Glades Coal Plant Loses Steam

June 5, 2007
For Immediate Release
Contact Preston Robertson
850-656-7113

Today, the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) charted a new course in energy production for Florida and possibly even the nation by unanimously voting to deny Florida Power and Light's (FPL) application to construct a complex of coal-fired power plants in rural Glades County. The plant was to be located on the western shore of Lake Okeechobee and due north the Everglades. It is estimated that upwards of 60 pounds of mercury would be annually emitted from this plant. It takes less than a teaspoon of mercury, which is a neurotoxin, to completely contaminate a 25 acre lake. Additionally, carbon-based greenhouse gases would be spewed from the stacks. Federation Vice-Chair Ann Vanek-Dasovich, longtime advocate for clean energy, stated "We thank the PSC for its timely and thoughtful decision. I hope it is a new day in Florida, when we look to new technologies and fuel sources to lessen our dependence on carbon-based fuels."

Florida already has health advisories on most of its fishes. The Everglades and Lake Okeechobee are under siege from deleterious water manipulation, the paving of the watershed and rampant pollution. For years, citizens and our tax dollars have sought to rehabilitate the Everglades and restore this ecological jewel. To have a huge coal-burning power plant on the edge of this cherished landscape would have been an incredible step backward. Manley Fuller, president of the Federation, expressed that "Most hunters, anglers and conservationists in Florida know that we cannot continue to rely on energy sources that defile our waters and harm our health.  With the threat of global warming becoming more and more a factor in all our decisions, we applaud the PSC for its farsighted position.  Let us look to conservation of our resources before we lock ourselves into many more decades of pollution."

For more information, please contact: Preston Robertson, Vice-President and General Counsel, Florida Wildlife Federation, 2545 Blair Stone Pines Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32301, phone - (850) 656-7113

Governor Crist Applauds Decision

May 17 Press Conference urging PSC denial