Give it up for St. Petersburg. In case you haven't heard, the Sunshine City is going to be the first in Florida to use 100 percent renewable energy.
Well, that's what Mayor Rick Kriseman tells us. First in Florida.
The city council voted unanimously last week to use $800,000 of the $1 million they received from their BP settlement over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 to move toward getting the city completely fossil-fuel-free.
They've adopted something called the Integrated Sustainability Action Plan, or ISAP. ISAP "will incorporate a resiliency plan and strategies" to make the city wholly dependent on renewable energy.
"This is the most robust, comprehensive climate planning initiative St. Petersburg has ever undertaken," Kriseman said.
Apparently, from the $800,000, $300,000 will go toward "a county partnership to evaluate how climate change could impact the area's most vulnerable residents." In other words, a study. They're going to spend $300,000 on a study.
St. Pete has a "grassroots environmental group" working with them on the project -- Suncoast Sierra Club.
Never mind that we don't know when the transformation will start, when it will be complete, how many billions it will cost or where the money will come from. With sheer will and $800,000 (minus 38 percent for the study), Kriseman and the council are clicking their heels.
Is it just me, or are these people wandering around in cuckooland?
I mean, I'm always ready to be inspired, but shouldn't we at least wait to declare ourselves "first in Florida" until we've actually done something?
I want to be a cabaret singer myself. I have the will, I have family rooting for me, I have a plan. Too bad I can't carry a tune.
I'm not saying St. Petersburg will fail. I'm saying it doesn't make me a cabaret singer to declare myself one, any more than it makes St. Pete the first all-renewable-energy city in Florida.
And not all residents are believers. Said Tony Rawson in one post, "Besides the 'friendships' between key players at city hall and the local Sierra Club, I now see what kind of extra grease has been applied to the local (Sierra Club) chapter to keep them mute about the continuous dumps of sewage into the bay there. Greenwashing and payoffs appear alive and well in St Pete, so perhaps the term 'grassroots' should be replaced with 'astroturf'."
Certainly, a lofty goal like St. Petersburg's does begin with commitment. The mayor and council have made it and I applaud them for it. But, please. Let's take one step at a time.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
