JMI President Bob McClure quoted regarding the economics of Florida’s energy policy decisions in Heartland Institute’s Environment and Climate News article “Florida Commission Rejects Claim Higher Energy Costs Save Money” by Drew Thornley.Excerpt:
….. Bob McClure, president and CEO of the James Madison Institute in Tallahassee, Florida, expressed displeasure with the commission’s recommendations and Florida’s energy policy decisions in general.“Soon after Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) took office in 2007, he appointed his commission on energy and climate change and staged a Miami conference headlined by self-appointed environmentalists such as Robert Kennedy Jr. and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger,” McClure said.“The Florida Legislature was rightly concerned, and it wisely intervened to insist that the commission take into account the economic consequences of any energy mandates it recommended,” McClure explained. “That was a reality check because so-called ‘alternative’ energy sources such as wind power and solar power are not yet economically feasible in Florida, and may never be.“Should Florida’s government force the premature abandonment of cost-efficient energy sources, such as oil and natural gas, in favor of less-efficient energy sources like wind turbines and solar panels, the resultant spike in energy prices would be likely to cost far more jobs than the so-called ‘green economy’ would create,” McClure added. “Therefore, in any calculations of the economic costs and benefits, the economic benefits from, say, allowing more drilling for oil and gas in the Gulf far outweigh the fanciful estimates of the benefits from ‘green’ jobs such as installing solar panels or removing the dead birds and bats killed by wind turbines.”
