Statement by Commissioner Nikki Fried on Trump EPA Power Plant Ruling

Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, a federal appellate court ruled unanimously against a Trump Administration rollback of climate change rules, constraining regulations on carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. The court instructed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the incoming Biden Administration to rewrite rules aimed at reducing power plant greenhouse gas emissions, which were weakened by Trump’s repeal of the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, an independently-elected member of the Florida Cabinet and member of the Florida Power Plant Siting Board, offered the following statement:

“For four years, the Trump Administration has pursued a deregulation spree that has damaged our environment, worsened climate change, and risked public health – and on the President’s last day in office, that anti-environment binge has finally ended. Our climate is interconnected, and no state is more vulnerable to climate change than Florida. Our approaches to addressing the climate crisis must also be interconnected, including greenhouse gases from power plants. I thank the federal court for ruling that climate pollution from power plants can be appropriately limited while encouraging American energy independence.”

The Trump Administration’s rollback will cause the U.S. to emit an additional 1.8 billion tons of greenhouse gases between 2020 and 2035. Nearly 85 percent of Florida’s electricity is generated by fossil fuel power plants.

Under Florida law, the Power Plant Siting Board, composed of the Florida Cabinet members, approves the certification and licensing of large power plants, to include location, gas pipelines and coal rail lines, electric transmission lines, and other considerations. Fried’s Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services oversees the state’s Office of Energy.

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