TAMPA, Fla. — With legislative efforts to transition Florida to renewable energy in the coming decades faltering in Tallahassee, some local governments in the state have created such goals on their own in recent years.


What You Need To Know

  • The proposed resolution goes before the Pinellas County Commission next Tuesday, Nov. 9.

  • Twelve cities in Florida have made commitments to 100% clean energy goals, including Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, Largo, Safety Harbor and Dunedin. If passed, Pinellas would become the first county in Florida to pass such a proposal.

  • More than 150 cities have also passed similar goals nationally.

St. Petersburg was the first city in the Tampa Bay to commit to a clean energy future, followed by four other municipalities. Now, a proposal committing all government operations in Pinellas County to meet clean energy targets and use renewable, zero-emission, clean energy consumption by 2040 and for the entire county to commit to such goals in 2050 will come before the Pinellas County Commission next Tuesday, Nov. 9.

The deleterious effects from climate change are already being faced in Pinellas. Sea level rise for St. Petersburg is expected to rise between one to two-and-a-half feet in St. Petersburg by 2050, according to a chart produced by the Tampa Bay Climate Science Advisory Panel.

“This is why we are really trying to get more and more support for these clean energy resolutions,” says Bryan Beckman, the executive committee chair for the Suncoast Sierra Club. "To try to reduce that impact on the front end, not just on the resiliency side, but try to prevent more rising temperatures.”

Beckman and the Suncoast Sierra Club are part of a coalition (including students at USF and Eckerd College) that has worked for the past two years to get the resolution before the Pinellas commissioners.

The Tampa City Council recently passed a non-binding resolution calling for the city’s community-wide operations to transition by 2035 to run on 100% clean, renewable energy. That measure doesn’t go as far as an earlier proposal that called for the city to transition to a 100 percent clean energy portfolio by 2030.

In Tallahassee, Orlando Democratic House Rep. Anna Eskamani has again filed a bill that calls for all energy in Florida to be generated 100 percent from renewable energy sources in 2040 and to have zero net carbon emissions statewide by 2050. It’s the fourth time she’s filed such legislation since coming into the Legislature in 2019; the three previous proposals have died in committee. 

“If there’s anybody who should be leading, it’s us in Pinellas,” says Beckman, whose wife Kathleen is a member of the Clearwater City Council. “It’s a great thing to see that cities have been coming together, and now the county has an opportunity to make it even stronger.”

The language of the resolution going before the Pinellas County Commission on Nov. 9 can be read below:

SECTION 1. The recitals above are incorporated herein. 

SECTION 2. It is the goal and policy of the Board that 100% of all electricity consumed in county operations be Clean Energy by 2040, and that at least 50% of such electricity be Clean Energy by 2030. 

SECTION 3. It is further the goal and policy of the Board that 100% of all electricity consumed countywide be Clean Energy by 2050. 

SECTION 4. It is further the goal and policy of the Board to partner with other local governments, private organizations, and individuals to reach the Clean Energy targets set forth in Sections 2 and 3 above (the "Clean Energy Targets"). 

SECTION 5. The Board directs all departments to incorporate the Clean Energy Targets into their respective planning processes. To that end, departments must update any policy or processes necessary to meet the Clean Energy Targets. 

SECTION 6. The Board directs all departments to work with residents, businesses, utility partners, and community stakeholders to identify a collaborative approach for achieving the Clean Energy Targets and set meaningful benchmarks and milestones between the Clean Energy Target Years (2030, 2040, 2050). 

SECTION 7. The Board directs the Sustainability and Resiliency Coordinator to incorporate the Clean Energy Targets into the Sustainability and Resiliency Action Plan. The Board further directs the Sustainability and Resiliency Coordinator to update the Board every two years on progress towards achieving the Clean Energy Targets, beginning in Fiscal Year 2022. 

SECTION 8. The Board recognizes that the health and wellbeing of frontline communities have suffered disproportionately from pollution resulting from fossil fuel generation and distribution. Accordingly, the Board directs all departments to build inclusive community leadership and policy engagement; promote equity in accessing energy efficiency improvements; generate sustainable economic opportunities and mitigate related losses; and provide regional leadership to address equity in climate, energy, and related public health issues. 

SECTION 9. This Resolution is effective immediately upon adoption.