On the floor of the chamber that has stymied efforts to make Florida power companies drastically increase their use of renewable and clean energy, 120 advocates gathered Monday to make the case again.

The Florida Business Network for a Clean Energy Economy hosted a Clean Energy Congress Monday, with clean energy lobbyist Susan Glickman presiding. The scene was a far cry from 2009, when a bill that would have required power companies to produce 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources cleared the Senate, but was never brought up on the House floor.

Some might have thought the slick talk in Florida would have ended when lawmakers wrapped up the 2010 session, but official Tallahassee could not talk enough about oil this week.

In its first hearing since the Florida Senate rejected two of its members, the Florida Public Service Commission heard arguments for and against a proposed biomass electricity plant in Gainesville.

Gov. Charlie Crist and former House Speaker Marco Rubio were hot tickets for political televisions shows Sunday morning, hitting the national airwaves to talk about their unpredictable race for the U.S. Senate.

Crist appeared on NBCs Meet the Press, dismissing an earlier pledge during a Fox News debate with Rubio when he promised to stay in the Republican primary. Those comments formed the basis of the first question host David Gregory asked Crist.

The party may have been over this week for Gov. Charlie Crist and the Republican Party of Florida, but an unpredictable three-way race for the U.S Senate between Crist, Republican Marco Rubio and likely Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek was just beginning.

The chief backers of bills to reform the Public Service Commission moved closer to an agreement Monday, but differences remained between the vastly different plans.

The House bill to split the Public Service Commissions staff from the beleaguered panel was unanimously approved by the House Appropriations Council Friday with minor tweaks that did not address wide disparities between the plan and a measure already approved by the Florida Senate.

Former Florida House Speaker and Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio raised $3.6 million in the first quarter of 2010, the most money he has brought in since declaring his candidacy.

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, March 26, 2010.....The battle over the nations health care system that has consumed Washington, D.C. for more than a year moved to the states this week, lead by one state in particular: Florida.

Attorney General and likely Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill McCollum suited up for a healthy legal fight over the recently approved the federal plan and lawmakers waged battles in committees and on the floor of the Senate that echoed the contentious health care debate in Congress.