Florida Joins Climate Change Campaign

Republican Governor Charlie Crist of Florida hosted a 2-day climate change summit in Miami this week and signed 3 sweeping eco-executive orders: 

1. Adopting California's strict vehicle-emissions law, making Florida the first Southeast state to do so
2. Calling for a 40% reduction in statewide greenhouse-gas emissions by 2025
3. Requiring state agencies to prioritize fuel efficiency when buying or rent vehicles and to hold events in facilities certified as green by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Crist is also asking state utilities to produce 20% of their power from renewables. 

The state already is backing up Crist's noble intentions and promising words with at least some degree of action.  Last month, state regulators rejected Florida Power & Light's plan to build a coal-fired power plant near the Everglades. FPL had estimated that the plant would emit about 200 pounds of mercury and as much as 14 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

''We cannot afford to ignore this issue any longer,'' Crist told about 600 people attending his Summit on Global Climate Change. We have a responsibility to face this reality head-on and take action to address it."

by
Erin Swanson
ESwanson@enviance.com