Clean energy is a 'moral obligation' for Pensacola surf shop owner

Eve Samples | Treasure Coast Newspapers

Sean Fell's surf and skate shop in Pensacola has gone "green" in increments.

Light fixtures have been converted to more energy-efficient LEDs.

The cafe is part of Surfrider Foundation's Ocean Friendly Restaurants program, which requires minimal plastic waste and sound recycling practices.

This year, Fell changed the coatings he uses to make surfboards, ditching the more volatile polyurethane resins for epoxy.



Then there are the goals:

Fell would love to drive an electric car. He dreams of installing a rooftop solar array to power Waterboyz, the business he started in his laundry room in 1989 that now employs 20 people.

He also wants to do his small part to help Florida break free from its reliance on oil.

"Just like every other state in the union I think Florida, all the way down to the smallest communities, needs to start focusing more on cleaner energy,” Fell says.

Pensacola surf, skate shop owner wants healthy environment for tourism | Florida Voices "The environment to Florida, with a huge tourism economy... you ruin the environment and you're just shooting yourself in the foot," Waterboyz owner Sean Fell said.

His motives have personal origins. Waterboyz is a short drive from the shores soiled by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

"It was just sickening," Fell says, "and it was coming up on our beaches.”

He's opposed to offshore drilling — but he's also a pragmatist. He knows Floridians must change their habits in order to move away from fossil-fuel consumption.

“Nobody wants it, but then everybody drives a car. So what are you going to do? They need to quit making cars that run on oil,” Fell says.

Fell's business took a hit after the oil spill, which came on the heels of the Great Recession.

“No one went to the beach that year," Fell says. May through August are typically his busiest months, but he recalls Pensacola's shores being "like a ghost town" in 2010.

Not only were the tourists gone, but his local customers were out of work. "All the busboys, waiters, bartenders; guys who surf and skate," Fell remembers.

Business rebounded as settlement payments from the oil spill rolled in. But Fell's philosophy about energy is forever altered.

"There’s no good way to get the oil out. It’s tar sands or spills here or pipeline spills there. And then all the air quality that suffers from burning it all," he says. "There’s got to be better ways. There are better ways."

Fell is a casual observer of politics. Like many small business owners, he doesn't have time to follow the play-by-play of political season.

"When I get here, I’m 90 to nothing," Fell says on a weekday afternoon at Waterboyz.

He is the chief surfboard shaper, bookkeeper, screen printer and customer service manager all rolled into one. He manages the indoor skate part at Waterboyz, too.

"I don’t have any time to sit down and debate about who’s running for governor,” Fell says.

He's also a skeptic. He sees politics as a big business and distrusts most politicians.

"I think a lot of them are self-centered and do things for their own benefit, rather than for the benefit of the community as a whole," Fell says.

So he focuses on his business. He tries to do the right thing.

"And hopefully we get good people that can lead us on a civic level. Somebody’s got to do it,” Fell acknowledges.

He hopes people in public office will see Florida's nature as central to its economy.

"You ruin the environment, and you’re just shooting yourself in the foot," Fell says. "Not to mention that we have to live and eat and drink in this environment.

"You have a moral obligation to all the citizens of the state, or even just your little community, to clean up after yourself — or don’t make a mess in the first place if at all possible.”

To him, that means balancing growth, limiting waste, embracing clean energy and pedestrian- and bike-friendly communities.

Most of all, it means not letting profits drive policy.

How would you describe Florida at this moment in history?

It’s a huge state, so we (in Pensacola) almost don’t feel like we’re in Florida. We almost feel like we’re in Alabama.

We have a lot of great opportunities ... and hopefully a clean environment if we can make sure stuff like what’s going on down in South Florida and (Deepwater) Horizon don’t continue to happen.

How has your life in Florida changed over the past 8 years?

The economy seems to have been rebounding, for at least the last 4-5 years for us. It’s been good … maybe excellent.

What issues are on your mind this election year?

I feel like politics is a big industry. We have to deal with it; it’s the reality. They make laws and make changes that affect everyone — and it seems like there’s always some good and bad with each side. It’s tough.

What worries you when you think about the future of Florida?

It worries me that maybe politicians give big business too much leeway to do what they want, and they just get away with basically murder — murder of the environment. Like those people who live on (Florida's) west coast, they can’t even go out and enjoy the water. I wouldn’t get in that water. It’s like, who’s making the decisions?

What makes you feel hopeful?

Maybe all the counties and cities will start moving more towards renewable energy.

I think Florida’s definitely got a bright future, as long as it’s handled with care and the right decisions are made — decisions that are looking out for the greater good of everyone.

Florida Voices is a project of the USA TODAY Network-Florida that spotlights issues important to Floridians this election year. Learn more, including how to nominate a Floridian.

Sean Fell

Age: 51

Occupation: Owner of Waterboyz surf shop and indoor skate park in Pensacola

Lives in: Gulf Breeze

Election issues: Clean energy, money in politics, economy