Voz media US Voz.us

DeSantis signs bill that will remove climate agenda policies from Florida's legislation

According to the governor, the new rule "will keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and China out of our state."

Ron DeSantis

Wikimedia Commons

Published by

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Wednesday that will remove climate agenda policies from Florida legislation. According to the Republican politician, the new rule "will keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and China out of our state":

The law, which will come into force on July 1, will ban wind farms both offshore and near the state's extensive coastline, considering climate change as a lower priority, disappearing from state statutes and removing the word "climate" from nine places.

Additionally, as explained by the governor's office in a statement, the new regulations will advocate for the expansion of natural gas, reduce regulations on gas pipelines and increase protection against bans on gas appliances such as stoves:

Environmentalists against DeSantis' new law

Critics were quick to attack the new law and claim that the measure ignored the reality of climate change threats in Florida. This was stated by the executive director of the nonprofit organization Cleo Institute, Yoca Arditi-Rocha, as reported by NBC News:

This purposeful act of cognitive dissonance is proof that the governor and state Legislature are not acting in the best interests of Floridians, but rather to protect profits for the fossil fuel industry.

She was not the only one. Brooke Alexander-Goss, clean energy organizing manager for the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club, told The New York Times that Governor DeSantis had "failed" his constituents by signing the bill:

Allowing this bill to become law jeopardizes the health and safety of all Floridians, further proving that his top priority is to appease large corporations and fossil fuel companies. We will pay more at the pump and for our insurance premiums, and we will certainly see increases in climate-related disasters and deaths.
tracking