Florida to repeal clean energy goals, citing new law deleting climate change mentions

The Florida Workplace of Power is planning to repeal targets for utilities statewide to transition to cleaner vitality, together with that 100% of the state’s vitality come from renewable sources by 2050.

The proposal to roll again the targets was crafted by the director of the Workplace of Power, Brooks Rumenik, and has been authorised by Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, a Republican from Trilby who oversees the vitality workplace. The clear vitality targets weren’t binding to utility firms, however they set benchmarks for the portion of vitality utilities produce or purchase that ought to come from renewable sourcesbeginning with 40% by 2030. They have been set in 2022 by Simpson’s predecessor, Democrat Nikki Fried.

The rollback, which was printed Might 22 in a state registry, comes because of a brand new regulation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis final week. Home Invoice 1645 deleted the vast majority of mentions of local weather change from state law and overhauled state vitality coverage to focus much less on the discount of greenhouse gases, which contribute to the warming of the planet.

Citing that new regulation, the Workplace of Power’s proposal states that the renewable vitality targets are “no longer necessary.”

The regulation additionally prohibited offshore wind turbines in state waters, curtailed some laws on pure fuel pipelines and diminished native authorities management over the placement of pure fuel storage amenities, amongst different modifications.

“We’re restoring sanity in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of the radical green zealots,” DeSantis stated in a put up on the social media web site X, previously Twitter, when he signed the invoice.

Environmentalists strongly opposed the measure. Greg Knecht, the chief director of The Nature Conservancy in Florida, referred to as it “a disservice to the renewable vitality sector, local communities and all Floridians.”

“Striking climate change language from the current law not only harms Florida’s future, but our present economy, too,” he stated.

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