ICYMI: Vote on Controversial Fracked Gas Plant Moved to After Election

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- Gov. Rick Scott, in his role as head of the Florida Power Plant Siting Board, moved a controversial vote to after the election as he seeks a seat in the United States Senate. The Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, in a piece published in the Miami Herald on Saturday, reports that while the board was scheduled to vote on FPL’s Dania Beach fracked gas plant proposal on Sept. 11 -- prior to the September 28, 2018 statutory deadline for deciding -- the decision was quietly moved to Dec. 4, when Scott will be a lame duck governor. The September 28 deadline is set by section 403.509(1)(b), Florida Statutes, and the deadline can only be changed with a judge’s permission, which was not obtained here. FPL is a major donor to Scott’s campaigns, and Scott has invested as much as $500,000 in FPL.

A spokesperson for Scott said the meeting was moved to avoid conflicting with Rosh Hashanah, yet Scott and his cabinet met that same morning in their capacity as the Clemency Board, and Scott literally jetted off to The Villages to campaign later that day.

The fracked gas plant had become increasingly controversial in part because it would lock South Florida into 40 more years of burning climate-disrupting fracked gas at a time when clean, renewable energy sources are abundant and affordable.

In response, Sierra Club Florida Chapter Director Frank Jackalone released the following statement:

"Florida Governor Rick Scott should act on the climate crisis. He has the chance to stand up to polluting corporations instead of kicking the can down the road. Between Red Tide, Green Slime, and stronger hurricanes, Floridians have enough to worry about without wondering whether or not Rick Scott will vote to lock them into 40 more years of fracked gas burning.”