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Looking for an alternative

Attitudes, in Florida and nationwide, are shifting away from dependence on foreign oil.

By DAVID ADAMS
Published February 16, 2007

MIAMI — Two years ago when Tampa Bay burger boss Blake Casper heard guys were making diesel out of used cooking oil he decided he’d give it a try.

“I figured we’ve got plenty of that laying around,” said Casper, 33, CEO of Caspers Co., the largest McDonald’s franchise in Florida with 78 outlets in Tampa Bay and northern Florida.

Now Casper sits on the Florida Energy Commission, a new body tasked with advising the Legislature on a cleaner and more efficient energy policy that is less dependent on foreign oil.

The commission, which held its first meeting in Tallahassee last week, is only the tip of a legislative iceberg formed over the need to address alternative energy sources and global climate change.

Major energy reform once seemed a long way off. Now it appears to be a realistic possibility in the legislative session that opens next month, reflecting a tectonic shift in the energy debate under way from California to Washington, D.C.

“The mood’s changed,” said Casper, who is active in Republican Party politics. “There’s a lot of heat around this issue.”

Lawmakers are already looking at ways to enforce a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Earlier this month, Gov. Charlie Crist proposed $68-million for alternative energy funding, a major increase. Some legislators want to increase that to $100-million.

One of the keys to the mood swing is a growing realization that alternative-energy reform may not be the budget burden many fear, and, instead, could drive new economic development.

“Green means two things: green for the environment and green for your pocketbook,” said Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs, one of the state’s energy reform leaders.

The pace and intensity of discussion have surprised even veteran environmental lobbyists. “Between last year and today, it feels like 10 years have passed in terms of level of interest and understanding,” said Susan Glickman, a

Tampa-based consultant for the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

The Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, which aims to identify the major challenges facing the state’s future, also held hearings last week on global climate change. Chaired by St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, it issued a report last month that identified moving away from fossil fuels as the principal challenge facing the state.

The commission heard dramatic testimony from a panel of experts about the impact of climate change on Florida, including predictions of rising sea levels, outbreaks of tropical diseases and deadly heat waves.

“If you are not at the table for climate change, you’re going to be on the menu,” Stephen Mulkey, a climate-change expert at the University of Florida, told the commission.

Step one, Baker says, is to hire a team of energy professionals to come up with a customized “road map” for the state.

As the fourth most populous state in the nation, Florida has a responsibility to reduce its emissions. Despite possessing some of the nation’s best natural energy resources — forest, farmland and climate — the state woefully lags most of the rest of the country.

But that may be changing.

“Florida has got all the DNA for a great climate plan,” said Terry Tamminen, climate change adviser to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, perhaps the nation’s greenest political leader.

Tamminen was sent to brief Crist last week by Schwarzenegger. “The governor (Crist) is very open and his entire staff are engaged,” he said.

Powerful new voices have also emerged on key legislative committees.

“Right now in Tallahassee the general mood is, 'Let’s do something different.’ We need to move this to a much higher level,” said Century Commission member Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, who also heads the Senate’s Utility Committee.

Among the ideas being floated are setting a renewable fuel standard to increase green energy use, as well as incentives for homeowners to install solar roof panels.

Bennett also wants to set clean-energy standards for nuclear and coal-fired power plants.

Casper, who runs his McDonald’s fleet of company tractor-trailers on biodiesel, says he’s glad to be part of the changing energy debate. “There’s no easy fix here, but I think that the political mood is getting to the point where you have politicians who are much more bold about what they are saying about what needs to be done.”

David Adams can be reached at dadams@sptimes.com.

[Last modified February 16, 2007, 20:54:51]