Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Melissa RossOctober 6, 2015

One month, one city, two panels looking at the future of energy, with two very different tones. This October, Jacksonville will host the Florida Energy Summit. The event, sponsored by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the JAX Chamber, is billed as “convening energy leaders from across the state and around the nation to share ideas on […]

Diane RobertsOctober 1, 2015

John Keats called autumn the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.” Which is true. But autumn is also the season when conservatives seem to ramp up the crazy. Maybe college football gets them so riled up they can’t handle reality. Or maybe it’s the semi-annual almost-not-quite-government-shutdown. That certainly impels U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz into a […]

Associated PressSeptember 24, 2015

Standing before a rapt Congress, Pope Francis issued a ringing call to action on behalf of immigrants Thursday, urging lawmakers to embrace “the stranger in our midst” as he became the first pontiff in history to address a joint meeting of the legislators. Referencing the migration crisis in Europe as well as the United States’ […]

Melissa RossSeptember 22, 2015

Florida’s a big, complex state. Different cities deal with different issues and often seem like they are on different planets. For example, in conservative Jacksonville the City Council just signed off on a new budget that keeps taxes low and prioritizes public safety, big concerns in Duval. Meanwhile, down in drowning Miami-Dade, Mayor Carlos Gimenez […]

Diane RobertsSeptember 15, 2015

Remember when Rick Scott went around in 2014 claiming to be an environmentalist? Yeah, that was hilarious. If you find the rape and pillage of Florida amusing. Some of our fellow citizens actually fell for it, too, just enough to get him re-elected. Flori-duh, indeed. Here’s Scott’s shameful scorecard: 1. Still won’t talk about climate […]

Diane RobertsSeptember 14, 2015

Remember when Rick Scott went around in 2014 claiming to be an environmentalist? Yeah, that was hilarious. If you find the rape and pillage of Florida amusing. Some of our fellow citizens actually fell for it, too, just enough to get him re-elected. Flori-duh, indeed. Here’s Scott’s shameful scorecard: 1. Still won’t talk about climate […]

Jim RosicaSeptember 9, 2015

Gov. Rick Scott‘s environmental policy coordinator has been hired to run the Suwannee River Water Management District, the district announced in a press release. Noah Valenstein will take over as executive director for the Live Oak-based agency, which manages water resources in 15 counties in north central Florida. Valenstein also attended the meeting last August in which Scott listened […]

Melissa RossSeptember 7, 2015

In politics, language can make all the difference. For example, famed political consultant/public opinion guru Frank Luntz made his reputation by turning oil drilling into “energy exploration” and changing the estate tax into the “death tax.” “It’s not what you say,” went his famous slogan, “it’s what they hear.” Luntz also advised clients not to […]

Associated PressSeptember 1, 2015

President Barack Obama is painting a doomsday scenario for the Arctic and beyond if climate change isn’t dealt with fast: entire nations submerged underwater, cities abandoned and refugees fleeing in droves as conflict breaks out across the globe. It’s a harrowing image of a future that Obama insists is inevitable unless the world follows his […]

Bill PrescottAugust 26, 2015

Writer, international scholar, FSU English professor, opinion columnist and environmentalist Diane Roberts entertained a crowd of North Florida Democrats Tuesday evening with her incisive wit and pointed observations about the state of Florida and its leaders. Referring to herself as “that professor conservatives warn you about,” Roberts let fly a quiverful of bon mots as […]

Tag: climate change

Jax climate and energy panels: a tale of two conferences

Diane Roberts: The season when conservatives ramp up the crazy

Pope Francis addresses religion, Islamic extremists, immigration in historic speech

Miami-Dade hires “resiliency officer” to fight effects of sea level rise

Diane Roberts: Rick Scott runs up scorecard of shame

Diane Roberts: Rick Scott runs up scorecard of shame

Rick Scott’s environmental advisor tapped as water district head

In Florida, to move the needle on climate, talk about “sea level rise”

Barack Obama paints doomsday scene of global warming in Alaska

Diane Roberts skewers ruling class during Tallahassee talk