On Tuesday, The Pinellas Board of County Commission unanimously passed a resolution to commit the county transition to 100% clean, renewable energy for the entire community by 2050. The resolution also says that the county’s operations should be green by 2040.
In a press release, Sierra Club Florida said that this makes Pinellas the first county in Florida to vote for this commitment, and that the county will incorporate these goals into its forthcoming Sustainability and Resiliency Action Plan.
The resolution emphasizes inclusion and transparency in the planning process which will establish interim milestones, budget estimates, equity metrics and financing mechanisms with community residents and stakeholders over the next two years.
“We need to quickly move forward,” Janet Long, Pinellas County Commissioner for District 1 said upon the resolution’s passing. “What we’re doing here today isn’t for us, it’s for our kids, and our grandchildren. ”
There are aspects of the resolution worth celebrating, but getting there will involve privately owned utility companies cooperating, which could present a challenge for environmentalists who championed the resolution.
“We here in Florida are hostage to Investor-Owned (for-profit) utility monopolies and sadly, not only are monopolies bad for fair and competitive markets (as we all learned in high school) but they also inherently work at cross purposes to innovation and the clean energy transition,” Dave Sillman, Ready for 100 Pinellas Coordinator, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “Make no mistake, the greenwashing is pervasive and these major corporations have consistently stooped to unbelievably low depths to keep our electricity mix dangerously reliant on natural gas.”
Sillman points out that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says emissions need to be cut by 45% by 2030 and decarbonize our global energy systems & economies by 2050.
These targets were consistent with Sierra Club’s original Pinellas ask, although the Pinellas Commission did weaken them, Sillman says, but only a bit. Still, Sillman pointed out that the IPCC has often understating the speed and scale of the climate crisis and that humanity needs to get off fossil fuels “at wartime speed.”
Energy companies don’t see the situation as dire. They have often co-opted and slowed the green energy movement’s goals through a tactic referred to as “greenwashing”.
Environmentalists say this happened recently in Tampa, where Tampa Electric Company (TECO) and Mayor Jane Castor teamed up to set a “Net-Zero” carbon emissions goal for 2050. The Tampa plan does not fully end carbon emissions, as the environmentalists wanted, and it potentially pushes a Tampa City Council-passed 2035 green energy resolution for Tampa by 15 years. In response to questions about the issues environmentalists have with “Net-Zero”, TECO gave an indirect response.
“Achieving this vision [Net-Zero] will require partnership – with our customers and stakeholders – to improve the planet for our children, and their children,” TECO told CL. “We know our customers care about protecting our planet. By taking action now toward our vision, we can prioritize affordable rates as we make the continued shift to renewable energy sources and other zero or low-carbon, reliable energy-generation technologies.”
Sillman and the rest of the Suncoast Sierra Club want to avoid utility companies in Pinellas doing the same thing they did in Tampa, because “Net-Zero” can include lots of environmentally harmful ideas, like nuclear power, which is wildly expensive, dangerous, and slow to deploy. Carbon Capture, which has been suggested for use in Tampa, is not technically practical nor is it cost effective. And, the idea of Net-Zero itself still allows for continued carbon pollution, rather than fully cutting back.
While there are challenges that lie ahead when it comes to achieving green energy, environmentalists are still celebrating the win in Pinellas. It’s a step in the right direction, as they look forward to achieving a green county, free of programs like Net-Zero.
“We are so excited that Pinellas County has joined St Petersburg, Largo, Dunedin, and Safety Harbor to set clean energy goals,” said Suncoast Sierra Club Group Chair, Bryan Beckman. ‘It shows tremendous leadership that will help reduce pollution and harmful emissions, save money, and create jobs here in Pinellas. Thank you Commissioners for taking this extremely important step.”
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This article appears in Nov 18-24, 2021.
