Gov. Crist hails energy bill, but green impact is faded

From "Great!" to "girly man," Florida's latest energy bill elicits a range of responses from insiders still recovering from the bruising legislative session.

The bill runs to more than 200 pages, so oft-changed and densely packed that lobbyists who studied it intensively for two months still aren't entirely sure what's in it. The bill now awaits Gov. Charlie Crist's signature.

"It's great!" Crist exclaimed in an interview Tuesday. "Of course it's great. Are you kidding? We've finally moved Florida and the Southeast to the forefront on climate change!"

The only compromise Crist acknowledged was a last-minute amendment in the House that forbids Florida from mimicking California's low-carbon standard for cars. Auto industry lobbyists successfully pushed the measure through.

"I think Arnold Schwarzenegger would call it a girly man move to buckle to the auto industry," said Susan Glickman, an environmental lobbyist.

Staff writer Craig Pittman contributed to this report. Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or (813) 225-3117.

Who benefits?

Is Florida's energy bill, passed nearly unanimously by both the state House and Senate, really green or greenwashed? Here's a look at some of the bill's provisions, and who benefits:

Provision: Speeds eminent domain proceedings, allows easier access to state lands for transmission lines and pipelines, and makes it more complicated and expensive to challenge utilities' preferred routes for transmission and pipelines.

Winner: A trade group that represents the state's utilities helped draft these provisions and lobbied to get them passed. Every utility with a transmission project will benefit, but Progress Energy may be the biggest winner at the moment, with a $3-billion, 200-mile transmission project planned to carry power from its planned Levy County nuclear plant through 10 counties.

Provision: Kicks off a statewide carbon cap-and-trade system, and nudges the state toward requiring utilities to produce a certain percentage of their power from renewable resources.

Winner: Gov. Charlie Crist signed executive orders last year pushing for both measures. The legislature punted the rule making to state regulators, and required both measures to come back to the legislature for approval. The bill also included a "safety valve" to keep carbon from getting too expensive, which arguably weakens the system since the price is meant to be a deterrent to polluting.

Provision: Allows utilities to pass on the costs of greenhouse gas measurement and reporting, pilot renewable energy projects, and research and development into carbon capture and storage.

Winner: Florida Power & Light has announced pilot programs in solar and wind, and Progress Energy has announced a small wind pilot program. Tampa Electric is one of the few utilities in the nation with a coal gasification plant, believed to be the best type for experimenting with capturing carbon dioxide and pumping it deep underground.

Provision: Continues an annual $6.5-million investment tax break for biofuels projects, including the production, storage, and distribution of ethanol and biodiesel, that was first enacted in legislation in 2006.

Winner: There are several biodiesel and ethanol projects underway statewide. So far, Marathon Oil Co. was the biggest beneficiary, claiming more than $3-million in tax breaks last year associated with the blending and storage of ethanol.

Provision: Eases early siting and permits for nuclear plants, allowing utilities to start building support facilities like electric transmission, rail lines and access roads before completing the site permit process with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and enshrines support for nuclear power in the state's policies.

Winner: Progress Energy and Florida Power & Light both have plans to build new nuclear plants. Florida Power & Light plans to build two reactors at its existing Turkey Point power station, but Progress Energy's will be built on a new site in southwest Levy County, a few miles north of Crystal River.