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State Democrats Outline Bills To Reverse Climate Change

By  //  March 13, 2015

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA ––  Senate Democratic Leader Arthenia Joyner and members of the Senate Democratic Caucus on Thursday outlined legislation they’re sponsoring to reverse climate change.

Bullard Dwight
Bullard Dwight

The environmental packet sponsored by the Democratic lawmakers, which embraces both new technology and common-sense pro-active measures, includes the following: 

  • SB 992 (Sen. Dwight Bullard) – Solar Energy – Re-establishes Florida’s ability to compete with states like New Jersey and North Carolina in harnessing the sun’s power by authorizing rebates for a portion of the cost of solar energy systems, giving priority to middle and low income Floridians to install these systems (HB 1089)
  • Darren Soto
    Darren Soto

    SB 864 (Sen. Darren Soto) – Sales of Motor Vehicles Powered by Electricity or Hydrogen – Enables more Floridians to purchase electric and hydrogen vehicles by exempting them from sales and use taxes, and “sends the right message to manufacturers that Florida is open for business for these kinds of cars,” said Sen. Soto. (HB 905)

  • SB 166 (Sen. Darren Soto) – Hydraulic Fracturing – Bans hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in Florida. This measure not only saves our groundwater, but encourages the development and production of alternative fuel.  (HB 169)
  • SB 1436 (Sen. Audrey Gibson) – Water Supply Planning and Oversight – Creates the Florida Statewide Water Oversight and Planning Council within DEP. “The measure helps to get a better grasp on our water needs, eliminate ‘water fights’ and increase the focus on conservation as a way of meeting our clean water needs,” Senator Gibson noted. (HB 1073)
  • SB 416 (Sen. Jeremy Ring) – Labeling of Genetically Engineered Foods –Generates lists of raw agricultural commodities at high risk or potentially at risk for cultivation in a genetically engineered form, requires the publication of those lists by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, protects the integrity of Florida’s growing organic products industry, and enforces labeling requirements so that consumers have the freedom to choose non-GMO foods.  (HB 351)
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  • SB 966 (Sen. Dwight Bullard) – Disposable Plastic Bags – To better protect our economy and our environment, this authorizes smaller municipalities to pilot a program to regulate or ban disposable plastic bags. (HB 661)

arthenia-joyner“We not only face a growing threat from a governor satisfied with creating too many low paying jobs, but a willful ignorance of the imminent dangers we face from climate change,” said Senator Joyner. “This legislation presents a new way of doing things. It offers the first of many new opportunities we plan to develop to create an economy second to none, while preserving the environment for which Florida is known the world over.”