Jeb Bush presidential campaign, 2016/Natural resources

	; ; Former presidential candidate; Jeb Bush
	Political offices: ; Former governor of Florida; (1999-2007)
	Bush on the issues:
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	Republican candidate:
	Donald Trump
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Jeb Bush suspended his presidential campaign on February 20, 2016.^[1]

Ballotpedia's scope changes periodically, and this article type is no longer actively created or maintained. It may also contain neutrality issues.

This page was current as of the 2016 election.

On September 24, 2015, Jeb Bush described the Environmental Protection Agency as being “aggressive” in its regulatory scheme. “Their whole effort has been to destroy the coal industry and all the communities that are associated with it,” Bush said, noting he would roll back regulations impacting the coal industry.^[2]

Jeb Bush discussed his energy policy at a Pennsylvania event on September 29, 2015. His plan was designed to lift restrictions on oil and gas production and exportation, approve the Keystone XL pipeline, reduce environmental regulations and accommodate state energy production needs, in order to help boost the economy to four percent growth.^[3]^[4]

During a speech in October 2013, Bush advocated for the "approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, 'rational' regulations on fracking, and opening federal lands to drilling," according to Politico. Bush said, “We should let market forces, not crony capitalism, decide where to invest and how to incentivize citizens to conserve. A real energy strategy could add an additional 1 percent growth over the long haul.”^[5]

Jeb Bush addressed climate change with a group of voters in Iowa on December 1, 2015. He said, "I'm not sure I would have gone to the climate summit if I was president today,” referring to the gathering of world leaders in Paris. Acknowledging that he has not “seen the specifics,” he said he is worried that the proposals coming out of Paris “could have an impact on the here and now, on people that are really struggling right now.” Bush also said, "The climate is changing, its been changing forever. The question is how much of it is impacted by man and what impact is that and how long will that impact play out."^[6]

In a July 2015 interview with Bloomberg BNA, Bush stated he believes climate change is partially driven by human activity. “The climate is changing; I don’t think anybody can argue it’s not. Human activity has contributed to it. I think we have a responsibility to adapt to what the possibilities are without destroying our economy, without hollowing out our industrial core,” Bush said. He also expressed support for the Keystone XL pipeline and condemned the expansion of the Environmental Protection Agency.^[7]

During a 2011 interview with Fox Business, Bush said, climate change "is not unanimous among scientists that it is disproportionately manmade. What I get a little tired of on the left is this idea that somehow science has decided all this so you can’t have a view. Science has decided that embryonic stem cell research is the way to go and if you don’t agree with that then somehow you’re Cro-Magnon Man or something like that.”^[8]

On October 21, 2015, Jeb Bush said he would relocate the Interior Department to a western city like Reno, Salt Lake City or Denver, where public land management issues were more common. He added that he would take a localized “states-first” approach to developing conservation and land use policies.^[9] ^[10]

On September 22, 2015, Bush said Obama administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations were among “the most onerous Obama rules and regulations,” and added that he would repeal the EPA carbon rules for power plants, waters of the United States rule and coal ash disposal rule.^[11]

TIME reported on September 1, 2015, that Bush might see opposition as he campaigns in Florida, because of his environmental record related to the St. Johns River and Rice Creek. He approved a pipeline that would have allowed the Georgia Pacific’s plant in Palatka, Florida, to carry waste into the St. Johns River if pollution levels became too high in Rice Creek, the customary depository for the chemicals. When the levels in Rice creek did become too high, environmentalists opposed the pipeline, while Georgia Pacific advocated for it. Ultimately, Bush left office in 2007 before the pipeline was constructed. Scott Arceneaux, executive director of the Florida Democratic Party, said of Bush’s environmental record on Tuesday, “He’s going to run on his record here (in Florida) why he should be President. We’re going to remind folks about all the things he didn’t do.”^[12]

In 1999, Bush signed a bill that created "the Florida Forever Program, a 10-year, bond-funded program for the acquisition of environmentally significant lands and for water resource development projects."^[13]

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