The Governor understands the need to fix the #Everglades; the question is how, and how to pay for it..."Florida Gov. Rick Scott pledges support at Everglades Coalition meeting"

HUTCHINSON ISLAND — Gov. Rick Scott didn't exactly win environmentalists over in his first year in office, as he gutted growth management laws, waged a legal battle against federally imposed water quality standards and expressed general disdain for "job-killing" regulations.

But Thursday evening, the governor stood before an audience of some of his harshest critics at a meeting here of the Everglades Coalition and pledged — like every governor who has spoken before him — that he was committed to restoring the struggling River of Grass.