Nikki Fried proposes Florida use 100% renewable electricity by 2050

WUSF | By Associated Press

Published April 22, 2022 at 8:56 AM EDT

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried, center, speaks during a news conference along with youth climate leaders, Valholly Frank, left, and Delaney Reynolds, right, Thursday, April 21, 2022, at the Phillip & Patricia Frost Museum of Science in Miami. Fried unveil a proposed rule to require that utilities operating in the state generate 100% of their electricity from renewable sources of energy by 2050.

Florida utilities would gradually increase their renewable electricity, reaching 100% by 2050 under a proposed rule unveiled by the state’s agriculture commissioner.

The proposal is an outgrowth of a lengthy court battle involving dozens of young people who claim Florida is violating their constitutional rights by continuing to promote the fossil fuel use that drives climate change.

The rule, announced Thursday by Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democratic candidate for governor, came after the young people represented by the nonprofit Our Children’s Trust law firm, filed a petition seeking it.

One of the children involved in the petition was Delaney Reynolds of Miami.

“The promise that the rule holds is that today Florida can begin to address the cause of our climate change crisis, the use of fossil fuels,” Reynolds said.

The proposed rule next faces 21 days of public comment.

It’s the first of its kind in Florida, a state highly vulnerable to climate impacts.

WMFE reporter Amy Green contributed to this report.

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried speaks during an interview, Thursday, April 21, 2022, at the Phillip & Patricia Frost Museum of Science in Miami. Fried unveil a proposed rule to require that utilities operating in the state generate 100% of their electricity from renewable sources of energy by 2050.