We Need Jobs Now In Clarke Co. Mississippi
We need jobs in Clarke County and we need the now. I suggest that instead of building a dirty, out-dated, low tech, coal burning power plant in Kemper County, we build a clean burning, high tech, state-of-the-art natural gas burning power plant right here in Clarke County.
There are many reasons for NOT building what will amount to an environmental disaster coal burning power plant in Kemper County. The biggest reason is because this will result in pollution of our air and water and destruction or our environment. That should be reason enough to throw out the bad idea of building a coal burning power plant. But the best reason is because we have plenty of natural clean burning gas, and therefore it makes much more sense to build a new natural gas burning power plant right here in Clarke County.
Now I'm not a genius when it comes to power plants, and I haven't made a study of this issue. But I do know that when you mine and burn coal you get dirty air, polluted water and a raped landscape. In contrast, when you burn natural gas you do not rape the landscape and your air and water quality remains at the high cleanliness standard that it was prior to lighting a match. Hence it seems like a no brainer, that a clean, natural gas power plant located right here in Clarke County would be a much better idea that a coal plant up in Kemper County.
But the best reason for building a new clean gas burning power plant in Clarke Co. would be jobs. We need jobs in Clarke Co., so I propose that the power that be look into this matter and formulate plans for a new clean, natural gas power plant in Clarke Co., ousting plans for a pollution generator in Kemper Co.
A great deal of noise has been made about global warming and pollution of our air, lakes, streams, rivers and destruction of the environment. We have only one planet Earth, and when it is ruined, there is no replacement. God has made us guardians of our environment, and therefore we should make wise decisions. Building a clean, natural gas power plants in Clarke Co. would be a lot better idea than building a dirty coal burning power plant in Kemper Co.
Also I believe a clean natural gas power plant in Clarke Co. would reduce power bills over time, instead of increase them as would a coal burning power plant. If they build a dirty coal burning power plant up in Kemper Co., everyone in the area is going to have to foot the bill and pay the price, not only in terms of a polluted environment, but in much higher utility bills. And who is going to have to pay for cleaning up the damage to the environment caused by a dirty coal burning power plant -- our children!
We need jobs in Clarke Co. and we need them now. I propose that one way to stimulate the local economy is to build a natural gas burning power plant in Clarke Co. Then let's also look into other clean energy sources, like solar energy and wind energy, and see if we can participate in large projects that may be subsidized by the federal government as we move toward being independent from dependency upon foreign oil. Industrial development tied in with clean energy represents an enormous opportunity for bringing jobs to Clarke Co. as does industry related to high technology, the Internet and the global marketplace which that represents.
Clarke Co. is an ideal location for a new natural gas power plant. There are already natural gas pipelines running through Clarke Co. plus there is an abunance of water resources, both above ground and below ground in the aquifer. So why don't we push to get a natural gas power plant built right here in Clarke Co.
A Jan. 2000 report in The Mississippi Business Journal entitled "Power plant construction in Mississippi has major economic impact" stated that Mississippi has nine natural gas power plants either under construction or in the pipeline. According to the author, Becky Gillette, "the largest power plants under construction are two 500-megawatt gas turbine generating plants at Mississippi Power Company's Plant Daniel in Escatawpa, Jackson County. Two Enron peaking power plants began construction in 1999. They are Caledonia Power, LLC in Caledonia and New Albany Power, LLC in New Albany. LS Power in Batesville began construction of a power plant in 1998. Currently Congentrix has applied for permits to build power plants in Southaven and Caledonia, and Duke Power has applied to build plants in Jackson, McAdams and Southaven." So why don't we the people initiate action to get a new natual gas power plant built right here in Clarke Co.
Let's face it Clarke Co. and Mississippi in general is way down on the ladder when it comes to employment. In fact, at 12% unemployment Clarke Co. is at the bottom of the barrel. But I believe if we focused upon bringing clean energy and high technology industry to Clarke Co. we could pull ourselves up by our boot straps and come out of this recession looking pretty darn good. But an idea is nothing without action. Those who are our elected representatives need to take action, develop economic plans and strategies, and initiate programs to get the ball rolling. This might begin with the mayor of Quitman and Board of Aldermen adopting an economic development plan, one that includes bringing high tech jobs to Quitman. Also the Clarke County Commission needs to get in on the act and come up with a plan for a clean burning power plant and other high technology industries to be located in Clarke Co. In other words, we the people need to say we want a clean burning natural gas power plant here. Let's decide that ourselves and get it built; let's not let this be a decision the power companies make.
The Clarke Co. Commission recently approved a railroad authority; but railroads, though a good idea, are low tech. High tech is the Internet and we need to tie into Internet commerce simply because most of the money and business in the world is NOT in Clarke County. But the Internet is a way to empower people in Clarke Co. to get business from afar and generate income and profits from abroad. Hence the railroad we should be building in Clarke Co. and Quitman should include the high tech fiber optic, WiFi, Skype and other telecommunication networks piped into every home and business, certainly made free to schools, libraries and other public institutions.
Yet here we sit at the bottom of the barrel economically in Clarke Co. Mississippi with a 12% unemployment rate. This could change over night by building a new clean burning gas power plant in Clarke Co. It could change over night by building an industrial plant to manufacture solar energy panels. Or it could change over night by building an industrial park where other high tech businesses could setup factories taking advantage of the large unemployed labor force in our area. You see, high unemployment really means we have people who need jobs, so this is an incentive for high tech industry coming to Clarke Co. But to get them to come, we need to provide some incentives, such as a natural gas power plant which would lower everyone's utility bills over time, especially for industry, and an new industrial park area where factories might locate to take advantage of low cost power generated by such a natural gas power plant.
Are these pipe dreams? Yes they are. But change, progress, jobs, and a better future for our children begins with dreams. You have to start somewhere and dreams is a good place to start. For unless you can imagine the future, a better and a brighter future, you cannot begin to build that future. I think a clean burning natural gas power plant in Clarke Co. is a good dream, one worth pursuing -- am I the only one that has such a dream?
There are many reasons for NOT building what will amount to an environmental disaster coal burning power plant in Kemper County. The biggest reason is because this will result in pollution of our air and water and destruction or our environment. That should be reason enough to throw out the bad idea of building a coal burning power plant. But the best reason is because we have plenty of natural clean burning gas, and therefore it makes much more sense to build a new natural gas burning power plant right here in Clarke County.
Now I'm not a genius when it comes to power plants, and I haven't made a study of this issue. But I do know that when you mine and burn coal you get dirty air, polluted water and a raped landscape. In contrast, when you burn natural gas you do not rape the landscape and your air and water quality remains at the high cleanliness standard that it was prior to lighting a match. Hence it seems like a no brainer, that a clean, natural gas power plant located right here in Clarke County would be a much better idea that a coal plant up in Kemper County.
But the best reason for building a new clean gas burning power plant in Clarke Co. would be jobs. We need jobs in Clarke Co., so I propose that the power that be look into this matter and formulate plans for a new clean, natural gas power plant in Clarke Co., ousting plans for a pollution generator in Kemper Co.
A great deal of noise has been made about global warming and pollution of our air, lakes, streams, rivers and destruction of the environment. We have only one planet Earth, and when it is ruined, there is no replacement. God has made us guardians of our environment, and therefore we should make wise decisions. Building a clean, natural gas power plants in Clarke Co. would be a lot better idea than building a dirty coal burning power plant in Kemper Co.
Also I believe a clean natural gas power plant in Clarke Co. would reduce power bills over time, instead of increase them as would a coal burning power plant. If they build a dirty coal burning power plant up in Kemper Co., everyone in the area is going to have to foot the bill and pay the price, not only in terms of a polluted environment, but in much higher utility bills. And who is going to have to pay for cleaning up the damage to the environment caused by a dirty coal burning power plant -- our children!
We need jobs in Clarke Co. and we need them now. I propose that one way to stimulate the local economy is to build a natural gas burning power plant in Clarke Co. Then let's also look into other clean energy sources, like solar energy and wind energy, and see if we can participate in large projects that may be subsidized by the federal government as we move toward being independent from dependency upon foreign oil. Industrial development tied in with clean energy represents an enormous opportunity for bringing jobs to Clarke Co. as does industry related to high technology, the Internet and the global marketplace which that represents.
Clarke Co. is an ideal location for a new natural gas power plant. There are already natural gas pipelines running through Clarke Co. plus there is an abunance of water resources, both above ground and below ground in the aquifer. So why don't we push to get a natural gas power plant built right here in Clarke Co.
A Jan. 2000 report in The Mississippi Business Journal entitled "Power plant construction in Mississippi has major economic impact" stated that Mississippi has nine natural gas power plants either under construction or in the pipeline. According to the author, Becky Gillette, "the largest power plants under construction are two 500-megawatt gas turbine generating plants at Mississippi Power Company's Plant Daniel in Escatawpa, Jackson County. Two Enron peaking power plants began construction in 1999. They are Caledonia Power, LLC in Caledonia and New Albany Power, LLC in New Albany. LS Power in Batesville began construction of a power plant in 1998. Currently Congentrix has applied for permits to build power plants in Southaven and Caledonia, and Duke Power has applied to build plants in Jackson, McAdams and Southaven." So why don't we the people initiate action to get a new natual gas power plant built right here in Clarke Co.
Let's face it Clarke Co. and Mississippi in general is way down on the ladder when it comes to employment. In fact, at 12% unemployment Clarke Co. is at the bottom of the barrel. But I believe if we focused upon bringing clean energy and high technology industry to Clarke Co. we could pull ourselves up by our boot straps and come out of this recession looking pretty darn good. But an idea is nothing without action. Those who are our elected representatives need to take action, develop economic plans and strategies, and initiate programs to get the ball rolling. This might begin with the mayor of Quitman and Board of Aldermen adopting an economic development plan, one that includes bringing high tech jobs to Quitman. Also the Clarke County Commission needs to get in on the act and come up with a plan for a clean burning power plant and other high technology industries to be located in Clarke Co. In other words, we the people need to say we want a clean burning natural gas power plant here. Let's decide that ourselves and get it built; let's not let this be a decision the power companies make.
The Clarke Co. Commission recently approved a railroad authority; but railroads, though a good idea, are low tech. High tech is the Internet and we need to tie into Internet commerce simply because most of the money and business in the world is NOT in Clarke County. But the Internet is a way to empower people in Clarke Co. to get business from afar and generate income and profits from abroad. Hence the railroad we should be building in Clarke Co. and Quitman should include the high tech fiber optic, WiFi, Skype and other telecommunication networks piped into every home and business, certainly made free to schools, libraries and other public institutions.
Yet here we sit at the bottom of the barrel economically in Clarke Co. Mississippi with a 12% unemployment rate. This could change over night by building a new clean burning gas power plant in Clarke Co. It could change over night by building an industrial plant to manufacture solar energy panels. Or it could change over night by building an industrial park where other high tech businesses could setup factories taking advantage of the large unemployed labor force in our area. You see, high unemployment really means we have people who need jobs, so this is an incentive for high tech industry coming to Clarke Co. But to get them to come, we need to provide some incentives, such as a natural gas power plant which would lower everyone's utility bills over time, especially for industry, and an new industrial park area where factories might locate to take advantage of low cost power generated by such a natural gas power plant.
Are these pipe dreams? Yes they are. But change, progress, jobs, and a better future for our children begins with dreams. You have to start somewhere and dreams is a good place to start. For unless you can imagine the future, a better and a brighter future, you cannot begin to build that future. I think a clean burning natural gas power plant in Clarke Co. is a good dream, one worth pursuing -- am I the only one that has such a dream?
posted by TAL | 9:10 AM
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