Florida Utilities: No to Solar, Yes to Fracking

If you were the kind of person who liked to sniff out plots and nefarious designs in headlines, you might raise an eyebrow over the recent actions of Florida’s utilities. Over the course of the summer and fall, Florida Power & Light and others basically blocked the state’s private solar…

Florida’s Infrastructure Is Getting a Lot Worse, Report Says

One of the many gunbarrels America is staring down right now pertains to its infrastructure. Roads, dams, levees, coastal areas — basically, it’s all crumbling faster than state governments are willing to throw money at reconstruction, which means the next 20 years might be interesting. And although down here in…

Florida Is Spared From Hurricanes for Record Ninth-Straight Year

Hurricane season officially ends on Sunday and, here we are another year without getting hit by one. It’s almost as if we shouldn’t even bother with having a hurricane season. Yet scientists say we’re just smack in the middle of a ridiculously lucky streak — one that is going on…

Florida Regulators Gut The State’s Solar Programs

The day that pro-solar power advocates across the state had been fearing finally came this week. The state’s Public Service Commission held a number of recent votes that basically knee-cap Florida’s home solar-power industry. This come after pressure from the state’s powerful utilities, which have been trying to edge solar…

Cold Front Coming: Could Be in the Mid-50s This Weekend

Brace yourself, everyone. South Florida is about to get all Planet Hoth on us with a cold front swooping in over the weekend that could be bringing temperatures as low as mid-50s. So get ready to bust out those winter coats and boots…it’s gonna be CRAZY. An arctic blast is…

FPL Is Asking for Public Funds to Fight Off Clean Water Rules

Florida Power & Light wants to use public funds to fight off clean water rules. FPL went before the Florida Public Service Commission on Wednesday, asking it to allow the utility company to collect $228,500 from ratepayers to lobby against proposed water rules by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The…

Amendment 1 Will Ensure Conservation Projects Get Funded

For Florida’s upcoming November elections, most of the buzz has been about Amendment 2 — the proposal that would legalize medical marijuana via an amendment to the state constitution. But there’s another proposed amendment on the ballot — one that would dedicate funds for conservation projects. Every time a person…

FPL Power Plant in Florida Panther Refuge Stymied by Seminole Lawsuit

A state court judge last week blocked Florida Power & Light’s plans to build an immense new gas-fired power plant in Hendry County, on environmentally sensitive, historically significant land that adjoins the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation. See also: Seminoles to Protest FPL Power Plant on Earth Day In a…

Rick Scott and Florida Cabinet Approve Conservation Deals

Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet announced the approval of the acquisition of more than 1,275 acres to protect environmentally sensitive areas in Monroe and Washington counties. The approval is the final step before land can be purchased for these two Florida Forever projects. “This more than $4 million investment…

Lawsuit Against DEP over Fracking in Everglades Dropped by Collier County

Environmentalists took one on the chin Tuesday when Collier County officials voted to drop a lawsuit they’d filed against the Department of Environmental Protection over the state’s policing of fracking by Texas oil prospectors in the Great Cypress Swamp watershed. See also: – Frack No More: Activists Drive Texas Oil…

Even Californians Are Attacking Rick Scott’s Environmental Record

Tom Steyer, a former hedge fund manager billionaire from California, has decided to pour millions into a campaign to remind Floridians that Rick Scott has been terrible to the environment. Steyer’s super PAC, NextGen Climate, is going strong to the hoop with attack ads targeting Scott and his environmental record,…

PEER Report: Rick Scott Has Neutered Florida’s Environmental Enforcement

As part of its effort to watchdog Rick Scott’s administration, the Florida arm of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) combs through the annual data about the caseload of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The thinking goes that a shrinking number of corrective actions by the state’s…

Is Marco Rubio the Worst Climate Denier in Congress?

Marco Rubio hasn’t been a friend to the environment. We know this. You know this. But is he the worst climate denier in Congress? That might be up for debate, but we’re going out on a limb and say, pretty much yes. Mainly because he’s the senator from Florida, and…