By John Burr, Jacksonville Climate Coalition
Another Florida legislative session in the books, another legislative snub for climate change.
Florida is arguably the most vulnerable state in the country as the world heats up, yet there is continued apathy from our lawmakers over any move to cut the fossil fuel emissions that are the root of our problem.
It’s been said that the best way to take on climate change is to vote for the right people. Nowhere is that lesson more on point than Florida.
For example: One new law awaiting Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature would eliminate references to climate change in state statutes, cripple future wind energy projects in the state and promote the burning natural gas as the go-to way to produce electricity for years to come.
This is what passes today for Florida’s climate policy, while badly needed initiatives never get a hearing.
What planet do these people – our representatives – live on, or, more to the point, what planet do they expect us to live on 10 or 20 years from now?
When Florida engages a green and sustainable non-polluting future, the improvements will be profound – a cleaner, healthier environment, cheaper and more abundant energy, and a harvesting of jobs that green technologies spawn.
It would be best if Florida began its green transformation sooner rather than later. We need new legislators to accomplish the shift soon.
Following that vision, here’s a checklist for the next wave of Florida legislators:
• Set long-range renewable energy targets: We need a stable transition to an energy diet that would reduce and eventually eliminate the burning the fossil fuels that are the very source of climate change. Realistic goals give us targets to shoot for, and focus actions.
• Actively promote green energy: Solar power will carry much of the load in the Sunshine State, as we electrify our homes, our cars, our businesses and industry. Interesting fact: Florida is the second most active state in the country for the expansion of solar power. Think where we’d be heading if our state promoted solar with meaningful subsidies and tax breaks.
• Solar power is taking off: The data is in, solar power is the cheapest way to expand electricity generation. The federal government says solar power will account for 58% of the new electrical generation built in 2024. Let’s make Florida’s universities second to none in educating the engineers and researchers that will be needed in these pivotal industries.
• Electrical grid needs an overhaul: All that clean energy is going to require a modern electrical grid that can efficiently distribute this energy through the development of smart grid technologies and utility-scale energy storage solutions.
• Florida Forever forever: Expand protection and restoration of our forests and wetlands which trap harmful carbon air pollution, as well as provide much needed flood control. The Florida Forever land acquisition program should be funded at a minimum $500 million a year, every year.
• Beat the heat: Plant millions of shade trees, especially in urban “heat island” neighborhoods where people suffer from excessive summer heat. That means live oaks that provide cooling shade, not palm trees.
Let’s look forward (but not too far forward) to the day when we celebrate a rising tide of sanity in our state government, as Florida’s laws and policies acknowledge the threat of a hotter climate and we embrace our duty as stewards to protect and preserve this beautiful and fragile land.
Vote for the right people. Vital policies will continue to be ignored by the current crop of climate deniers. A better future is in sight, but we need leaders with the insight and intelligence to grasp it, and the voters to elect them.
John Burr is a journalist based in Jacksonville and the editor of the Jacksonville Climate Coalition newsletter, where this article was first published. To sign up for the newsletter, please visit https://bit.ly/jacksonvilleclimatecoalitionnewsletter.
If you are interested in submitting an opinion piece to The Invading Sea, email Editor Nathan Crabbe at ncrabbe@fau.edu. Sign up for The Invading Sea newsletter by visiting here.
Thank you, so refreshing to hear sanity in our state.
The policy of the Republican Party is that Climate Change is a hoax. The only choice is to only vote for Democrats . We need two parties to govern for all. Time is running out.We need to do every thing possible .