Since my last post was about water, I wanted you to also think about engergy. This is getting into the nitty-gritty of the true cost of growth that the developers conveniently leave out of the equation. Check out Florida and sustainable energy: When, not if. An excerpt from the article:"According to the non-profit Center for Climate Strategies, 22 states have developed plans to combat climate change.
But not yet Florida.
That will change, too, but there will first have to be some dead reckoning.
As one of the nation's fastest-growing states and politically most important, the soul and fiber of Florida's state and local governments are wedded to growth, including growth in the generation of electricity, the largest source of climate changing emissions.
Wal-Mart is all about selling energy-efficient light bulbs, but Florida is still all about more Wal-Marts."
Readers, you do know that FP&L wants to put another nuclear reactor at Turkey Point? That will take it to three. And, they have a natural gas fired plant there too. (photo above is Turkey Point). Where do you think the electricity for all this development in Miami is coming from, Natacha's Seijas' hot air?
Don't you think it is time to look at some of these issues? Times have changed folks. The population boom here in Florida is calling for drastic measures including conservation!
As the Orlando Sentinel reporter said:
"It was only six years ago, in 2001, that Vice President Dick Cheney famously claimed, "Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy."
Recently, the other side spoke: "We share a view that climate change is the most pressing environmental issue of our time and agree that as the world's largest source of global-warming emissions our country has an obligation to lead." That view was expressed to the U.S. Senate Environment Committee by the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition that includes DuPont, General Electric and Duke Energy."
4 comments:
I’m not sure where you are coming from with your FPL statements. I am also concerned about the growth of Miami-Dade. I am a native who has lived here all my 60 years. I am also a retired FPLer who has at times questioned some of FPL’s direction. FPL is in a dammed if they do and dammed if they don’t position.
FPL must provide the needed electricity for it’s service plants and the necessary infrastructure to get the power from the plant into the grid with very long lead times. In doing this they must try and balance the mix of generation between various fuels. You may not be aware of the number of plants that FPL converted from “dirty” oil to natural gas using very clean and efficient combined cycle plants using natural gas.
FPL needs to have a “mix” of fuels to protect it’s self and it’s customers from shortages with any given fuel supply. That’s why the proposed coal plant in Martin County. I’m for mixed supply but I am concerned about the proposed increase in mercury pollution. I, as a customer, may be willing to accept the risks of a smaller pool of fuel types for the sake of eliminating mercury pollution.
FPL’s sister company, FPL Energy, is the world's largest generator of wind power but even wind power does not come without controversy. Generating electricity with wind creates problems with killing birds, slinging ice, noise and spoiling scenic views. There is a lot of opposition to wind generation from the “not in my back yard” groups.
To me the bottom line is that FPL does not generate the growth in Florida. FPL must plan and build infrastructure including power plants to keep up with it. If FPL were to fall short on this we all would be screaming. FPL and the regulating bodies provide platforms for us to give feedback as part of the process. FPL’s 10 year plan is there for all to see at http://www.fpl.com/about/ten_year/pdf/plan.pdf .
As for growth in Miami-Dade, where is the master plan, one that the county sticks to? As was said in Alice and Wonder Land, “If you don’t know where you are going and road will get you there”.
I had an interesting conversation with someone in Hendry County recently.
She was trying to set up seminars for local builders to learn more about green building , specifically using solar energy.
Seems she couldn't get any info from FPL until she found out that there was some state stautue that required them to provide info to residents about working solar energy plans into their home designs.
When she forced the issue, FPl claimed that in the years since the statute was drafted she was the ONLY one to ever request a copy of it.
So sad.
We should all be trying to figure out how to provide our own energy, solar or otherwise...
x fpl employee:
I am just saying, in order to keep up with the needs of the population, FP&L have to build more plants, just as Water and Sewer needs to build more, very expensive plants. It is a reality people should realize. Growth's hidden costs equal big expenses and big trade-offs.
What kinds of plants they are building should be common knowledge to people here because - as you said - there are trade-offs. I am trying to supply people with education. I don't even know if I approve of nuclear power plants. They scare me -- see the motorcyle ride through the towns around Chernobyl: go to http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/cherlinks.html
geniusofdespair:
Keep up the good work. Your posts provide great insight the inter-workings of how things really get done politically in South Florida. When I was growing up here in Miami I was a cheerleader for Miami growing into a “Big” city. Over time I have changed my mind about it, I long for the old days of easy driving and un-crowded stores.
As for FPL, having spent 27 years as an employee, I feel that FPL gets a bum rap most of the time. They are not perfect and can and do make mistakes but overall they do a pretty good job. Everyone wants to have the lights and their AC come on. They want their food not to spoil and want to be able to get gas at a gas station. All this requires a reliable electric system including power generation. All this takes planning and as I said before, extremely long lead times. When the county opens up large tracts of farmland to be developed that was not zoned for residential FPL must react by expanding infrastructure to support it. It’s not just power plants but transmission lines, substations and everything else to support the growth.
This gets me back to my “If you don’t know where you are going any road will get you there”. From what I can tell unlike, FPL Miami-Dade County does not have a master plan that it sticks to. On the surface it appears that changing the plan by rezoning to the tune of the developers is the plan. Maybe it’s “If you don’t know where to build any lobbyist and commissioner will get you there”.
Post a Comment