Melissa Williams, melissa.williams@sierraclub.org
TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — A Florida judge has ruled that Sierra Club, on behalf of its nearly 38,000 Florida members, can intervene in FPL’s request to build a fracked gas power plant in the Dania Beach community.
If this plant is allowed to move ahead, it would operate until 2062, spewing as much as 190 million tons of greenhouse gas pollution into the atmosphere, exacerbating the deadly impacts of climate change that Florida communities already face, such as monster storms, dangerous sea-level rise, and deteriorating wetlands and ecosystems.
In response to today’s decision, Susannah Randolph, representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign in Florida, released the following statement:
“This case is about protecting Dania Beach and communities across Florida from 40 years of greenhouse gas pollution that would result from Florida Power & Light’s proposed fracked gas power plant.
“Instead of trying to block our efforts to advocate for reasonable, readily available ways to minimize pollution from toxic fuel sources, FPL should focus on ramping up its paltry solar portfolio and pair it with robust energy efficiency programs that would lower electricity demand and people’s bills.
“Floridians have consistently shown that we don’t want to be locked into decades of paying for—and suffering from—climate-disrupting, dirty fuels like coal, oil and fracked gas. We deserve clean, renewable energy that creates jobs, saves our families money, and that protects both the environment and our most vulnerable communities.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.