Sierra Club seeks vetoes from Gov. DeSantis

An environmental group is targeting two pieces of legislation that passed in 2024, hoping that Gov. Ron DeSantis will stop the bills from becoming law.

While it’s unclear what he will do, given he condemned the “far-left” Sierra Club after it failed him on a “report card” last year, these objections are nonetheless noted

Sierra is taking issue with HB 433, which the group contends “would preempt local governments’ ability to pass protections for workers in extreme heat at a time when climate change is pushing record temperatures higher year after year.”

Sierra Club Florida Political Director Luigi Guadarrama notes that “DeSantis himself has admitted that ‘Florida’s economic success is tied to our environment,’ yet the legislature continues to produce bills that threaten the well-being of both. We cannot and will not ignore the devastating impact that this bill will have on our economy and the health of hard-working Floridians.”

Sierra Club Florida Executive Committee Chair James Scott adds that the “cost of inaction on climate change is ethically intolerable and economically unsustainable. Preventing local governments from taking action will cost Floridians their paychecks and their lives. While big business and big-government Tallahassee legislators may choose to ignore that, Florida won’t.”

The Sierra Club also seeks a veto of HB 1645, “Energy Resources.”

They take issue with preemptions against local action in the bill, including discouraging electric vehicle purchases, reducing local input and review on gas pipelines, striking clean renewable energy grants, and banning wind energy.

“Eliminating the few genuine, clean, renewable energy grant programs in the state and at the same time providing cost recovery for the gas industry is a slap in the face of hard working Floridians. It is not our responsibility to prop up large out-of-state corporations with higher bills each month,” Guadarrama said.

 “Why would we trade the ability to set Florida on the right track and prioritize pumping toxic greenhouse gasses into our homes and throughout our communities? People should have a say on whether or not to let that into their neighborhoods,” Scott added.