Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Commissioner ofAgriculture and Consumer Services Charles Bronson have announcedthe creation of an official web site, www.floridaclimatechange.com,as part of a program to study the impact climate change could haveon Florida's economy and the need for the state to consider thefeasibility of creating renewable energy sources.

The Cabinet is holding a series of workshops entitled“Conversations on Climate Change,” which are designed to bringtogether a number of experts with a wide-range of expertise tostudy the phenomena of how changes in the atmosphere could affectthe state. “Climate change is a reality and we need to learn asmuch as we can about the potential impact on our state's financialhealth,” said Sink. “As a government official concerned aboutFlorida's economy, I am focused on protecting the vitality of ourfinancial and insurance markets.”

Bronson recently launched the state's “Farm to Fuel” program,which partners with “25 x 25,” the national bipartisan organizationwhose goal is to see U.S. agriculture produce 25 percent of thenation's energy by 2025. “It is my hope that these discussions willinform the people of Florida of the importance of renewable energyproduction in Florida,” he said. “With the amount of renewableenergy sources in our state, we should be striving to be a nationalleader in this emerging industry.”

The coming workshops are scheduled for June 12, September 18,and November 14. The workshops will include the followingpresentations: Florida's Future and the Science of Climate Change,by Stephen Mulkey, Ph.D., science advisor for the CenturyCommission for a Sustainable Florida; Florida's Beaches and SeaLevel Rise, by Stephen Leatherman, Ph.D., director of theInternational Hurricane Research Center at Florida InternationalUniversity; and An Insurance Perspective on Climate Risk, by TimWagner, Nebraska Insurance Commissioner and director of theNational Association of Insurance Commissioners.