Public schools do more than educate children. They measure a city’s pride. They reflect community. They predict the social and economic well-being of a city’s future. For 20 years, Parents for Public Schools of Jackson has worked to keep our public schools strong, to empower parents as leaders for positive change, and to engage community support of our public schools.
Join us. For our city. For our children. For our future.
Founding Chapter, Parents for Public Schools, 1989 200 N. Congress, Suite 500, Jackson, MS 39201
www.ppsjackson.org
talk
news, culture & irreverence
ENTERGY, from page 7
on a legislative proposal to reduce climate change. The proposal included cap-and-trade legislation, which puts limits on the carbon a power company can dump into the atmosphere. To avoid reaching that cap, a carbonemitting company can purchase carbon permits from another power-producing company that has earned substantial permits by investing in renewable, carbon-light energy production, such as solar or nuclear technology. However, the bill drew animosity from coal-based power generators, who managed to derail the legislation despite their small number. Companies challenging the climate bill comprise about 6 percent of shareholderowned power companies and only serve about 4 percent of the country’s electricity users, but they found a friend in the Republican Party, which refuses to support the climate bill or any effort to reduce carbon in the atmosphere. The New York Times reported in October that “large-scale efforts to pass a broad U.S. climate policy are off the table for at least a couple of years,” when Republicans erode Democratic control of the House and Senate. But power companies like Entergy say they want to see some effort in Washington so they can know to what extent they can invest in renewable power production. Specifically, the company wants to be able to sell carbonneutral tax credits to other power companies to fund its expensive transition to nuclear and renewable power generation and steer the cost of investment away from Entergy rate-payers. “What we need is certainty,” Williams said. “We’re investing in long-term, (carbon-reducing) assets, and it would be helpful to know what regulatory regime will be in place. We’re an advocate of putting a price on carbon and allowing the market to pick the most efficient path forward. In advance
of knowing if there’s going to be a price on carbon, we would be at risk of investing in technology, only to find that the policy wasn’t there (to support it) later.” Industry critics say they worry if power companies are pushing the climate-change debate to contain the costs of dicey investments in “clean coal” or nuclear technology. Mississippi Power Company recently received approval from the Mississippi Public Service Commission to charge ratepayers for the construction of a $2.8 billion Kemper County coal-burning plant designed to capture roughly half its carbon dioxide. Environmental groups like the Mississippi Sierra Club oppose the plant, saying it is an untested and overly expensive alternative to cheaper solar technology, and has filed an injunction against its construction in Harrison County Chancery Court. Mississippi Sierra Club Executive Director Louie Miller also opposes expansions in nuclear technology. “I’ll stand with nuclear the day they can tell me where they’ll keep all the radioactive waste, which stays toxic for thousands of years,” Miller said. Entergy used Electric Power Research Institute figures to show how nuclear power and carbon-capture coal plants like the Kemper County plant could remove 500 million metric tons of CO2 emissions from the atmosphere by 2030. But Williams said the company is open to a myriad of carbon-saving measures, including renewable energy investment like solar and wind energy, and efficiency investments on the consumer end if it meant stabilizing the Gulf Coast economy. “We view this as a risk-management challenge—taking the worst potential outcome off the table as an insurance policy. One thing people don’t understand is that not doing something is a kind of decision in itself, and it’s the costliest decision we could make for the country,” Williams said.
Development Roundup: JRA Eyes Farish, Delays on Arena
Thomas Beck
by Ward Schaefer
November 3 - 9, 2010
T
8
Developer David Watkins will meet with the JRA to settle a rent dispute over space at Union Station.
he Jackson Redevelopment Authority’s Oct. 27 board meeting saw few major steps forward but many hints at future projects. JRA Executive Director Jason Brookins told board members that several developers have expressed interest in the old Holiday Inn property on Highway 80. Brookins said that he was in preliminary discussions with some landowners around the Farish Street Entertainment District about development plans beyond district. Future JRA projects in the area would almost certainly include land acquisition, Brookins said. Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Bar-
rett-Simon has suggested the possibility of expanding the “urban renewal area” designation that currently covers the Jackson Medical Mall to include the industrial park at Mayes and Lawson streets. Board members also delayed a decision on contributing to an arena feasibility study by consulting firm Populous. A study committee including Downtown Jackson Partners and other business representatives has already commissioned Populous for the study and solicited private support, but JRA lawyers said that they needed more time to review the details of a potential contribution. The board moved to a closed session to discuss the payment of back rent on office space at Union Station with former law partners David Watkins and Jim Young. Board members directed Brookins to meet with both Watkins and Young to settle on a figure for back rent before renewing their leases.