Blinking in the sunlight by gimleteye

Yesterday the Public Service Commission rejected the proposal for a big coal-fired power plant by FPL in Glades County, by a striking vote of 4-0.

Many people, (including eyeonmiami), believed the FPL proposal to be the wrong technology, at the wrong place (edge of the Everglades), at the wrong time.

But citizens in South Florida have become so accustomed to being shut in a dark basement by the Growth Machine that they can be excused, after the PSC decision, for feeling like blinking in the sunlight after being let out of the dark.

FPL went at the permitting process for the Glades plant behind closed doors, and Glades county commissioners were more than willing accomplices--using all the arguments of the Growth Machine and its spin doctors.

I'm not sure it is a new day in Florida, but it certainly seems that Governor Crist wants a coherent state energy policy that moves Florida away from increased carbon dioxide emissions.

Stopping the FPL proposal is a clear indication to the state's electric utilities that there will be meaningful energy policy reform in a time of global warming. A good start would be for the state to provide incentives for electric utilities to conserve instead of the simple business model of accomodating growth through increased power production.

In 8 years of Jeb, conservation was treated as the same kind of voluntary "squishy" matter that Vice President Cheney carped about, in 2001 and in the run-up to the war in Iraq.

Governor Crist has a much better sense of what people want--to be rid of dependency on fossil fuels-- and what the state needs.

He deserves credit and support for leadership on energy and the environment.

Before declaring it is a new day, however, let's see if Governor Crist has the fortitude to veto some really bad bills that are awaiting his signature on growth management and civic participation in our democracy.