One of the most important debates in Florida history is heating up, on the policy our state should have on energy.
People need to get informed and vocal. Big decisions are pending.
Foes of offshore oil drilling, galvanized by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, will gather Saturday on beaches in Southwest Florida and around the country, calling for an end to dependency on oil and for a clean energy future.
A Clean Energy Congress of activists will convene Monday for two days in the Florida House of Representatives chamber to, among other things, prepare the ground for future state legislation giving the state "a comprehensive clean, renewable energy policy," in the words of an organizer.
Moving in toward the political center, a Florida Energy Summit is set for July 8 in Orlando, involving "a coalition of businesses, educational institutions and community groups dedicated to bringing clean energy jobs, investment and technology to Florida," according to a statement from incoming state Senate President Mike Haridopolos.
Until Deepwater Horizon, Haridopolos was an advocate of expanding drilling in Florida waters, as close as three miles from the coast. He admits that's dead, and he's on board - we hope - for a sorely needed comprehensive state energy policy that will give utilities and others mandates and incentives to move toward alternatives to fossil fuel.
The debate involves how much to raise costs to subsidize alternative energy, whether the new jobs created in green energy will offset any losses from those higher costs (we think it will), how large a role nuclear energy should play (significant, we hope) and how to manage future offshore oil drilling.
We believe oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico can be done safely if the federal government enforces best practices, which BP circumvented. Oil will be in our energy mix for a very long time, and it is to our economic and energy security benefit to produce as much domestically as we can, as long as it is done safely.
These days, that kind of position has lots of opponents.
Hundreds of them are expected on area beaches Saturday. This is an exciting time to get informed and get involved.
