Column: A little bit of 'green' coats this power bill

Well, I was tempted to write my Sunday column on the pressing issue of truck decorations, but decided instead to write about the 'energy bill' about to be passed by our Legislature. Once again, Florida is making major policy decisions by cramming dozens of unrelated items into a single ugly bill and hoping that not many people notice. So far, not many have.

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One of the biggest things our Legislature will do this year is pass a gargantuan piece of law that's being called "the energy bill." It will affect us all one way or the other.

I bet you there aren't a dozen people who know by heart everything in this bill. I further bet there aren't more than a handful of our 160 lawmakers who have read it all.

But with little dissent, this 150-page-plus contraption is on its way to becoming the law of Florida. (If you're keeping track, the numbers are Senate Bill 1544 and House Bill 7135.)

It's a mixed bag:

• There's lots of "green" stuff, enough to make Gov. Charlie Crist happy. This bill points Florida in a new direction on climate change and alternative or renewable energy, and some environmentalists welcome that.

• But the bill also shifts our law in favor of Florida's electric companies when it comes to choosing routes for future transmission lines. It makes it harder if not impossible for opponents to propose alternative routes.

• Meanwhile, the bill makes it clear that utilities can bill customers in advance for those lines, as well as for some of the green programs. This is no small matter — Progress Energy Florida, for example, estimates its coming transmission costs at $3-billion. [Link to entire column]

Comments

Dear Howard,

I've been talking about these bills for months.....amidst the stadium debacle.......several environmental organizations have been preaching to TALK TO YOUR LEGISLATORS NOW TO STOP THIS MONSTER......but it's about to go down without barely a peep from the populace. Do you think keeping Brooker Creek Preserve inviolate from development is a good thing??...if so, TAKE A LOOK AT THESE TWO BILLS..........Please take a look soon at these two bills and think about what your legislators are about to do with your future.........and your money. And you might consider giving your input as a voter.......

Lorraine

[David Mathews]

I spent the day walking to Coffeepot Bayou and the Pier and was pleased to see that there is a tremendous diversity of life in this area:

1 baby hammerhead shark
2 manatees
3 dolphins
dozens of rays
hundreds songbirds and shorebirds
thousands of minnows & fish

There is a greater diversity of life evident along the sea wall of St. Petersburg than at Ft. DeSoto.

But I did happen to notice that at the expensive gas station near downtown St. Petersburg, premium gasoline is #3.99 a gallon. At some point, I suppose, the St. Petersburg Times is going to have to tell its customers that the automobile's days are numbered.

Paul Krugman said as much in his most recent article:

Running Out of Planet to Exploit

"The second view is that soaring resource prices do, in fact, have a basis in fundamentals — especially rapidly growing demand from newly meat-eating, car-driving Chinese — but that given time we’ll drill more wells, plant more acres, and increased supply will push prices right back down again.

"The third view is that the era of cheap resources is over for good — that we’re running out of oil, running out of land to expand food production and generally running out of planet to exploit.

"I find myself somewhere between the second and third views."

The third view is actually correct. Oil is a finite commodity at humankind has chosen to burn away at a tremendous and ever-accelerating pace. At some point in the future, Americans are going to lose their automobiles in accordance with the scientific principle: No Gasoline = No SUVs.

Oil is already trading over $120 a barrel globally:

Tapis $124.05

So gasoline and diesel prices will continue to set new records on a daily basis. At some point, Americans are going to wake up to perpetual gasoline and diesel shortages.

Perhaps the St. Petersburg Times should warn the public. We're headed for a catastrophe and we cannot afford to ignore it any longer.

[Rich]

David,
Same things they told is in the 70's. Running out of oil. Embargos, gasoline rationing, etc. The fact is this government prints money like there is no tomorrow. They expect to run huge deficits, pay for a war, cut taxes and bail out wall street all at the same time. This trashes the value of the dollar across the world. Oil as most commodities are priced in dollars on the world market. As long as we continue to print more of them (devaluing) the world will expect us to pay more of them for their resources.

This causes rampant inflation and hoarding. We are not running out of anything anytime soon. Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenom.

By the way the higher price of gasoline is the only way we will ever come up with a viable replacement to fossil fuels. Without a profit incentive, nobody would bother to come up with an alternative.

Want a crazy solution for the price of oil? Raise gas taxes to $2 per gallon. This would instantly crash the price of oil. We would still pay $4 per gallon but $2 of that stays here for infrastructure improvements and alternative fuel subsidies. The oil producing nations are reliant on our economy and couldn't afford for us to go into recession therefore they would have to cut prices to keep us using their oil. They wouldn't have a choice as that's their only source of exports. It also means their sheiks would be buying up less of our banks.

Jan Allyn of the Pinellas Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society and Steve Jenks St. Petersburg Audubon Society, thanks for getting on this so strongly. Unfortunately, the power of TECO will probably rule the day, as I told you, Jan when you called me on strategies to defeat this. BUT, EVEN if this precious habitat is lost THIS TIME (although it seems from the video that this neighborhood is FIGHTING HARD to preserve), this is a powerful video to get set in the battle to come (I predict) to save the Brooker Creek Preserve from the same fate as designed by Progress Energy............and other conservation lands. If you haven't already written your legislators and the governor to STOP THESE TWO HORRID BILLS IN THEIR TRACKS as Howard has been exhorting you too do with TWO COLUMNS DONE by the man on this same topic.....well, if you can't, then you have done Florida Nature a great disservice with your lack of caring. See the video and read the story, please. It's Earth Day........how about doing something for our beautiful state and wildlife......email your legislators and the governor TODAY....STOP THESE TWO BILLS AS WRITTEN. It's do-over time............watch the video made by volunteers below...............and read on, please.

Lorraine Margeson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DtBDZDwG4g

Nesting Eagles in Path of TECO Power Line
Joy Ingram, my friend since childhood, called me a few weeks ago in great distress about the imminent destruction of a wetland surrounding an eagle's nest near her home in Dover in Hillsborough County. St. Petersburg Audubon member Steve Jenks helped her to produce a short video on the project, "Power At Any Cost?" which has been posted on YouTube (link below). Eagles have been nesting on this site for decades, and TECO proposes to clear-cut the area to install a power line (except for a small, federally-required island of green around the nest) This, despite the fact that an acceptable alternate route exists through industrial acreage nearby. Joy and her neighbors have been vigilant about testifying to the permitting authorities and a decision on the project will occur any day, but they are pessimistic about the outcome. Just a taste of what's to come, folks, if the Legislature passes Senate Bill 1544/House Bill 7135. If pased, you'll have little or no say in such decisions.
Please watch Joy and Steve's video and then email your elected officials and the governor!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DtBDZDwG4g

[Don in St. Pete]

The Florida House and Senate are supposed to be looking out for the interest's of the citizens of Florida, not giving away are most cherished assets as this energy bill proposes to do. The Senate and house should be ashamed for even proposing to take away the right of the Governor and his cabinet to review the placement of Utility infrastructure on public lands. Governor Crist should veto this bill if it comes before him and protect the assets and green spaces we've worked so hard to buy and preserve for generations.