Should local governments in Florida be free to pursue local net-zero goals that fight climate change, sea-level rise, extreme heat and worsening weather plaguing their residents?
Republicans in the state Legislature are saying no. Three Republican lawmakers sponsored bills this legislative session to outlaw local net-zero efforts, citing business and tax motives but not addressing climate change. The bills have been approved in all three of the GOP-controlled legislative committees that reviewed them in public hearings.
Net-zero goals strive to reduce and offset carbon emissions so that the net effect is to stop adding them to the atmosphere, where they blanket the planet, warm the atmosphere and fuel climate change.
SB 1628 in the Senate and HB 1217 in the House of Representatives would ban local-government efforts such as converting municipal fleets to electric vehicles, using solar power on public buildings, expanding greenspaces, reforestation, and energy-efficiency standards. Those efforts are in place across the state including in Alachua, Broward, Leon, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Orange and Palm Beach counties and through alliances such as the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact.
‘Big Oil. Big Gas’
Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, Orange County Democrat, said the bills strip away local authority and hurt Florida citizens, while only helping the fossil fuel industry.
“Who does it benefit? Bills like this benefit fossil-fuel companies. Big Oil. Big Gas. They love this bill,” Smith said during a public hearing on SB 1628. “Who does it hurt? It hurts all of us. It hurts future generations. It hurts the planet.”
Bill sponsor Sen. Bryan Avila of Miami-Dade said those industries, like any taxpayer, should not have to pay extra to help meet local net-zero goals.
FL State Sen. Bryan Avila, R-Hialeah Gardens. Credit: The Florida Channel.
“It should not be up to the government to impose a fee, a charge, or a tax in order to essentially social-engineer what a business needs to be doing,” Avila said.
SB 1628 and HB 1217 have so far advanced through three legislative committees over the objections of Democratic members. To reach the full House or Senate the bills would need to pass additional committees.
The bills’ sponsors – Rep. John Snyder, representing parts of Martin and Palm Beach counties, Rep. Berny Jacques of Pinellas County, and Sen. Avila — say their measures are meant to guarantee that the costs of clean-energy policies could not be imposed on taxpayers – particularly corporate taxpayers.
During public hearings on Jan. 27, Feb. 4, and Feb. 12, the bills’ sponsors never discussed the impacts of climate change in Florida, including coastal flooding from sea-level rise, illness caused by extreme heat, and damage caused by worsening storms.
The staff analysis for Avila’s bill references United Nations scientific reports on the growing danger of global warming. Avila dismissed those reports by noting that the head of the UN’s security council is from Somalia.
“When Somalia is the president of the UN Security Council, you kind of discredit yourself,” Avila said.
Flooding, hurricanes, streets
Critics cited the impacts of climate change in Florida as ample cause to support, not ban, local net-zero, clean-energy goals.
“Florida leads the nation in property at risk from climate change,” said Jennifer Webb, formerly a state representative from Tampa, testifying for Sierra Club of Florida at a public hearing before the Senate Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources.
“Our communities are already experiencing the consequences of king tides flooding seaside streets, coastal erosion threatening property values, and saltwater intrusion compromising fresh water supplies. These are not projections. These are documented realities local governments are working to address right now using policies such as these,” Webb said.
‘Let the market determine’
Avila repeatedly said that banning net-zero policies would provide “predictability and visibility” for corporations that might set up shop in Florida if assured they won’t face additional costs related to those policies.
“We pride ourselves on certainly providing one of the best, if not the best business environment in the … world,” Avila said. He claimed numerous times without citing sources that clean energy policies in other states have repelled corporate investment and turned their economies “upside down.”
Flooding in Sarasota County during Tropical Storm Debby. | Photo courtesy of Pam Furner
Sen. Tina Polsky, a Democrat from Palm Beach County, asked Avila if the state would take on responsibility for adapting to climate change.
“If this is now going to be in the state’s hands, because you don’t want cities to have net-zero policies, what is the state doing to lower emissions, to lower pollution, to lower our carbon footprint?” Polsky asked.
Avila replied that markets should develop unencumbered.
“Let the market determine best practices when it comes to what appeals to consumers, and what’s in the best interests of them to sell their products,” Avila replied to Polsky.
Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orange County Democrat, practically sputtered as he tried to articulate his objections to Avila’s bill.
“This is really …” he began, then stopped, drew a breath and tried again. “I can’t support this bill. It bans them from even trying to reduce emissions.” He said the bill would prevent cities from switching to electric buses that are quiet and emit no fumes. It would prevent cities from considering clean energy in purchasing and planning. It would ban them from taking any actions based solely on trying to reduce climate-change impacts on their communities, even if there is no additional cost involved.
Avila’s bill falsely presumes that it is cheaper to use fossil fuels than clean energy, Smith said. He countered that in the long-term renewables often are more cost-efficient, in addition to making communities cleaner and healthier.
Sen. Kristen Arrington, Democrat, representing Osceola County and part of Orange County, said the NeoCity Academy in her district is a net-zero facility that uses 76 percent less energy than average schools, saving $115,000 a year in energy costs. She asked Avila if his bill would ban the building of such schools. Avila said he wasn’t sure but that it might.
Smith said Avila’s bill is not about saving dollars for everyday taxpayers but about insulating big corporations from any costs or inconveniences related to climate action.
Sea-level rise, extreme heat and worsening weather can plague residents.
“We have local leaders in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Monroe, Orlando, Tampa, all across the state. They’ve adopted climate-resilient plans because they are already dealing with flooding, they are dealing with extreme heat, saltwater intrusion, storm damage,” Smith said. “This bill will wipe all those plans out entirely.”
No questions asked
Democrats Smith, Polsky and Arrington voted no on Avila’s bill. Without asking any questions or offering any input, the five Republicans on the committee voted yes. They are senators Gayle Harrell, representing Martin County and parts of Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties; Nick DeCeglie, Pinellas County; Chair Ana Maria Rodriguez, representing Monroe County and parts of Dade; Vice Chair Debbie Mayfield, representing part of Brevard County; plus Avila. SB 1628 is assigned to two more committees for possible hearings.
In the House, HB 1217 passed the Economic Infrastructure Committee 12-3 and the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee 11-4 along party lines, with Democrats defending local net-zero goals and Republicans voting to ban them, again without asking questions or commenting.
ReThink Energy Action Fund, a nonprofit social-welfare organization, and other critics testified against the bills. ReThink Energy VP Kim Ross said polls consistently show bipartisan public support for clean energy, climate solutions, and local authority. Conservative Energy Network made that same point in August. The Nature Conservancy signaled its opposition without testifying.
No one from the public spoke in favor of the bills. However, a representative of Americans for Prosperity, connected to billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, which has long been opposed to climate action and environmental regulation, signaled its support without testifying.
On Feb. 12, the date of the third hearing on the bills, President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency revoked the 2009 federal “endangerment finding” declaring that scientific evidence conclusively proves climate change endangers human life. The endangerment finding is a bedrock of climate action legislation. A torrent of lawsuits is expected.
Laura Cassels is a veteran Florida journalist and former Capitol Bureau chief who specializes in science, the environment, and the economy. The Florida Trident is an investigative news outlet focusing on government accountability and transparency across Florida. The Trident was created and first published in 2022 by the Florida Center for Government Accountability, a non-profit organization that facilitates local investigative reporting across the state.
