Florida utilities would gradually increase their renewable electricity, reaching 100% by 2050 under a proposed rule unveiled by the state’s agriculture commissioner.
The proposal is an outgrowth of a lengthy court battle involving dozens of young people who claim Florida is violating their constitutional rights by continuing to promote the fossil fuel use that drives climate change.
The rule, announced Thursday by Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democratic candidate for governor, came after the young people represented by the nonprofit Our Children’s Trust law firm, filed a petition seeking it.
One of the children involved in the petition was Delaney Reynolds of Miami.
“The promise that the rule holds is that today Florida can begin to address the cause of our climate change crisis, the use of fossil fuels,” Reynolds said.
The proposed rule next faces 21 days of public comment.
It’s the first of its kind in Florida, a state highly vulnerable to climate impacts.
WMFE reporter Amy Green contributed to this report.
