The Florida House on Friday passed a wide-ranging bill about energy issues, including eliminating parts of state law about reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and preventing offshore wind-energy generation. The House voted 88-19 to pass the measure (HB 1645), sponsored by Rep. Bobby Payne, R-Palatka.
A similar Senate bill (SB 1624) has cleared committees and is positioned to go to the full Senate. “Our goal is to look out for the future of Florida and say what is cost efficient, what’s reliable,” Payne said. “Renewables are not always reliable and what is the best for security in the state.”
The bill, for example, would eliminate part of current state law that says, “The Legislature finds that the state’s energy security can be increased by lessening dependence on foreign oil; that the impacts of global climate change can be reduced through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; and that the implementation of alternative energy technologies can be a source of new jobs and employment opportunities for many Floridians.”
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That would be replaced, in part, by sentences that say, “The purpose of the state’s energy policy is to ensure an adequate, reliable, and cost-effective supply of energy for the state in a manner that promotes the health and welfare of the public and economic growth. The Legislature intends that governance of the state’s energy policy be efficiently directed toward achieving this purpose.”
Among other things, the bill would ban building or operating offshore wind turbines in Florida-controlled waters and on property within one mile of coastlines.
Payne said industrial-scale wind energy is not viable in Florida. Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, acknowledged that point but said lawmakers should not impose a ban.
She said, “technologies evolve, technologies change.”
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