Young Floridians File Suit Against State's PSC For Its Continuing Approvals Of Ever-More FF Power Plants

A new lawsuit accuses the state commission overseeing Florida’s electric providers of slowing the transition to cleaner energy by sanctioning utility plans that favor fossil fuels. The complaint against the Public Service Commission was filed on behalf of six young Floridians, ranging in age from 18 to 25. The litigation argues the commission’s actions violate state law and the constitutionally protected rights of the state’s youth to a safe and livable future.

“The Commission’s conduct has created and locked in for decades a fossil fuel-dependent electricity sector in Florida that emits nationally and globally significant amounts of climate pollution into the atmosphere,” the lawsuit states. “The Commission’s conduct has prevented the promotion of clean renewable energy that the Legislature said was necessary since 2006.”

The lawsuit was filed in October in Miami-Dade County on behalf of a single plaintiff and amended this month to add five new plaintiffs, all residents of the jurisdiction that the complaint points out is uniquely vulnerable to hotter temperatures, rising seas and more damaging storms. These impacts are intensifying as fossil fuel emissions warm the global climate.

At the center of the litigation are the 10-year site plans submitted annually by the state’s largest electric utilities. According to the lawsuit, the plans represent Florida’s only long-term planning process involving a state agency when it comes to the mix of energy powering homes and businesses here, from coal and natural gas to solar and wind. Gas is responsible for about 75 percent of the electricity consumed in Florida, the complaint states.

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/18122024/young-adults-suing-florida-commission-over-fossil-fuels/