A roundup of news items related to climate change and other environmental issues in Florida:
Florida Senate panel backs annual fees for owners of electric, hybrid vehicles | News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers have restarted a move to impose annual registration fees on electric vehicles amid pushback over the proposed amount.
The Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday backed a proposal (SB 28) that would require electric-vehicle owners to pay $200 registration fees to try to offset anticipated losses in gas-tax dollars as more people convert to electric and hybrid vehicles.
Annual fees of $50 a year would be imposed on plug-in hybrids that use a combination of electricity and gas and $25 fees would be imposed on electric motorcycles.
FPL preparing to put its second solar center in Palm Bay, fifth in Brevard in operation | Florida Today
Sprouting up over what once was farmland, Florida Power & Light Co. is installing about 200,000 solar panels on what will become its second solar energy center in Palm Bay and fifth overall in Brevard County.
FPL’s 74.5-megawatt Ibis Solar Energy Center is being built on a 500-acre site off Centerlane Road, not from its sister Palm Bay Solar Energy Center. When it goes online in January, Ibis will be able to generate enough power for about 15,000 homes and will be able to operate without any staff onsite.
“This site will provide low-cost, reliable energy for our customers throughout the state and here in the county,” FPL spokesman Marshall Hastings said. It will take “the free energy from the sun and emissions-free energy, and put it up onto the grid for all of our customers to be able to use.”
Miami Art Week highlights climate crisis as opening for underwater sculpture park nears | WPLG Local 10 News
MIAMI – Miami Art Week is in full swing and this year a provocative installation is making waves at the Faena Hotel on Miami Beach, putting the climate crisis on center stage.
The spinning digital artwork is titled S.2122 and was created by Mike Winkelmann, the artist known as Beeple, who notoriously sold an NFT (non-fungible token) of his work for $69 million at Christie’s auctions back in 2021.
“We’re presenting this work by Beeple that is a city being challenged by sea level rise like we are here, ground zero climate change. And this sculpture is a very optimistic one, actually, because it speaks about human resiliency, and how we will ultimately adapt,” said Ximena Caminos, founder of the Blue Initiative.
If you have any news items of note that you think we should include in our next roundup, please email The Invading Sea Editor Nathan Crabbe at ncrabbe@fau.edu. Sign up for The Invading Sea newsletter by visiting here.
