Environment & Infrastructure
Climate Resiliency for South Florida
Florida’s 25th District is one of the most vulnerable areas in the country to climate change. From failing pipes and boil water notices to blooms of toxic cyanobacteria (previously known as "blue-green algae") and die-offs of endangered species, our infrastructure and ecosystems are in crisis.
Our environment is our economy. Oliver supports federal public investment in sustainable energy and infrastructure to create millions of good-paying jobs, preserve our South Florida community for future generations, and make the U.S. a global leader in sustainable innovation. In Congress, he’ll fight to bring federal resources home to upgrade public infrastructure, restore natural ecosystems, clean our water, and hold polluters accountable.
Public Transportation
Oliver will introduce legislation to purchase 500,000 electric buses nationwide—improving public transit, easing traffic gridlock, and reducing emissions from vehicles. He supports building a national high-speed rail network and securing immediate federal investment in Tri-Rail expansion, including an underground New River tunnel to connect Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties along the Coastal Link line.
This plan will ease congestion, reduce emissions, and protect the integrity and walkability of downtown Fort Lauderdale.
Public Utilities
Oliver supports an immediate shift away from fossil fuels, especially in Florida’s fragile ecosystem. He will fight the corrupt influence of utility giants like Florida Power & Light, which has pushed through the largest utility rate hike in U.S. history while bankrolling political campaigns—including his opponent’s.
Fossil fuel corporations have knowingly destroyed our health, climate, and communities. It is time we MAKE POLLUTERS PAY! In Congress Oliver will support the Polluters Pay Climate Fund Act. Oliver has proudly signed the No Fossil Fuel money pledge to reject money from the corporations destroying out planet.
In Congress, Oliver will fight for a national Clean Power Plan to reduce energy costs, decarbonize the grid, and stop private utility monopolies from profiting off our basic needs.
Public Lands
Private sugarcane production in the Everglades Agricultural Area—nearly half a million acres—has devastated Florida’s natural water systems. Meanwhile, 15% of Florida’s land is reserved for cattle and up to 8% for golf courses, which use two-thirds of all recreational water.
Oliver will fight to restore Florida’s ecosystems by buying out Big Sugar operations and sending water south from Lake Okeechobee to repair the Everglades, Big Cypress, and Florida Bay.
He supports completing the land buyback deal originally negotiated by then-Governor Charlie Crist to restore the Everglades’ flow. He’ll also work to establish a statewide Florida Wildlife Corridor and protect our freshwater aquifers from overdevelopment and pollution.
Public Ownership of Fossil Fuels and a Just Energy Transition
The climate crisis is an immediate economic and existential threat to Florida. Fossil fuel corporations cannot be trusted to correct the crisis they created. Southeast Florida could experience 10 to 17 inches of sea-level rise by 2040, and Floridians know intimately the threats the climate crisis presents to our beaches, homes, roads, drinking water and entire coastal ecosystems.
For decades, oil and gas executives have polluted communities, blocked climate action, exploited supply shocks, and profited from wars and instability. While working families struggle to afford housing, food, insurance, and transportation, oil companies enjoy government subsidies, post record profits, and executives reward themselves with stock buybacks and private planes.
We must establish democratic control of our energy future. That means moving toward public ownership of fossil-fuel infrastructure, shifting from a for-profit model to a public utility framework, and stabilizing energy costs while rapidly reducing fossil-fuel dependence.
A for-the-public energy system prioritizes public service over profits. Removing the profit motive allows energy to be offered closer to cost, implementation of consumer protections from price manipulation, and reinvestment in energy resilience through renewable power, public transportation, climate-resilient infrastructure, and a just transition for workers and frontline communities. To be effective and equitable, this transition must create millions of good-paying, unionized, American jobs. Transitioning to a for-the-public energy model will create manufacturing, building and maintenance career opportunities, supporting the clean-energy infrastructure and economy of the future.