Saturday, November 4, 2017

Newspaper article? “Babcock Ranch adds cutting edge transportation”. Is this news or something else?

Or is this from an editorial about a “planned community” (see below) in Southwest Florida?

Babcock Ranch is “under development in Southwest Florida that was approved as part of a public-private partnership strategy with the State of Florida and local governments. The deal established the neighboring Babcock Ranch Preserve.” About the Town of Babcock Ranch, the headline subtitle:
“Eco-friendly town will have the nation’s first AV [autonomous vehicle] network”.
This is not “news”. And it’s not an editorial or an advertisement either. So what is it then?

It’s an “Advertorial”!

Use this link to read the entire advertorial in Florida Weekly datelined October 11th. Is this a negative thing? Of course not. It’s clearly labeled an “Advertorial” right under the headline. Our City of Lake Worth should do stuff like this, do an advertorial about our City’s new solar field and groundbreaking energy project called “Distributed Energy: The Lake Worth Solution.



Here is the first paragraph in Florida Weekly:

A partnership announced this week puts Babcock Ranch on the cutting edge of sustainable transportation. Transdev, the global leader in multi-modal mobility solutions, will be rolling out the first autonomous shuttle network in North America at Babcock Ranch by the end of November.

To learn more about Babcock Ranch, “What are we doing for the environment?

At Babcock Ranch, we’ve built sustainability right into the infrastructure. For residents, that adds up to a greener way of life that is affordable, and effortless.

And lastly, an excerpt from a press release which cites the “FPL Babcock Ranch Solar Energy Center” including a quote from Eric Draper:

     Today, FPL is cleaner than the carbon emissions goal set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan for Florida to meet by 2030, while the company’s typical residential customer bills are among the lowest in the nation.
     “Increasing clean energy production in Florida has been on the minds of many Floridians for years, and it's great to see FPL continuing to invest in solar,” said Eric Draper, executive director for Audubon Florida. “Clean energy technology will help protect the environment, by reducing emissions and saving water, benefiting everyone who calls Florida home, as well as the millions of people who visit our state each year.”