Earlier this year, Florida Democrat gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum boasted that, on his watch as mayor, Tallahassee reduced its carbon footprint by 40 percent. But there’s one big problem with that claim: there’s no evidence to support it. After Gillum’s campaign was caught fudging the numbers, PolitiFact noted that not only was there not a 40% carbon reduction during his time as mayor, there was actually an increase. PolitiFact rated the claim false and the campaign was quick to erase the astounding stat from his website, in what has turned into yet another reason why Florida voters can’t trust Gillum’s words.
PolitiFact has more:
We wondered how Gillum accomplished this eye-popping statistic in just three years. But if you check the website now, you won’t find that claim. The Gillum campaign rolled back the talking point after PolitiFact Florida started looking into it, replacing it with a broader talking point that still leaves some questions unanswered. There’s no evidence that supported a carbon cut of 40% under Gillum’s watch.
We looked for information to support the modified claim that under Gillum’s leadership, Tallahassee’s carbon footprint really decreased by 20 percent. We didn’t find much to illuminate that claim.
Further, recent data from the city shows electricity consumption has gone down 0.1 percent from 2014-16 and the amount of carbon dioxide released has gone up 4 percent.
This claim has since been removed and replaced with a series of different claims. That’s because there’s nothing to support a carbon reduction of that size in his time as mayor, or on the city commission. In reality, the cut has taken place over the course of two decades and has dropped for a variety of reasons outside of Gillum’s control. We rate the statement False.
Previously:
