The DeSantis administration has plans to transform Florida’s award winning state parks. One of the worst plans talks of building not one, not two, but three golf courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound. There are plans at the other parks for big motels and pickleball courts and disc golf courses, all of which run completely counter to what our state parks are all about.
Environment & Water
Florida Among 25 States Seeking Halt to Biden Rule Restricting Coal-Fired Power Plants
In Florida, coal is no longer a major factor in electricity generation. As 0f 2022, and coal-fired power plants supplied about 6% of the energy supply, down from 36% in 2001, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Attorneys argue that if the Biden administration’s rule is allowed to continue, it will mean that hundreds of megawatts will be forced offline, leading to power shortages during critical weather during the summer and winter.
Florida Is Sitting on $198 Million in Federal EV Money That Could Provide More Chargers
Florida is one of 15 states that won’t allow any companies to apply for $198 million in federal money the state is receiving over the next five years the Biden Administration’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program. The state is doing so on purpose, citing a laundry list of culture-war complaints, such as “Covid tyranny,” as well as criticism of electric vehicles.
Is the Armadillo Spreading Leprosy in Central Florida?
Leprosy remains rare in the United States. But Florida, which often reports the most cases of any state, has seen an uptick in patients. The epicenter is east of Orlando. Brevard County reported a staggering 13% of the nation’s 159 leprosy cases in 2020. Leprosy experts believe armadillos play a role in spreading the illness to people.
Florida Opposes Federal Rule to Limit Power Plants’ Greenhouse Emissions
Florida and two dozen other states Thursday filed a legal challenge to a new U.S. Environmental Protection rule aimed at reducing carbon emissions from power plants. The states filed a petition at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that alleged the EPA overstepped its legal authority.
Rest Easy: Florida Law Erases and Bans All References to Climate Change
You probably think Ron DeSantis and the yahoos, grifters, simps, dolts, and dunderheads who populate the Florida Legislature are collectively incapable of solving even one of the bazillion issues facing this state. But the Legislature has figured out how to fix climate change. Your bought-and-paid-for Legislature has delivered a bill that amends Florida statutes to delete all references to climate change. Thanks to them, climate change is gone. Erased. Kaputt. Ya no es. C’est fini.
Youth Climate Activists in Tallahassee Demand ‘Immediate and Bold Action,’ but Lawmakers Aren’t Interested
Youth climate activists gathered on the steps of the Old Capitol building in Tallahassee Wednesday morning with a direct message for state lawmakers: Start taking “immediate and bold action on climate change.” But there’s a quantum distance between what the activists desire and what the GOP-controlled Legislature is actually doing in the 2024 session regarding the issue.
Florida Likes Its Tailpipe Emissions As They Are and Rejects $320 Million in Federal Carbon Reduction Aid
Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue has turned down $320 million in federal money aimed at reducing tailpipe emissions, arguing federal transportation officials are overstepping their authority in the program. Perdue on Nov. 13 notified U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg the state will not participate in the federal Carbon Reduction Program, a five-year, $6.4 billion effort focused on emissions that contribute to global warming.
Florida’s Manatees Should Never Have Been Delisted from Endangered
Six years ago the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took Florida manatees down a notch on the endangered list, reclassifying them as merely “threatened.” Now, after nearly 2,000 have died over the past few years, the feds say they may put them back on the top of the list. Manatees had previously been on the endangered list longer than since the Endangered Species Act of 1973. They were an entry on the original list issued in 1967.
Should You be Worried About Monster Hurricane Lee? Models and Emergency Chief Say No, But Erosion a Concern
For the last several days, Hurricane Lee, the most powerful storm of the season yet and a potential record-breaker, has been as if making a beeline for Florida, from the middle Atlantic. But models and Flagler County’s emergency management director say the hurricane in five days will make an abrupt turn north well before it comes near the Florida Peninsula. Still, the dangerous storm is expected to cause more erosion on an already weakened Flagler County shore, with hurricane season just beginning to peak.