By Devin Dubon and Malique Lewis

The push for alternative energy has been increasingly prevalent throughout South
Florida in recent years. The main source of this has been solar energy and many cities across South Florida have led the charge in implementing this.

This July, South Miami passed legislation that required all newly built houses to have
solar panels installed. This law, the first of its kind in Florida recently went into effect on
September 18th. This law could serve as a catalyst for renewable energy companies and could spread to neighboring cities. This push was spearheaded by South Miami’s mayor, Phillip Stoddard, who also holds a PhD in Biology from Florida International University.

According to Mayor Stoddard, “People have been recognizing the need to reduce carbon
and the citizens of the United States are very concerned about climate change … and one of the best things we can do [to make a difference] is institute solar power.”

Stoddard continued, “Solar power in Florida has a great advantage in that everybody
advantages from it: the homeowner saves money, the builders make money, and the realtors sell the houses faster. So, it’s one of those rare things where you can do the right thing for everybody, and make money at the same time, so it’s kind of a no-brainer.”

The only other people to take a similar move has been California where Senate Majority
Leader Kevin de Leon introduced a bill calling for the state to get 100% of its electricity from renewable means by 2045, and included a clause in which all home must have solar panels installed.

However, there is still plenty of support for such moves at the local levels. Miami
Gardens councilman David Williams stated that “Solar is the way to go because you would not have to worry about nuclear power plants and coal. Nuclear power plants has nuclear reactants and if something goes wrong it can put many people’s lives at risk. Coal is a major component of the greenhouse effect because it’s being released into the atmosphere. If we want to preserve our communities in the future, we need solar energy.”

Yet still, these legislations have been combatted every time they are introduced by
various builder’s unions and electricity companies such as Florida Power and Light (FPL). In fact, FPL has been one of the most staunch opposers of all forms of this legislation in Florida.

According to FPL spokesperson Marc Anderson, solar energy is just not as efficient as
it’s made out to be and certainly not more efficient than FPL. “Many solar powered homes still use or need generators as a back up, and that means that it still uses electricity,” Anderson said, “if it’s a cloudy day, rainy day, hurricane, or just a day without sunlight the chances of the solar panels collecting energy from the sun are slim to none. Overall this would not be as efficient as FPL.”

There have been other moves to bring attention to the problem of climate change,
especially as it affects South Florida. Most notable of these is the two separate resolutions held in, once again, South Miami calling for a split between North and South Florida. Both of these were championed by Vice Mayor Walter Harris and they claimed that North Florida is holding back South Florida from dealing with climate change and sea level rise on a local and state level.

Philip Stoddard offered another reason the split would be beneficial. Stoddard stated that “Florida’s education system is a disaster – among other state disasters – and the rural
communities get a disproportionate amount of money relative to the cost of living, relative to the urban communities and so we would do much better if we divided Florida more finely so that we could keep some of the education money where it’s generated.”

This type of legislation, although unlikely to realistically go into effect, can help to bring
attention to the underlying issues at hand. When issues are brought to public awareness then change can be made on a local level, could eventually be adopted statewide – as in California – and maybe, perhaps, on a national level such as some countries have already done. These laws not only benefit the consumer but also contribute to reducing our nation’s carbon footprint and thus limiting the output of greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere.