Fried to roll out climate change priorities

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Thursday plans to roll out legislative priorities focused on climate change.

Warning of greater coastal flooding and more powerful hurricanes, the package will address issues such as renewable energy, farm resilience, climate adaptation, new funding sources and financial incentives, Fried said Wednesday as she helped open the Florida Energy and Climate Summit in Tampa.

“Wetter wets, drier dries, higher temperatures are reshaping our land, our water and our cities, and meanwhile our federal government has left us stranded,” Fried, the lone statewide elected Democrat, said.

“It’s time, as the third-largest state, the third with the most energy usage, to start preparing for the future of our state and our country,” Fried continued. “We need to increase energy efficiency, diversify energy sources, modernize our energy policies, look at our most vulnerable of our consumers.”

Fried also announced Wednesday that her Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is setting up a panel to focus on climate change called the Florida Advisory Council on Climate and Energy.