This weekend, republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis swung through southwest Florida where he met with the heads of three local universities, delegates to the state house of representatives, and FGCU water quality researchers.
The meeting took place behind closed doors and took about an hour.
Afterward, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis talked with the media about his plans to tackle the state's algae issues. He says he’s a conservationist- not an environmentalist and says he thinks most Floridians are too.
“I think they want their environment protected, but they want it protected because it’s really the foundation of our economy,” he said.
DeSantis laid out his plan in three steps if elected:
First, he wants to appoint people to the South Florida water management district board who demonstrate an interest in how water quality impacts the economy.
Second, he says he wants to aggregate the state’s water quality standards under the Department of Environmental Protection.
Third, he says he wants to work with the Federal Government to accelerate construction of the reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to ultimately stop the discharges of nutrient laden water into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers; which are largely blamed for ongoing toxic algae blooms on both of Florida’s coasts. In making this third point, he leaned on his relationship with the Trump White House.
“That’s the ultimate solution and I’m the only person who can execute that. My opponent is somebody who wants to impeach Donald trump- that’s what he says- so just think about if he gets elected is he going to be able to go to the white house and work to get the Army Corps to get behind this and work to accelerate it? Of course not. That’s just not the way it works,” DeSantis said.
The Water Resources Development Act, which will accelerate and fund the reservoir south of the Lake, has passed the United States House of Representatives and is awaiting a vote in the Senate.
Copyright 2018 WGCU
