Daniel TilsonThe failure of Gov. Rick Scott and Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Adam Putnam to develop and advance energy policies in the public’s best interests should give Floridians ample nonpartisan reason to vote them out of office.
Within months of taking office in January 2011, Scott had eliminated the Energy and Climate Commission, turning its responsibilities over to Putnam. Since then, the record shows the two of them and most Republican legislators working with a handful of energy monopolies have taken us backwards in this critical area of everyday life.
We’re talking about keeping our air conditioning systems running, in Florida, along with refrigerators and other appliances — without busting our household budgets.
We’re talking about trying to reduce the already damaging impact of coastal flooding, beach erosion, air and water pollution, and other environmental threats fueled by bad energy policy.
We’re talking about a bread-and-butter, life-or-death issue that should earn you a one-way ticket to political purgatory if you’re an elected official on the wrong side of it.
Scott, Putnam and crew have made clear with their actions and inaction that they’re on the wrong side, by serving the interests of Florida energy monopolies such as FPL and Duke Energy, at our great expense.
Let’s say your air conditioning system is like mine, in its difficult early teenaged years. Your monthly electric bill is more than $300, which mostly goes to keeping your troubled compressor clunking along.
Your friendly local energy monopoly explains how a new energy-efficient AC system qualifies for a rebate, plus the sales tax holiday Scott and Putnam point to with pride as a substitute for sound energy policy.
When you ask about rebates for installing a cost-effective, clean, renewable solar power system, about being able to sell back excess energy you generate to “the grid” for others to use, recouping the cost of your system sooner…
You slam into the Big Energy blockade, a wall of resistance built by multimillions in campaign contributions to coyly cooperative elected officials such as Scott and Putnam, and maintained by regulators appointed by those officials.
Hey, it takes a dirty system to foist off a dirty energy policy on a state with such incredibly underdeveloped solar power resources — Hello, Sunshine State!
In 2011, Scott and Putnam stood by and let legislators turn control over solar expansion to the energy monopolies, which to nobody’s surprise stifled free market competition and handicapped homeowners.
Just recently and with Scott’s blessing, Putnam got the Legislature to eliminate Florida’s unfunded solar rebate program, leaving more than $50 million in valid consumer claims unpaid.
But neither has fought to eliminate infamous, ongoing “Nuclear Cost Recovery Fees” that Big Energy charges customers for non-existent nuclear plants that may or may not be built.
And while Putnam, Commissioner of Consumer Services, wasn’t fighting these battles on behalf of consumers, he was fighting hard to give businesses a 50 percent tax cut on energy consumption.
Meanwhile, he and Scott refuse to join 37 other states with clean, renewable portfolio standards or goals. Putnam proclaims, “We’re not going to follow other states’ leads.”
There’s more, but I’m running out of space and time.
You get the idea. And it’s worth sharing and keeping uppermost in mind as the November election approaches.
But beware.
The Scott-Putnam tandem and their highly paid spin-doctors play a wickedly disingenuous game of “Who, me?” by pointing at the Legislature and claiming an inability to influence its decisions…sometimes.
It’s up to us to set these two straight, and straighten out the awful mess they’ve made of energy policy in our state.
Daniel Tilson has a Boca Raton-based communications firm called Full Cup Media, specializing in online video and written content for non-profits, political candidates and organizations, and small businesses. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
