A new bill signed Wednesday by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will make climate change a lesser priority in Florida and also ban power-generating wind turbines offshore or near the coastline.
However, critics of the new law claim it ignores the reality of climate change threats in Florida, including rising seas, extreme heat and flooding, and increasingly severe storms.
Below is one example of leftists losing their minds over the new law.
The new law, which takes effect on July 1, will boost natural gas expansion, reduce regulation on gas pipelines in the state, and increase protections against bans on gas appliances such as stoves.
ABC News reported:
DeSantis, who suspended his presidential campaign in January and later endorsed his bitter rival Donald Trump, called the bill a common-sense approach to energy policy.
“We’re restoring sanity in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of the radical green zealots,” DeSantis said in a post on the X social media platform.
Florida is already about 74% reliant on natural gas to power electric generation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Opponents of the bill DeSantis signed say it removes the word “climate’ in nine different places, moves the state’s energy goals away from efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gases blamed for a warming planet.
“This purposeful act of cognitive dissonance is proof that the governor and state Legislature are not acting in the best interests of Floridians, but rather to protect profits for the fossil fuel industry,” said Yoca Arditi-Rocha, executive director of the nonprofit Cleo Institute, which advocates for climate change education and engagement.
The legislation also eliminates requirements that government agencies hold conferences and meetings in hotels certified by the state’s environmental agency as “green lodging” and that government agencies make fuel efficiency the top priority in buying new vehicles.
It also ends a requirement that Florida state agencies look at a list of “climate-friendly” products before making purchases.
In 2008, a bill to address climate change and promote renewable energy passed unanimously in both legislative chambers and was signed into law by then-Gov. Charlie Crist, at the time a Republican.
Former Gov. Rick Scott, now a Republican U.S. senator, took steps after taking the governor’s office in 2011 to undo some of that measure and this latest bill takes it even further.
The measure signed by DeSantis would also launch a study of small nuclear reactor technology, expand the use of vehicles powered by hydrogen and enhance electric grid security, according to the governor’s office.
READ: DeSantis Crushes Bill Gates, BANS Lab-Grown Meat in Florida
