Florida’s Legislature weakens local climate progress

Republican lawmakers in Tallahassee are advancing an alarming package of bills that will undermine the ability of local communities to address climate change and transition to renewable energy. For decades, Florida’s GOP governors and legislative majorities have failed to address the looming climate crisis.

Even as the DeSantis administration acknowledges that sea-level rise may erase $300 billion in coastal property by 2100, state-led efforts to reduce emissions are completely absent. Reducing emissions by at least half over the next decade is critical if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate disruption.

Taken together, the bills would undermine local progress and shift all climate and energy policymaking to Tallahassee, where it is significantly more favorable to the oil and gas industry and investor-owned utility allies. These bills are completely antagonistic to what conservatives supposedly stand for: local decentralized control.

State Rep. Anna Eskamani and State Sen. Lori Berman have filed a bill that would require Florida to achieve 100 percent renewable energy by

2040. As Eskamani recently noted, several other states have made this commitment, too, and Florida is increasingly at risk of missing out on significant economic benefits associated with this transition.

It’s time to ditch the green bashing and embrace a sustainable future we need.

– Sean Sellers, chair, Suncoast Climate Justice

Coalition, Mark Paul, assistant professor of economics, New College of Florida,

Sarasota