Going Rogue – Florida Solar Energy Industries Association works out a deal with Big Oil

This past Friday, word went out the the Florida Solar Industries Association (FLSEIA)has decided to become a beneficiary of off-shore drilling along the coast of Florida. Unbeknown to the most of us are what deal was struck between the two entities – the Big Oil and the Florida Solar Industry. But the word around town is that the oil industry has agreed to allow the solar industry to benefit from a tax that would come from the drilling of oil off our coast. The payoff would not begin for another 10 years.

To explain the motivation behind FLSEIA’s decision, here is a quote from their Executive director:

The Florida Solar Energy Industries Association has long been a vocal supporter of the Florida Solar Energy System Incentives Program to provide rebates to homeowners and businesses on the purchase of solar energy equipment, but due to the state’s budget crisis, the program did not receive state funding in 2009.

Instead, the program received temporary federal stimulus funds that will disappear in less than two years. Revenues from offshore drilling should be invested in making this program permanent, [FSEIA executive director] Kershner said. bnet

If we take a look back at the years past, the Florida legislature has done very little to help protect the future of the solar industry. Last year, proponents of the renewable energy industry, that included the solar industry, were close to getting that support with guidelines that were set by Governor Crist – 20% renewable energy by 2020. The Florida Senate passed a “Clean Energy Bill” with the help of Senator King (who has since passed away), but the bill was never acknowledged by the Florida House of Representatives, and therefore it died in the House.

Some people from the solar industry have been around long enough to know what happens when the support of the government dry up. When President Regan came into office, not only did he remove the solar panels that President Carter had installed on the White House, he ended any subsidies that were in place to help the budding industry. Most solar businesses could no longer sustain themselves during that time and those that survived don’t want to see it happen again.

But the fallout from the agreement between Big Oil and Florida Solar has not been pleasant. Environmental groups that have been working side-by-side with the solar industry feel betrayed. This maneuver seems to feed into that divide-and-concur strategy that Big Oil uses to meet their goals. During the last week of the last session, Rep. Dean Cannon (R-Orlando) slipped in a bill for off-shore drilling that caught everyone by surprise. The House voted on the bill after only a few hours of presentation and it passed. When it arrived in the Senate, Senator King(R- Jacksonville) felt that more time was needed to study the bill and it died before it came to the floor. But that did not deter Big Oil. Only days after the session ended, the oil lobbyists were hard at work paying visits to the members of the Florida House and Senate getting ready for the next upcoming session.

Big Oil (and I use that term because they have yet to be identified) has hired 3 lobbyists for every member of the Florida Senate. They have hired 5 black lobbyists to appeal to the Black Caucus. And now this. Even Governor Crist has said that he would be willing to look at Off-shore drilling during the special session that might be called next month. The oil industry is showing the state, with the millions of dollars that they are spending just to get a bill passed, that they have what it takes.

What the oil industry wants you to focus on is bringing money into the state. Offering the promise of jobs and revenue, lawmakers see it as a similar opportunity that they saw in the state lottery and gambling. What environmentalists want you to focus on is what happened this past August, 2009 (just a few months ago) off the coast of Australia. A drilling rig, located 12 miles off the northern coast has been estimated to be leaking 470,000 liters a day. This rig is owned by Thailand-company PTTEP Australasia, and will rival the environmental damage produced by the Exxon-Valdez off the cost of Alaska in the 1980’s – killing an enormous amount of sea creatures like turtles, whales, dolphins, sea birds and sea snakes.

The oil and gas spill is still not under control and is expected to continue leaking for two months. Depending on winds, the slick could be pushed to atolls like Scott and Ashmore Reef – areas that are globally significant for their unique wildlife Mongobay.com

The problem is that mainstream media isn’t covering this, so the details are hard to find. But here is a photo of the event:

So where will that leave groups like the Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense fund who have been working overtime to fight Off-shore drilling? What will this year look like when the Florida House and the Senate meet up once again to consider passing legislation that will help the Green industry in Florida? With this new partnership between Florida Solar and Big Oil, I wonder if they will see a need to do anything at all.