The state of Florida in the U.S.A. has a mild subtropical climate. Because of that, millions of people have settled in the once rural state over the last hundred years. Florida's population increases by about 1,000 residents each day. Land development and water use have changed the state, mostly by draining the wetlands that once covered most of the peninsula.
Much of Florida is made of karst limestone with water-filled caves and sinkholes, which provide homes to many species of aquatic life, some of which only live in Florida. As more and more people move to Florida, they use up the water in the underground caves. When a cave has no more water, it will sometimes collapse, forming a sinkhole, which can hurt animals, people, and buildings.
For a long time, the state has been trying to restore the Everglades. In 2000, Congress passed the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, a $7.8 billion, 30-year project aimed at preserving and restoring the region and its unique combination of environments.
Energy, water, and waste management
Florida ranks forty-fifth in total energy use, despite the heavy reliance on air conditioners and pool pumps. This includes coal, natural gas, petroleum, and retail electricity sales. About 4 percent of energy in the state is generated through renewable resources. Florida produces 6.0% of the nation's total energy, while total production of pollutants is lower, with figures of 5.6 percent for nitrogen oxide, 5.1 percent for carbon dioxide, and 3.5 percent for sulfur dioxide.
There are two oil-producing areas in Florida. One is in South Florida, with 14 fields, and the other is in the western panhandle, with seven fields. The South Florida fields are located in Lee, Hendry, and Collier county. Florida’s first oil field, the Sunniland field, in Collier County, was discovered in 1943. It has since produced over 18 million barrels of oil. After that, 13 more field discoveries were found. Although these fields are small, production is large. Together, the three Felda fields (West Felda, Mid-Felda, and Sunoco Felda) in Hendry County have produced over 54 million barrels of oil.
Production in the western panhandle began with the discovery of the Jay field in June 1970. Jay is the largest oil field discovered in North America since the discovery of the giant Prudhoe Bay Oil Field on the Alaskan North Slope in 1968. Since then, six more oil fields have been discovered in the western panhandle of Florida. North Florida has dominated Florida oil production since the discovery of the Jay field. North Florida oil fields account for 83 percent of the state’s production, with the Jay field alone producing 71 percent.
It is believed that significant energy resources are located off of Florida's western coast in the Gulf of Mexico, but that region has been closed to exploration since 1981.
In July 2007, Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced plans to sign executive orders that would impose strict new air-pollution standards in the state, with aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050. Crist's orders would set new emissions targets for power companies, automobiles and trucks, and toughen conservation goals for state agencies and require state-owned vehicles to use alternative fuels.
Florida gets much of its drinking water from the Floridan Aquifer and the Biscayne Aquifer, as well as from surface water from Lake Okeechobee and other lakes, but population increases have begun to strain available sources. The state has built 120 desalination plants, more than three times as many as any other state, including the largest plant in the United States. Additionally, an electrodialysis reversal plant in Sarasota is the largest of its type in the world, and a nanofiltration plant in Boca Raton is the largest of its type in the western hemisphere.
Increasing landfill space is also an issue. St. Lucie County is planning to experiment with burning trash through plasma arc gasification to generate energy and reduce landfill space. The experiment will be the largest of its kind in the world to date, and begin operation no later than 2009. If successful, experts estimate that the entire St. Lucie County landfill, estimated to contain 4.3 million tons of trash, will disappear within 18 years. Materials created in the energy production can also be used in road construction.