The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist: on Environment


Charlie Crist: 1992: Elected to State Senate on pro-environment message

On November 3, 1992, I was elected to the Florida Senate. I defeated a longtime Democratic senator named Helen Gordon Davis, though that didn't exactly make me a giant killer. The district lines had been redrawn after the 1990 census, and Helen's strength was Tampa. The new district included more of Republican-leaning St. Petersburg. My three-pronged message--pro-education, pro-environment, anti-crime--seemed to connect with the voters. And spending time on Connie Mack's staff had given me the valuable opportunity to interact with thousands of civic leaders, business people, and regular folks--not just around St. Petersburg but across the state.
Source: The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist, p. 41 Feb 4, 2014

Charlie Crist: Asked BP to pay $65M for tourism promotion, after oil spill

By the time the Deepwater Horizon well was capped, nearly 5 million barrels of oil had spilled. By comparison, the 1989 wreck of the Exxon Valdez released about 262,000 barrels.

Some of that gloppy black oil washed onto Pensacola Beach--not as much as some experts had worried about but enough to wreck the Panhandle's heavy summer tourist season.

Three separate times, I declared a state of emergency for large sections of Florida's Gulf Coast. Families were canceling their reservations and going to East Coast beaches or the mountains instead. It was a real punch in the gut to Florida's tourism economy. I asked the BP chairman to help pay for an advertising campaign telling potential visitors that the Gulf Coast was inviting and safe. The oil giant coughed up $25 million in tourism-promotion grants, plus an additional $15 million each for AL, MS, and LA. I wasn't shy about asking, and BP seemed willing to pay. The scope of the long-term environmental damage remained a matter of intense debate.

Source: The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist, p.263 Feb 4, 2014

Marco Rubio: Fix environment with free market, not government mandates

I signed 3 executive orders limiting greenhouse-gas emissions, setting stricter limits for cars sold in Florida, and insisting that utilities generate at least 20% of their electricity from renewable sources. Surprisingly, I didn't get much immediate blowback in Florida, even from my fellow Republicans. The only exception I recall was a snarky op-ed in The Miami Herald from Marco Rubio, then Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. Marco said he didn't really mind my focusing on the environment, but he didn't like the way I was doing it. "We must be willing to embrace the free-market approach--not European-style, big-government mandates," he declared. Which meant, in practice, do nothing.
Source: The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist, p.105-106 Feb 4, 2014

  • The above quotations are from The Party's Over:
    How the Extreme Right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat
    by Charlie Crist.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Environment.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Charlie Crist on Environment.
Candidates and political leaders on Environment:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Feb 20, 2019