A Florida candidate for Congress is being hammered for taking coal money and being a threat to the environment — hammered by Republicans, that is.
The National Republican Congressional Committee debuted an ad criticizing Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democratic candidate in Florida's 26th District, by saying she takes "dirty coal money" from "polluters" who "threaten our way of life in the Keys." The ad also hits Mucarsel-Powell for profiting off "a company that repeatedly violates environmental laws."
Mucarsel-Powell is running against incumbent Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.). The district includes the Florida Keys, where roads have had to be raised due to rising sea levels, reports The Associated Press. Curbelo, who has said climate change poses a "direct threat," proposed a tax on carbon emissions, per The Guardian. His idea was overwhelmingly unpopular in the Republican Party, though.
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This ad questioning Mucarsel-Powell's commitment to environmentalism comes from a committee solely intended to elect Republicans to the House of Representatives — but Republicans in the House passed a resolution in July declaring the idea of a carbon tax "detrimental to American families and businesses," The Hill reports.
The "dirty coal money" claim seems to be in reference to the fact that Mucarsel-Powell received money from a billionaire who at one time profited from investments in coal, "but that's a stretch at best," says Axios. The Democratic candidate in this toss-up race has also called for action to combat climate change, and she released an ad last month in which she, while snorkeling, attacked Republicans for doing nothing to protect the environment and especially Florida's coral reefs. Her campaign responded to the NRCC's ad by calling it "another hypocritical and desperate attack" from Curbelo, although his campaign did not pay for it. Watch the ad below. Brendan Morrow
