Rick Scott News

U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced the American Shores Protection Act to codify the moratorium on oil and gas drilling off the coasts of Florida that was put in place by September 8, 2020, Executive Order by then-President Trump. Under the legislation, the moratorium would be in place for the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic until 2032.Congressman Michael Waltz (R-FL) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Hurricane Michael, the third most powerful storm ever to strike the U.S. mainland, headed northeast on Thursday, weakened but still set to soak Georgia and the Carolinas after devastating the Florida Panhandle.By 6 AM on Thursday, heavy rain and wind had reached as far north as Charlotte, North Carolina and the Western North Carolina mountains. The center of the storm was located over Augusta, Georgia, moving north rapidly at more than 20 MPH in a north / northeast heading. Charlotte…

Hurricane Michael, now a Category 4 storm, will be the second hurricane in two months to significantly affect ports on the U.S. eastern seaboard. Eastern North Carolina in particular is only now recovering from Florence.The U.S. Coast Guard has set conditions X-Ray for ports in Georgia and South Carolina in preparation for Hurricane Michael. The storm is now expected to make landfall by Wednesday afternoon. While gale force winds are expected within the next 48 hours, these ports can remain open to commercial traffic.

Hurricane Michael is expected to strengthen today in the Gulf of Mexico, with the Florida panhandle directly in its dangerous path.Thousands of local residents in Wakulla, Gulf and Bay counties have been ordered to leave. Forecasters now say that Michael could be a Category 3 storm when it makes landfall on Wednesday. That prediction, if true, would make the storm the strongest to hit this area in at least a decade.As of 3 AM CDT on Tuesday, Michael was a Category 1 storm, with sustained winds of up to 90 miles per hour. It was gaining strength following a path that took it along Cuba's western tip, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

As the U.S. Coast Guard continues planning for the construction of the new icebreakers it desperately needs, U.S. shipbuilder Bollinger Shipyards says it has a facility suitable to build them.Bollinger says it has selected Tampa Shipyard for the design and construction of up to three heavy polar icebreakers, and three additional medium sized icebreakers under consideration by the U.S. Coast Guard.“We are excited to respond to the Coast Guard’s need to recapitalize its depleted polar capabilities,” said Ben Bordelon, Bollinger’s President and CEO.

Twenty-two Democratic U.S. senators from 12 states on Thursday joined the chorus of local representatives seeking exemptions from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's newly proposed offshore drilling plan, after his surprise move on Tuesday to shield Florida. Zinke surprised lawmakers, governors, and industry groups on Tuesday night by announcing that Florida would be removed from the Interior Department's proposal to open up over 90 percent of federal waters to oil and gas leasing.

Governors and other officials from several U.S. coastal states ramped up pressure on the Trump administration on Wednesday to exempt their waters from an offshore drilling plan, hours after the Interior Department granted Florida's request to opt out. The backlash could complicate President Donald Trump's efforts to expand oil and gas production offshore. A proposed leasing plan unveiled last week aims to open up all U.S. coasts to drillers over the next five years. Alaska and Maine are the only two U.S. states whose governors have expressed support for the plan.

The Trump administration on Thursday proposed opening nearly all U.S. offshore waters to oil and gas drilling, a move aimed at boosting domestic energy production that sparked protests from coastal states, environmentalists and the tourism industry. The effort to open previously off-limits acreage in the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific oceans comes less than eight years after BP Plc's Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico - the largest in American history. The disaster…

At least half of Puerto Rico's island without power; storm likely to hit Florida Saturday or Sunday. Hurricane Irma killed eight people on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin and left Barbuda devastated on Thursday as one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a century took aim at Florida. Television footage of the Franco-Dutch island of Saint Martin showed a damaged marina with boats tossed into piles, submerged streets and flooded homes. Power was knocked out on Saint Martin, Saint Barthelemy and in parts of the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. "It is an enormous disaster, 95 percent of the island is destroyed. I am in shock," Daniel Gibbs, chairman of a local council on Saint Martin, told Radio Caribbean International.

Hurricane Irma, a powerful Category 4 storm, plowed toward the Caribbean and the southern United States on Tuesday as islands in its path braced for possible life-threatening winds, storm surges and flooding. Hurricane warnings and watches were in effect for parts of the Leeward Islands, the British and U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, in preparation for a storm that was intensifying with 150 mph (240 kph) winds, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. "Dangerous Hurricane Irma heading for the Leeward Islands," the hurricane center said. A Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale means sustained winds of 130-156 mph (209-251 kph) with "catastrophic" outcomes.

The Mississippi ports of Pascagoula and Gulfport signed agreements in Cuba on Monday with an eye to future business and with a Republican U.S. senator from the state looking on, despite concerns President Donald Trump might backtrack on improved relations. Senator Thad Cochran is the only Republican among five U.S. senators and a U.S. representative on a three-day visit to the Communist-run Caribbean island to discuss relations and explore business opportunities. The agreements were signed during a business forum to explore future trade attended by Cochran. “There is great potential for business between these ports and Cuba due to the geographical proximity and the excellent fluvial and maritime ways Mississippi has…

Broward County's Port Everglades had a record-setting month in December 2016, logging 104,590 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units, the industry's standard measurement for containers), moving through the Port. This is the highest producing month in the Port's nearly 90 -year history, and a 15 percent increase over December 2015. TEU counts at Port Everglades have been climbing since September. "Our customers are bringing in higher volumes of consumer goods such as produce, clothing and household goods as the region's population increases. It's an indication of a strengthening economy," said Port Everglades Chief Executive and Port Director Steven Cernak. He announced the record TEU count at Florida Governor Rick Scott's 2017 Jobs Summit in Orlando on February 2, 2017.

The news comes as Cuba watchers are looking closely for signs of how the United States' fragile detente with Cuba will fare under President Donald Trump. "Disappointed some (Florida ports) would enter into any agreement with Cuban dictatorship," Scott wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. "I will recommend restricting state funds for ports that work with Cuba in my budget. Port authorities along the U.S. Southern coast are strong proponents of increased trade and travel with Cuba, and some have expressed interest in using Mariel, located on the northwest coast of the Caribbean island, as a transshipment hub. The Ports of Everglades and Palm Beach had been planning to sign agreements with Cuba during the visit of a Cuban trade delegation this week but said they decided to withdraw the deals.

Storm's eye nears Cape Canaveral. The first major hurricane threatening a direct hit on the United States in more than 10 years lashed Florida on Friday with heavy rains and winds after killing at least 339 people in Haiti on its destructive march north through the Caribbean. Hurricane Matthew packed gusts of 100 miles per hour (160 kph) as it tracked north-northwest along Florida's east coast, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. The storm's eye was 25 miles (40 km) east of Cape Canaveral, home to the nation's chief space launch site. "We are seriously ground zero here in Cape Canaveral -- hunkered down, lights flickering, winds are crazy," said resident Sandy Wilk on Twitter.

Hurricane Matthew, the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, strengthened as it barreled toward the southeastern United States on Thursday after killing at least 140 people, mostly in Haiti, on its deadly northward march. As Matthew blew through the northwestern Bahamas on Thursday en route to Florida's Atlantic coast, it became an "extremely dangerous" hurricane carrying winds of 140 miles per hour (220 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. That made it a Category 4 hurricane and it was likely to remain so as it approached the United States…

President Barack Obama and state governors on Wednesday urged millions of people along the U.S. Southeast coast to evacuate and prepare for Hurricane Matthew as the potentially devastating storm took aim at Florida. Matthew, currently pummeling the Bahamas and the fiercest Caribbean storm in nearly a decade, was forecast to begin lashing Florida with fierce winds, storm surges and heavy rain late on Thursday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Federal emergency response teams took positions and stockpiled supplies in Florida…

The United States prepared to airlift hundreds of people from its Guantanamo Bay naval base as the most powerful cyclone to form over the Atlantic since Hurricane Felix in 2007 ground slowly towards Jamaica, Haiti and Cuba. Haiti also began evacuating residents by boat from outlying islands in preparation for Hurricane Matthew, which threatens to wreak widespread damage in the region with flash floods and winds at about 150 miles per hour (240 kph). Matthew is expected to make landfall as a major storm on Jamaica's southern coast, home to the capital, Kingston, and its only oil refinery. Stormy weather could begin on Sunday. Simultaneously…

Wind and rain from Hurricane Hermine toppled trees and power lines along Florida's northern Gulf Coast, inundating coastal areas with storm surges before it weakened to a tropical storm over land and plowed toward the Atlantic Coast on Friday. Hermine made landfall early on Friday near St. Marks, Florida, 20 miles south of the capital of Tallahassee, dumping heavy rains and packing winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), leaving tens of thousands of households without power along Florida's Gulf Coast. No injuries were immediately reported. It was the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Wilma more than a decade ago. A weakening Hermine moved across southern Georgia, blowing winds of 60 miles per hour (95 km) at 8 a.m. EDT, (noon GMT), according to the National Hurricane Center.

The Volkswagen Group will begin importing Volkswagens, Audis and Bentleys through Jacksonville on May 5th, after selecting JaxPort as the company's Southeastern U.S. port, Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced at a news conference Wednesday. 100,000 Volkswagen group vehicles will be imported from Mexico and Germany through JaxPort in the next year, with 550,000 expected over the next five years, the Florida Times-Union reports. The paper added that the $3.4 million investment in a new auto distribution center will create 100 jobs.

Strong winds and heavy rainfall were expected across the southeastern United States on Tuesday even as the center of Tropical Storm Colin was moving into the Atlantic Ocean. The storm was 90 miles (145 km) southwest of Charleston, South Carolina, at 4 a.m. eastern time (0800 GMT) and moving at 31 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said. A tropical storm warning was in effect from the Altamaha Sound Georgia to Oregon Inlet in North Carolina on Tuesday morning. On its forecast path, Colin was to barrel along the coast of the southeastern United States before moving out to sea during the day. As 50 mph winds were expected in the region, a tornado was reported in Lee County Florida, the National Weather Service said.

Tropical Storm Erika lashed Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands with heavy rain and fierce winds on Friday, moving across the Caribbean and apparently heading for the Dominican Republic, northern Haiti and eventually South Florida, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Due to some likely weakening over the Dominican Republic, Erika was no longer forecast to make U.S. landfall as a hurricane. It could still smack the Miami area with sustained winds of 60 miles per hour (97 kph) on Monday, however, before sweeping northward up the Florida peninsula, affecting Orlando's popular theme parks.

Forecasters and public officials urged Floridians to prepare for potentially catastrophic flooding and damaging winds as Tropical Storm Hermine was expected to become a hurricane by the time it reached Florida's northern Gulf Coast on Thursday. A hurricane warning was in effect for the Florida panhandle from the Suwannee River to Mexico Beach as the strengthening storm was expected to sweep across northern parts of the state and then northeast along the Atlantic Coast, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. The forecast of rough weather prompted Florida Governor Rick Scott to declare an emergency on Wednesday as many school districts along the Gulf Coast canceled after-school activities and ordered students to stay home on Thursday.

The completion of the PortMiami deep dredge project, which deepens the port’s main harbor channel from 42 feet to a depth of 52 feet to accommodate Post-Panamax ships, was announced by Florida Governor Rick Scott. Of the total $220 million cost for the channel deepening, the state of Florida invested $112 million and Miami-Dade County invested $108 million. Governor Scott announced plans to fully fund the $77 million federal shortfall for the port dredging project in March 2011 so that Florida could take advantage of enhanced international trade with the widening of the Panama Canal.