Gov. Ron DeSantis Slammed For Signing Bill That Removes Reference To Climate Change In Laws In State Prone To Weather Emergencies

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) was criticized for signing legislation eliminating the effort to reduce the effects of climate change in his state.

When signing the bill on May 15, DeSantis said he was keeping Florida safe from “green zealots” with a “radical climate agenda.”

The legislation bans power-generating wind turbines offshore or near Florida’s extensive coastline, even though climate data shows that temperatures and sea levels are rising in the state. Florida’s location puts it at risk of more extreme heat.

The bill will go into effect on July 1 and delete the term “climate” from Florida state laws.

Critics called this action an attempt to downplay the climate change crisis by moving the state away from efficiency goals and reducing greenhouse gases blamed for Earth’s warming.

“If we are not serious about the impact of climate change on our state & mitigate our risks, the insurance industry will continue to pull out & price out many home owners,” wrote Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried on X. “This impacts everyone including renters.”

The law increases the expansion of natural gas, decreases regulations around gas pipelines and revokes state grant programs that encourage renewable energy and energy conservation.

The legislation eliminates the requirement that Florida government agencies hold conferences and meetings in hotels certified as “green lodging” by the state’s environmental agency. 

It also eliminates the requirement that vehicles bought by the state need to be fuel-efficient. The law will also end the requirement for state agencies to refer to a list of “climate-friendly products” before purchasing.

The bill will also increase protection against appliance bans, including gas stoves.

According to the Florida governor’s office, the law would begin a study of small nuclear reactor technology, increase the use of hydrogen-powered vehicles and enhance electric grid security.

“The legislation I signed today—HB 1645, HB 7071, and HB 1331—will keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and China out of our state,” DeSantis stated in an X post. “We’re restoring sanity in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of the radical green zealots. Furthermore, we’re going to ensure foreign adversaries like China have no foothold in our state.”

Despite the bill’s anti-windmill rhetoric, Florida has no offshore wind industry and is already largely powered by natural gas, which provides around 74% of the electricity generation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The Sunshine State has experienced many impacts of climate change after facing its hottest year since 1895 in 2023, with the waters off its coastline heating up to around 90 degrees last summer.

Florida is also facing rising seas, flooding and increasingly severe storms. The state has seen billions of dollars in damages and more than 100 deaths from several hurricanes that attacked Florida in recent years.

DeSantis has approved funding to increase protection against flooding and storms and, more recently, allowed the continuation of the financing for hurricane defenses in infrastructure improvements and support for homeowners. My Safe Florida Home program to safeguard homes against storms and hurricanes will receive $200 million in the bill.

Polls show that most Floridians believe in climate change and want action to curb its effects. 

DeSantis has made a cottage industry of poking at progressives with his policies. 

On April 16, DeSantis signed an education bill limiting objections to public school library books after a previous law he signed led to a flood of book bans.

This law would enforce a limit of one objection to a book per month for those who do not have children in a given school district.

During an event on May 1, DeSantis signed a ban on lab-grown meat to “save our beef” from the “global elite” and its “authoritarian plans.”

The law is the first of its kind in America and forbids the selling and distributing lab-grown meat in Florida.

DeSantis said the state “is fighting back against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs.”