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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Groups: New Energy Bill Could Mean New Business for Florida Farmers

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Tuesday, June 30, 2009   

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Conservation groups are calling it a historic victory that could mean new opportunity for Florida farmers. On a vote of 219-212, the U.S. House of Representatives Friday passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, a bill that supporters say would reduce dependence on foreign oil by developing renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and biofuels. They say it will also create new clean energy jobs, and restrict greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to reduce climate change.

Eric Draper, policy director for Audubon Florida, says this is real progress.

"We're no longer in denial. As the nation that produces the most greenhouse gases, we're facing up to the responsibility of solving the problem."

Only eight House Republicans voted for the bill, calling it a national energy tax. But Draper says it will not only generate new sources of power, but also new business for Florida farmers growing energy crops.

Draper says Florida's fertile soils, abundant sunshine, and plentiful water supply are ideal for growing energy cane and other substances that can be used to generate electricity and to make bio-fuels.

"Florida farmers are having a hard time trying to find what it is they can grow and actually make money. We need new crops for Florida landscapes, and energy crops are one crop that could make people a lot of money."

Manley Fuller, president of the Florida Wildlife Federation, served on Governor Charlie Crist's Climate Action team, and he says Florida is well-positioned to be a leader in developing a new energy and jobs future for the country.

"We need to transition to a more efficient and cleaner system, and the U.S. needs to be a leader in the developing carbon markets; this bill moves us in that direction."

This is the first step in the long process of getting this bill signed into law; next it must pass the U.S. Senate.


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