In the waning days of the recently concluded legislative session, the GOP-led Florida Legislature passed a dirty and dangerous energy bill (HB 1645) that will make it harder to fight climate change and have disastrous consequences for Florida’s health, environment, and economy.
Failing to act on climate change is bad enough, but this bill goes several worrisome steps further by promoting dirty fossil fuels and restricting the expansion of clean, renewable energy technology. Now it’s up to Gov. Ron DeSantis whether the adverse consequences of this energy bill will be felt in Florida for generations to come.
Among this awful bill’s sweeping changes, HB 1645 would:
- Eliminate parts of existing state law designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and delete most references to “climate change” in Florida statutes
- Prevent communities from having a say on methane gas facilities in their own backyards
- Promote construction of more carbon-emission producing pipelines
- Impose a ban on offshore wind energy
- Increase Floridians’ electric bills by allowing utilities to charge for methane facility relocation
This dirty energy bill is exactly the wrong kind of energy policy for Florida. You probably won’t be shocked that the Miami Herald reported this legislation was drafted by a fossil fuel company, Chesapeake Energy.
We’ll never stop fighting for a cleaner, safer, more affordable Florida – thank you for fighting alongside us.