Energy Technology

Florida Fracking: Sen. Jeff Clemens Says Name Your Poison

Name yer poison. Especially if you're messing with chemicals that have the potential to contaminate Florida's groundwater supply. That's the intent of legislation filed by State Sen. Jeff Clemens, which would create a registry of chemicals used by companies fracking for oil in the Sunshine State. S ... More >>

Wall Flowers: LiveRoof's "Living" Green Wall System Could Turn Your Wall Into a Vegetable Garden

In the not-too-near-future, your next home or office lobby may not be painted, or even decorated with wall paper. It could be alive.Alive with plants, of course. But before we go planting gardens indoors, perhaps we should start with "living" exterior walls and roofs, first. Here, in South Florida, ... More >>

Why Is a Beautiful Woman Like a Nuclear Power Plant? FAU Feminist Prof Explains

South Florida has no shortage of pornography, being right down there with California's San Fernando Valley as a center for the porn film and video industry, and with a full palette of related activities on the side: titty bars, escort services, you name it.But as to the pornography of everyday life, ... More >>

Promised Land Movie Review: For Matt Damon and Company, the Message is the Message

Hundreds of Manatees Find Refuge From the Cold Near FPL Plant

Merry Christmas, South Florida! It's 304 manatees! The recent cold snap forced hundreds of the sea cows to the FPL plant located east of State Road 7 right off Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The herd sought refuge from the suddenly chilly weather in the plant's discharge of war ... More >>

FPL Is Building Another Natural Gas Pipeline Underfoot

Did you know there are already two major pipelines underground that bring in natural gas from other states to our local power plants? There will be a third by 2017, and FPL is currently seeking "Requests for Proposals" from companies that want the job of building it. FPL says the two natural ga ... More >>

FPL Bills to Increase Come January

Florida Power & Light Co. and Progress Energy Florida won approval by the state on Monday to charge customers $294 million in costs for future nuclear facilities in 2013. Which means your monthly FPL bill will go up by at least $2.59. Hooorrray, Florida! On Tuesday, Florida's Public Service Co ... More >>

America's Fracking Gold Rush Portends the Greatest Environmental Disaster of a Generation

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Looking to Fight Off Rising Nuclear Power Costs for FPL Customers

In 2006, the undaunted geniuses in the Florida Legislature came up with the Florida Renewable Technology and Energy Efficiency Act, a shady law that basically gives utility companies like FPL and Progress Energy Florida permission to charge customers for something that might be built or fixed, witho ... More >>

Missing Millionaire's Partner Speaks: John Amoruso Made Guma Aguiar Rich

John Amoruso, Geologist Who Made Guma Aguiar Rich, Recalls "Down-to-Earth Fellow"

See also: the latest on Aguiar's disappearance, and the lawsuit against Aguiar spurred by this natural-gas deal.In 2003, Texas geologist John Amoruso had a hunch that there was a lot of natural gas, and big money, in a previously unexplored geological area about midway between Houston and Dallas.It ... More >>

FPL Offering Big Rebates for Solar-Powered Water Heaters

You've got the chance to save a boatload of money on your electric bill, and the electric company wants to help you do it.Florida Power & Light announced earlier this week that it would be offering more than $3 million in rebates to customers who install solar equipment in their homes or busines ... More >>

Occupy Fort Lauderdale Releases Its "Declaration of Occupation"

​Almost three months after the first "Declaration of Occupation" was released by an Occupy camp -- the first one from the Occupy Wall Street outfit -- Occupy Fort Lauderdale has now aired its list of grievances.The 40 complaints are divided into four sections in the document, including sections on ... More >>

Welcome to the Everglades Ranch Where FPL Might Build a Big-Ass Power Plant

Welcome to our new blog series "Holy Crap, That's Big," where we write about humongous things going up in South Florida and the people behind them. Today's item: a proposed fossil-fuel power plant in the middle of the Everglades.​It's a quiet, open hunting preserve right now, but if power demand c ... More >>

Reminder From Broward County: Don't Mow Over Sea Cows

snuzzy.comDon't run over manatees with your spaceship either.​Due to new rules from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the impending manatee season in Broward County, the Natural Resources Planning and Management Division would like to remind you not to slice up sea cows wit ... More >>

Broward County Commission to Oppose Everglades Drilling (Which Already Exists)

Flickr/boggerthelogger​In next Wednesday's meeting, the Broward County Commission will move to adopt language in its state and federal legislative programs "opposing any oil drilling or exploration in or around the Everglades."The legislative programs are a set agenda of issues that the County Com ... More >>

Bill Koch, Billionaire Coal Man, Donates Heavily to John Boehner, Throws Bone to Allen West

Kim SargentBill Koch supports pro-coal candidates.​Last month, New Times introduced you to Bill Koch, the Palm Beach billionaire who owns a coal and gas company, is known for his voracious appetite for wine and women, and has two brothers famous for being the sugar daddies of the Tea Party. W ... More >>

Florida Has Some of The Most Toxic Air Pollution In the Nation, Study Says

​Florida residents are the third-most at-risk among the 50 states from toxic emissions from coal and oil-fired power plants, according to a study released today.The report, from the Natural Resources Defense Council and Physicians for Social Responsibility, found that only Ohio and Pennsylvani ... More >>

Touchy-Feely Activism

The World According to GOP Presidential Candidates

​In case you didn't notice -- between coverage of the Casey Anthony trial, Anthony Weiner, and Anderson Cooper probably wearing a skin-tight shirt -- CNN held a debate between hopeful Republican presidential candidates last night.You can guess what happened when Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Ne ... More >>

Legislators Declare Nuclear Plant Is Safe, Revealing Heretofore Unexpected Expertise In Physics

​Yesterday, The Sun Sentinel informed the world of a Monday tour of FPL's Turkey Point nuclear power plant by Congressfolk Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, David Rivera, Mario Diaz-Balart and Frederica Wilson. "We understand how different this facility is from the facility in Japan," said Ros-Lehtinen. "So we ... More >>

Rick Scott: Forget the Oil Spill -- Let's Go Fishing!

Florida Governor's OfficeSlick Rick catches his own BP Special.​On the first anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster that spilled 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, Gov. Rick Scott celebrated by going fishing.Sounds strange, but Slick Rick didn't have much choice. He favors ... More >>

Florida's Nuclear Worries?

​A two-page report on a proposed Turkey Point nuclear power plant appeared this weekend in the Sun Sentinel, but calling it a "two page" report doesn't really begin to cover it. These are massive pages, 1,600 words in total. Feature-length pages, in Sentinel terms. And why? Is there a radiation le ... More >>

Meltdown Fears Growing

Two explosions in three days have rocked the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. An endless stream of nuclear industry cronies has claimed there is really not much to worry about, but the money is doing the talking: Nuclear industry shares have already lost more than $1.5 billion ... More >>

Iration's Reggae Rock to Bring Positive Vibes to Culture Room

Marco Rubio Gets Big Campaign Bucks From Oil Giant Koch Industries

Rubio, a darling of Big Oil.​Four months ago, as oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster gushed into the Gulf of Mexico and threatened Panhandle beaches, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio stubbornly defended his support for offshore drilling."The issue of offshore drilling is not going ... More >>

Newsweek Resurrects Charlie Crist's Campaign, Insults Florida Voters

This guy is really Florida's best hope?​Last week, just as his pissing match with the state Legislature over oil drilling in the Gulf reached ludicrous proportions, Charlie Crist got a big, wet boost to his Senate campaign from the national press.In a Newsweek article, "The Resurrection of Crist" ... More >>

Drill Bit: Allen West Calls Oil Rupture "Worrisome," Just Not Big Enough to Reverse Position on Drilling

Flickr: : HimUpNorth :Spill Schmill! West still wants to see oil rigs on the South Florida horizon.​The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico barely warranted mention in the "West Weekly Wrap-up" that congressional candidate Allen West sends along to his South Florida supporters. West supports d ... More >>

FPL Plant Deals Dirty on the Race Question, Activists Say

FPL's Riviera plant: Looks great from a distance​Environmental activists and some Riviera Beach residents are fed up with living with "one of the dirtiest power plants in the entire state of Florida," according to a news release from the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition. The Coalition, a ... More >>

Koch's Spokesman: Wind Farm is a "Boondoggle"

Flickr user: andjohan​Yesterday, The Juice brought you the tale of Bill Koch, the Palm Beach billionaire energy mogul who has spent millions of dollars to oppose an offshore wind farm that will sully his view of Nantucket Sound. We speculated that Koch's opposition might have something to do with ... More >>

Palm Beach Billionaire Koch Likes Tax Subsidies, Too

Flickr user: andjohan​One of Palm Beach billionaire Bill Koch's main objections to a proposed offshore wind farm in Nantucket Sound -- which he has spent millions of dollars fighting -- is that it will require tax breaks to succeed. As the Juice reported earlier today, Koch has claimed that the an ... More >>

Palm Beach Billionaire Sailor Fights to Stop Wind Farm

Flickr user: andjohanWind farm? NIMBY!​You'd think Bill Koch might be a fan of wind energy. The billionaire Palm Beach energy magnate made some of his fortune off eco-friendly geo-thermal and natural gas power plants. He's also an avid sailor who won the America's Cup in 1992.But it appears that w ... More >>

Nuclear Energy: South Florida's Misunderstood Friend

Thanks for that, Smithers. Now that we're in the midst of the public hearings on whether to build two new nuclear power plants on Turkey Point, Florida Power & Light is asking you to think of nuclear power as an adorable, avuncular, and perfectly harmless cartoon character.Keep Smilin' Joe Fiss ... More >>

49 States Green With Envy Over Florida's Environmental Progress

Radio Green Earth: Making the world safer for tree frogs​Bet you thought South Florida was a lot more likely to win accolades for "best strip malls" or "extra egregious decimation of natural wildlife" than for anything much greener than development dollars. But it turns out Florida is among the to ... More >>

Ocean Will Save South Florida, If It Doesn't Swallow It First

Photo: ClydeElliottFAU research aims to stave off dystopian future full of American amphibians​Florida Atlantic researchers are racing against melting polar ice caps and dwindling natural resources in hope of developing energy technology that exploits the vast powers of the ocean tides.Sue Skemp, ... More >>

Power Plays

Idyllic Florida landscape courtesy of FMPAResidents of Lake Worth, many of whom have made small but successful careers specializing in complaining about their high utility bills, might not know the city actually gets the power to turn their fans and nuke their frozen dinners not from the beleaguered ... More >>

You're Invited! Environmentalist on Trial for Chaining Herself to Tree

Courtrooms can be such staid places -- so we love it when people treat judicial proceedings as interactive theater events. This January, an environmental activist named Stevie Lowe went to the site of the Barley Barber Swamp, an ancient cypress forest, and locked herself to a tree. The reason? Flori ... More >>

Professor Whys The Science Guy

FPL vs. the Environment, again

The hardcore environmentalists at Everglades Earth First sure know how to push FPL's buttons. All year, they've been waging a court battle against construction of a new power plant in Palm Beach County (right across the street from a wildlife refuge!).  Today, they picked another fight with the ... More >>

How Will You Spend Your FPL Refund?

Oh, what a thrill it is to see an envelope with the FPL logo sticking out of one's holiday stocking! Because it's no fun being robbed in one fell swoop, Bernie Madoff-style. I prefer a nice, slow bleed -- or at least some Chinese water torture. Well, let's start with the good news: Florida Power and ... More >>

Tree-huggers mobilize to stop FPL from building Everglades power plant

Are We There Yet?

Jeez, can we just embrace the electric car already?

Letters for March 31-April 6, 2005

Pickpocketing the Public: Part 1

The "renewable energy" program you're chipping in for spews the same old pollutants

We've Got the Power

A legendary producer wants to make Fort Lauderdale a hit factory

Beat Street

Proto-Shizo

Passing Gas

Planned pipelines threaten fragile coral formations

Taking Stock of Bob Graham

The South Florida senator and presidential candidate wheels and doodles

Big Cypress Buyout

Proposed payment of millions to a wealthy clan amounts to nothing more than stealing from taxpayers for the Bush boys' political gain

Rub-a-Dub-Dub, It's a Manatee Tub

Manatee Viewing Area