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Will the push by state officials to push construction projects in state parks put its electoral votes and Senate race in play this Fall?
Florida Democratic Party officials told reporters that a proposal for lodging and golf courses in state parks is turning voters of all ideologies against Republicans.
“Here in Florida, we have also seen the consequences of such extreme policies, like the state’s near total abortion ban, book banning, ‘Don’t Say Gay’ and plans to build golf courses and hotels in our precious state parks,” said Jasmine Burney-Clark, Florida Director for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ campaign.
“As we’ve ramped up efforts from Pensacola to Key West, it’s clear that while Donald Trump takes Florida for granted, we are just getting started. So, we’re reaching out to every voter, and we mean every voter.”
The Department of Environmental Protection spurred mass protests this weekend after announcing its Great Outdoors Initiative, which involved installing more active uses in nine state parks.
The outrage prompted the Tuskegee Dunes Foundation to abandon plans it apparently backed for multiple golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park.
But the state continues to pursue other plans, including up to 350 lodging rooms at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park and at Anastasia State Park.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, said Floridians want a different approach to preserving the state’s conservation lands.
“Let’s envision a state where coastal communities and our fisheries, our state parks, are not just protected, but they’re flourishing,” she said.
Mucarsel-Powell in November will challenge U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, a Naples Republican. Scott’s campaign scoffed at the idea the issue will hurt the incumbent.
“Only a partisan hack would try to launch a political attack on one of the few issues we actually agree on. We are glad Debbie agrees with Senator Scott that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection must listen to Floridians, ensure their voices are heard, and make decisions accordingly,” said Scott spokesperson Will Hampson.
“Senator Scott was proud to work with Senator Rubio, Representative Mast and his colleagues to urge the state to allow a more substantial public comment period, and we’re glad they listened. We’re also glad to see Debbie join the fight and make a rare trip outside of Miami – but we’re not sure she has the capability to do anything more than be a partisan hack.”
Democrats framed the parks plan alongside several cultural war issues, driving home a message that emerged at the Democratic National Convention, that Florida is a testing ground for Project 2025.
“Floridians have been those lab rats for Project 2025 and have experienced firsthand what happens when you give extremism a permission slip in our state,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried.
Project 2025’s chapter on the Department of Interior (DOI) calls for opening much of 500 million in federal lands to energy exploration.
“No other initiative is as important for the DOI under a conservative President than the restoration of the department’s historic role managing the nation’s vast storehouse of hydrocarbons, much of which is yet to be discovered,” the plan states.
5 comments
Dont Say FLA
August 27, 2024 at 1:30 pm
Project 2025: Convert state parks into golf courses
Project 2026: Turn those golf courses into fracking fields. Nobody gives a shit about golf courses, so it’ll be an easy sell with the public
Ron Ogden
August 27, 2024 at 1:45 pm
Apparently you do not know the definition of the old phrase, “Grasping at straws” or you would have used it.
Try this for a headline: “Democrats pick up the pickleball bat as a weapon against Republicans.” It’s apt.
ELVIS [FKA EARL]
August 27, 2024 at 2:30 pm
Actually this exact scandal was the reason the Dook 4 Brains Left set this entire scam up.
And it would have worked had not I, Elvis [FKA Earl], not caught wind of their scammy scam and busted it wide open by Nipping It In The Bud
I thank myself and will likely receive the Presidental Medal Of Honor for my Sage Work. [Yes America The Same Medal Trump Gave To RUSH.
Once again I thank myself for My Sage Wisdom,
ELVIS, FKA EARL
FLPatriot
August 27, 2024 at 3:33 pm
Another good reason to vote the GOP out.
Destruction of Environment Program
August 27, 2024 at 3:35 pm
Most conservatives I know actually believe in conservation. It’s this modern day mutation of politicians on right and left seems to think it has to be one extreme or the other and forces people who care about common sense approaches to environmental and public health AND economic health into making Sophie’s choice. The younger GOP better wise up. Same with the far left with their endless mandates. This DEP takeover seriously pissed me off and you better believe I will retaliate with my vote. Florida’s DEP has always been the Destruction of the Environment Program. So egregious I just don’t even have words. They’re not gonna stop until the whole state looks like one giant ugly strip mall no one can afford to shop at. It’s almost as if they’re just trying to be @$$h013$.