Palm Beach Post
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Florida's high-octane governor wants to reenergize the state with a
mixture of solar, wind and nuclear fuel.
Charlie Crist, the state's Red Bull-drinking, coal-plant-shunning chief
executive, is going to discuss those plans in front of more than 500
environmentalists, politicians and journalists at a two-day climate-change
conference in Miami starting Thursday.
Florida Climate Change Summit
The schedule for the conferenceat the InterContinental
Hotel in downtown
Miami:
Thursday
8:30
a.m.: Gov. Charlie Crist's keynote address: Why Climate
Change Matters to Florida.
10:15-11 a.m.:
Framing the Climate Change Challenge, panel discussion. Thomas D.
Peterson, executive director, Center for Climate Strategies; Bill
Chameides, chief scientist, Environmental Defense; Mike Sole,
secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental
Protection.
11:15 a.m.-noon: Effective Ways to
Reduce Greenhouse Gases, panel discussion. Steve Bolze, President of
Power Generation, GE Energy; R. Neil Elliot, agriculture and
industry program director, American Council for an Energy-Efficient
Economy; JamesFenton, Florida Solar Energy Center; Lonnie Ingram,
director of the Florida Center for Renewable Chemicals and Fuels,
University of Florida.
Noon-12:45 p.m.:
Transportation and Land Use Efficiency, panel discussion. Terry
Tamminen, former secretary of the California Environmental
Protection Agency; Nick Bollman, senior fellow, Center for Urban and
Environmental Solutions, Florida Atlantic University; Jorge
Kuperman, president and chief executive officer, JSK Architectural
Group.
1-2 p.m.: Luncheon with keynote address
by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
2:15 -3:15 p.m.:
Agriculture and Forestry Conservation, panel discussion. Charles
Bronson, Florida commissioner of agriculture; Eduardo Pereira de
Carvalho, chief executive officer, Association of Sugar Producers,
Brazil; Robert Prolman, director of international environmental
affairs, Weyerhauser Co.; Ernie Shea, project coordinator, 25x 25
America's Energy Future.
3:15-5 p.m.: Success
Stories from Emissions Reducing Entities, panel discussion. Steve
Howard, chief executive officer, The Climate
Group.
7:45-9:30 p.m.: Dinner hosted by
Crist.
Friday
9:15-9:45
a.m.: Keynote address by Theodore Roosevelt
IV.
9:45-10:15 a.m.: Keynote address by Vinod
Khosla, Khosla Enterprises.
10:30-11:45 a.m.:
Leadership Roundtable hosted by Crist and California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
Noon-1:30 p.m.: Luncheon with
keynote address by Schwarzenegger.
2-3
p.m.:Crist signs executive orders on Florida's energy
policy.
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He's keeping the details under wraps, but his plans are likely to
emphasize using renewable fuels and include mandates for reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. Friday afternoon, after two days of workshops
and speeches at the Florida Climate Change Summit, Crist will sign
executive orders and put his plan into law.
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The rest of the lineup includes scientists, renewable-energy advocates
and environmentalists who will talk about how Florida can become more
energy-efficient and use alternative fuels.
"The intent is to have a strategy for Florida and how we can do as much
as possible to stem this tide to become progressive and productive. I am
confident after listening to these scientists that we can begin that by
some executive orders," said Crist, who recently vetoed the energy bill
passed during the legislative session, saying it did not go far
enough.