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Crist Should Veto Energy Center Fiasco

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 2, 2008

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist should veto the $50 million appropriation state lawmakers set aside for an energy consortium at the University of Florida. The funding violates the rules of academic integrity and is a prime example of why it would be disastrous to give the Legislature unchecked power over the university system.

Money for the proposed center is coming from the university system's Centers of Excellence program, which last year was given an $87 million allocation to award to research projects that hold the best promise for connecting with private industry to create high-wage jobs.

The Florida Board of Governors asked an independent panel of experts to rank the 41 proposals submitted by the state's 11 universities. Seven projects - including two at the University of South Florida and one at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center - made the cut.

The UF energy center did not.

Joe Lacher, chairman of the Florida Research and Technology Scholarship Board that oversaw the ranking process, told the governor that the energy center proposal had "mediocre scientific merit and minimum economic value." Worse, it would leave "several more promising proposals unfunded."

Nevertheless, state lawmakers rejiggered the Centers of Excellence money this year to give the bulk to the energy center. The remaining funds will sustain only two of the higher-quality projects - a hurricane-mitigation study at Florida International University and an aero-propulsion project at Florida State.

As much as the governor believes in alternative energy, he should not let Florida damage its reputation in the scientific community by upending a peer-reviewed process. With hopes of building a new economy on the pillars of biotech and bioscience, the state must be competitive in recruiting bright minds. If Florida cannot be trusted to follow its strategy for scientific advancement, the best researchers will go elsewhere.

It's good to have a governor who cares so deeply about creating alternative energy sources, but Crist's enthusiasm shouldn't override the judgment of experts who found the proposal lacked merit.

If the energy center is worthy of funding, let it compete.

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