By Jim Ash
Florida Capital Bureau Chief
TALLAHASSEE -- A coal-fired power plant on the edge of the Everglades
would foul the famous River of Grass, increase global warming and be a
boondoggle for customers, Southwest Florida critics told regulators
today.
Supporters, many of them officials with tiny Glades County, say it
would be an economic savior for an impoverished rural community.
Few minds changed as more than 20 witnesses gave sworn testimony to the
Public Service Commission, which is considering whether there is a need
for the $5.7 billion plant Florida Power & Light wants to build
about 5 miles northwest of Moore Haven in 2013.
“I intend to fight them until I’m dead,” said 57-year-old Clewiston rancher Terry Jackman.
Jackman recently refused requests to survey his 5,000-acre cattle ranch
and sugar cane farm as a possible site for power transmission lines.
Butch Jones, chairman of the Glades County Commission, is just as
strongly convinced that the plant is vital for his 11,000 mostly rural
and poor constituents, most of whom support the project, he said.
“I do not tell you with a lot of pride that I come from one of the most
poverty stricken counties in the state,” he said. “We need the plant
for our economic survival.”
Environmentalists warned about the
potential for increased global warming from a plant that is expected to
spew 13 million pounds of carbon dioxide a year, considered by
scientists as the chief culprit in climate change.
But
commission Chairwoman Lisa Edgar warned that by law, commissioners are
only allowed to consider whether there is a need for the plant, and
whether the proposal will be the most cost-effective for its customers.
If FP&L survives the need determination that the commission is
expected to make in June, it will still have to submit a battery of
permits to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Lawmakers also ordered commissioners last year to consider whether
energy conservation can offset the need for new plants and whether
their choice of fuel helps diversify Florida’s reliance on more cleaner
burning natural gas.
FP&L is stressing the “diversity” argument in its application.
Holly Binns, an organizer and lobbyist for Environment Florida, warned
that the project would not be economically feasible at a time when six
bills are under consideration in congress that would impose strict
sanctions on carbon-dioxide emissions.
“It’s extremely likely
that we will have a carbon-regulated economy in the future,” she said.
“This will be a significant cost that will be passed on to rate payers.”
Barney Bishop, a lobbyist for the powerful Associated Industries of
Florida, heralded the search for wind and solar and other power
alternatives, but said each has its drawbacks and Florida will need to
expand power generation until that time.
Coal is the best way to ensure a reliable energy supply while world oil supplies dwindle, he said.
“There is nothing that is going to make the greenies entirely happy,”
he said. “What we have to do is meet our energy needs now.”
