sure they get the help they need from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
In August the former governor opposed the Inflation Reduction Act, which gives hundreds of billions of dollars to climate and energy programs. First Coast News asked Scott why he opposed it when scientists say his state is the most impacted by climate change in the country.
"As governor we invested quite a bit of money on resiliency, sea level rise and things like that," Scott said. "But what I disagree with is what Chuck Schumer does, he puts these big budget bills and then puts other stuff in with it. We need to do these bills separately, like we did when I was governor of Florida."
First Coast News asked Scott to clarify if he means he would support the parts of the Inflation Reduction Act that contributed to fighting climate change if they were put forth in a separate deal that wasn't the IRA.
"I invested in it when I was governor," Scott responded. "We clearly have climate change. We clearly are dealing with sea level rise and so we have to be investing in that, but let's invest it in a logical manner where we get a return."
This is a different tune from when Scott was governor and the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting reported Florida Department of Environmental Protection officials were ordered not to use the terms “climate change” or “global warming” in any official capacity and that Scott repeatedly said he was not convinced climate change was caused by humans.
Scott tells First Coast News accusations that he did not want to acknowledge climate change as governor are false, calling it an "urban legend."