By Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix
The Florida Senate has voted final approval of an amended tax bill (HB 1217) to ban local governments in Florida from using net-zero policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — the primary driver of climate change.
The vote was 24-12, with Miami Republican Alexis Alexis Calatayud joining all the Democrats in opposing the bill. The House had already approved the bill, which will head to the governor’s desk. If signed into law by DeSantis, it would go into effect on July 1.
Miami-Dade Republican Sen. Bryan Avila amended his tax bill (SB 7046) last week; it originally bundled together dozens of tax and policy changes.
That current language says government entities may not enact, enforce, or require any person or legal entity to enact or enforce any net zero policy by resolution, ordinance, rule, code or policy. It would ban local governments from expending any funds (including taxes, fees, or assessments) that support, implement or advance net-zero policies.
During the debate on the Senate floor, Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, asked Avila whether the proposal means local governments can’t enact any pro-environmental measures, saying it appeared to her that the legislation preempts that power to the state.
“What the bill strives to implement is that the local governments cannot essentially take it upon themselves when determining several options — whether it’s in transportation or whether it’s the construction of a building — that they simply can’t go with one option simply because they are trying to meet some sort of goal in terms of the reduction of emissions or trying to get to a net-zero policy,” Avila said.
“They need to factor in all of the dynamics, especially as it relates to costs. They simply can’t just go in the procurement process solely based on trying to meet one particular environmental objective.”
Democratic lawmakers argued city leaders within their districts are worried about whether their existing contracts regarding net zero policies could be continued after the bill becomes law.
Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boca Raton, suggested the bill could prove this session’s version of SB 180, the 2025 hurricane recovery legislation that also restricted local governments from adopting stricter land-use regulations for development, leading to lawsuits across the state.
Berman read aloud from the Senate bill analysis, which says there is “broad scientific consensus that if the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continues, the risk of more severe climate impacts will increase, including biodiversity loss, threats to human health, reduced food and water security, and more frequent and severe extreme weather events.”
“Climate change is real. I don’t know why we’re trying to avoid it,” she said.
Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Crestview, said there is nothing in the legislation to preclude local governments from purchasing buses that don’t use gasoline, or plant trees or reserve green spaces.
“I’m not going to debate climate change. I didn’t get elected to the Florida Senate to argue with a thermometer,” he said.
“This bill is about when you make a decision to do something in business, or in government, or in community, you don’t use just one driving force, regardless of all other consequences and all other variables. This bills says that net-zero policies should not be the one-trick pony in planning what you do in a community.”
The measure comes nearly two years after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation declaring the state would no longer be required to consider climate change when crafting energy policy. Climate change policies were also relatively absent at the state level during Gov. Rick Scott’s time in office (2011-2019), prompting at least 14 local governments in Florida to act on their own and pass resolutions committing to a 100% clean, renewable energy portfolio in the future.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Banner photo: Pollution is released from a smokestack (iStock image).
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