Imagine Our Florida, Inc.

On Monday, officers with the FWC found the toxic balls on St. Pete Beach. Tampa Bay 28 reporter Casey Albritton caught up with Sandy Denton as she spent Tuesday afternoon walking along St. Pete Beach, looking for the small white mothballs.

Proposed Bill would Ban Net-Zero Programs and Policies

Florida’s new bill to ban local net‑zero policies claims these efforts “harm energy security”, but the science shows the exact opposite.

Peer‑reviewed research demonstrates that transitioning to clean energy:
✅ Improves national energy security
✅ Reduces dependence on volatile fossil‑fuel imports
✅ Strengthens the grid against hurricanes and outages
✅ Lowers CO₂ emissions and long‑term climate risks

The senate bill has already passed the Environment and Natural Resources Committee with a 5 to 3 vote. The companion bill has been added to the Special Order Calendar for March 5, 2026.

What can you do? Contact your House Representative and demand they oppose HB 1217 and ask your Senators to oppose SB 1628.

Florida’s communities deserve policies grounded in evidence, not misinformation.
Investing in resilience, renewables, and emissions reduction is pro‑security, pro‑economy, and pro‑Florida.

Contact your Representatives before March 5, 2026:
House: https://m.myfloridahouse.gov/FindYourRepresentative
Senate: https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/Find

Bills:
Avila B. 2026. Net-zero Policies by Governmental Entities. [accessed 2026 Mar 3]. https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/1628/BillText/Filed/PDF.

Jacques B, Snyder J. 2026. Prohibited Governmental Policies Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions. [accessed 2026 Mar 3]. https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/1217/BillText/c1/PDF.

Refernces:
Androniceanu A, Veith C, Ionescu ȘA, Marinescu P, Sima AG, Paru A. 2024. Shaping Sustainable Futures: Public Policies and Renewable Energy Insights Based on Global Bibliometric Analysis. Sustainability. 16(12):4957. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su16124957. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/12/4957.

Cheng J, Tong D, Zhao H, Xu R, Qin Y, Zhang Q, Bhuwalka K, Caldeira K, Davis SJ. 2025 Apr 9. Trade risks to energy security in net-zero emissions energy scenarios. Nature Climate Change. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02305-1. [accessed 2025 Apr 15]. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02305-1.

Denholm P, Chernyakhovskiy I, Streitmatte L. 2024. Maintaining Grid Reliability – Lessons from Renewable Integration Studies . docs.NREL.gov: NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy. [accessed 2026 Mar 3]. https://docs.nrel.gov/docs/fy24osti/89166.pdf.

Elsworth J, Van Geet O, Robinson G, Bari G, Calton J, Hickey J, Morrison E, Payne K, Lyell K. 2023. Toward Solar Photovoltaic Storm Resilience: Learning from Hurricane Loss and Rebuilding Better. Federal Energy Management Program. [accessed 2026 Mar 3]. https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-02/femp-toward-solar-pv-storm-resilience-learning-from-hurricane-loss-rebuilding-better_0.pdf.