Florida makes progress on clean energy

Floridians recognize that their state ranks among the nation’s largest energy-consuming states, using almost eight times as much energy as it produces while still enjoying some of the lowest electricity rates in the nation.

At the same time, Florida also is the second-largest generator of electricity after Texas, with clean, lower-cost natural gas fueling more than two-thirds of that output. Florida is moving toward our energy future now, by increasing its use of renewable energy sources alongside traditional ones like oil, natural gas and nuclear power to create one of the nation’s smartest energy mixes.

That’s important because Florida depends on reliable, low-cost energy as much as environmental progress, both of which are essential to keeping the state’s $90 billion tourism industry thriving – and its beaches pristine.

In fact, the Sunshine State is truly living up to its name: solar power generation increased nearly sevenfold over two years to 2.9 million megawatt-hours by 2018, according to the latest Energy Information Administration data.

With this kind of progress, you’d think that the activists would stop with the constant hand-wringing and complaints that Florida — and the U.S. — are not doing enough when it comes to embracing environmental stewardship in energy development. They repeatedly fail to check their basic facts.

It’s time Floridians heard about our country’s greatest untold success story.

Thanks to natural gas, conservation, efficiency, and increased wind and solar power use, the U.S. is leading the world in cutting air-polluting emissions.

Even without being a signatory to the Paris climate accord, by 2025 we will be more than two-thirds of the way to reaching our targeted emissions reduction of 28 percent from 2005 levels, according to Bloomberg Philanthropies.

In fact, the U.S. has pared its annual carbon dioxide-equivalent output by almost as much as the entire European Union since 2005, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Each year, that works out to a reduction of 760 million metric tons versus the 770 million for the whole E.U.

Plus, our country in 2017 trimmed almost twice as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as any other nation, delivering the single-largest absolute reduction of it. This is occurring while the U.S. is the No. 1 producer of oil and natural gas; and the No. 2 producer of wind and solar power.

Contrast that environmental victory with the opposite path found in China, the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter. It hasn’t even promised an overall reduction in emissions in the Paris agreement — only to stop increasing them by 2030. While we’re cutting our emissions, China’s by that date will have surged an estimated 14 percent to 25 percent.

Anti-energy activists always say the U.S. isn’t doing enough, yet many applaud China’s so-called “green” credentials. China may be helping meet the important, increasing demand for solar panels, but it is utterly failing to meet its basic environmental responsibilities.

Starting with a 2005 baseline through 2017, America’s overall greenhouse gas emissions have fallen an impressive 12 percent, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Carbon dioxide fell 14 percent, methane dropped 5 percent and nitrous oxide declined 4.1 percent.

We don’t need an agreement to cut emissions because we have rigorous environmental standards – and our industries respond. Our trucking industry has slashed particulate emissions by over 98 percent, and targets an additional 25 percent cut by 2027. Similar gains are occurring across the private sector with significant environmental stewardship in manufacturing, energy and chemicals.

What about methane and natural gas? U.S. leadership and innovation shines through there, too. From 1990 to 2017, methane emissions from natural gas systems fell 14% while production surged by more than 50 percent. That’s an effective reduction of 43 percent.

We could go on, but the reality is clear. We are diversifying our energy portfolio with renewable sources. We are producing the cleanest energy on the planet during a time of record production. This is helping families and businesses across the nation, especially in Florida, which must import the natural gas that fuels nearly 70 percent of its electricity — keep the lights on and their economies thriving.

It plainly demonstrates how energy production that fuels economic growth can and should happen alongside sound environmental stewardship.

It is also clear we must continue to deliver this much-needed energy via pipelines to the parts of the nation that need it. Increasing energy prices disproportionately impacts the poorest among us. If we are to achieve “energy justice,” we must deliver energy to all Americans and stop looking for ways to make it more expensive.

Our great untold environmental story is what happens when American industry, government and other stakeholders team up to solve problems. We get results, just as we are seeing right now as we all band together to tackle the COVID-19 crisis.

Florida is special. Let’s keep it that way, and talk about our success in making these important strides in environmental and energy progress.

Kevin Doyle of Jacksonville is the Executive Director of Consumer Energy Alliance Florida. It is a U.S. consumer advocate supporting affordable, reliable energy for working families, seniors and businesses across the country.