Category Archives: Biomass

How to get public officials to respond to the citizens?

Leigh Touchton asked me,
Mr. Quarterman, what can we do, do we have to go to the state legislature to get a law passed to force these so-called public officials to answer questions and respond to the citizens?
First of all, my compliments to anyone such as Leigh Touchton who has been doing politics around here longer than me for asking my opinion, because that indicates they are pretty good at it and are probably asking many people their opinions.

My answer: carrots along with sticks, and shine some light! That all builds political capital, which will be needed for elections.

We need many people building a community doing many things. If I knew a simple answer that would change things magically overnight, I’d recommend it, but I don’t. I don’t even know if I know a long answer, but I’m pretty sure that any answer will require a community, because Continue reading →

What does this mean? —Leigh Touchton

This comment from Leigh Touchton came in last night on It’s not over until it’s over. I have added links and pictures. -jsq
I asked VLCIA Board member Roy Copeland afterwards whether this means the biomass incinerator is STILL going to be built? He shrugged and walked away.

Karen Noll asked Allan Ricketts what does this mean, since we all heard Lowndes County Commission Chairman Paulk give us a very different scenario at the last LCC meeting, and his remarks were covered in the Valdosta Daily Times. Mr. Ricketts said he was not aware of Chairman Paulk’s remarks.

Continue reading →

It’s not over until it’s over —Chairman Sonny Murphy of Sterling Planet

As one of many speakers at the Wiregrass Solar commissioning this morning, Sonny Murphy said many good things about solar, and then, almost alone among the speakers, he volunteered some remarks about the biomass plant, in which he made it pretty clear he intends to go ahead with it.

About solar, he praised Hannah Solar for perseverance: Continue reading →

Americans overwhelmingly want clean energy and environmental protection —Pew

Climate Progress points out that a new Pew poll, “Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology”, shows that Public support for alternative energy transcends political barriers:
71% of Americans believe “This country should do whatever it takes to protect the environment.” And 59% believe that “strongly.”
Quoting from Pew’s summary:
In light of this diversity it is interesting to note a couple of areas where almost all of these groups agree. The first is on support for alternative energy. Overall, the public prioritizes developing alternative energy over expanding oil, coal, and natural gas by a 63-29 margin. And, as shown in the chart below, seven of Pew’s eight active typology groups support this position, including a whopping 40-point margin among the Main Street Republican group. Only the staunch conservatives (9 percent of the public) dissent from the rest. Conservatives usually act like progressive ideas have no purchase in “their” part of the political spectrum. These data suggest otherwise.
And no, conservatives are not the political type the south has the most disproportional percentage of: those would be Hard-Pressed Democrats and Disaffecteds.

And no, by “alternative energy” people don’t mean polluting biomass: 63% of Americans say “EPA needs to do more to hold polluters accountable and protect the air and water”. What Americans want is clean renewable energy: solar, wind, and hydrogen.

-jsq

Dialog and VSEB —John Robinson

Mr. John Robinson pointed out that school board problems and biomass are not the only issues around here, and for example the south side of town needs money so people there can become more productive citizens. At the 21 April 2011 Valdosta City Council meeting, He specifically recommended getting Valdosta Small Emerging Business (VSEB) up and running.

Here’s the video:


Let us try to come together and find some method —John Robinson
Regular monthly meeting of the Valdosta City Council (VCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 21 April 2011,
Videos by George Boston Rhynes for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

George Rhynes posted a complete transcript. Here are a few excerpts: Continue reading →

Citizens are entitled to hear where their elected officials stand —Leigh Touchton

This comment from Leigh Touchton came in today on “Because it would be monitored. -jsq
Two weeks ago I delivered the official NAACP letter to all City Council members (and Mayor Fretti) asking for a written response as to their position on biomass and selling reclaimed water to the Wiregrass, LLC, proposed incinerator.

No response. Not one.

I have heard that at least two Council members refuse to do so because “it might be used against them.”

Citizens are entitled to hear where their elected officials stand on these issues. At least Councilmen Vickers, Wright, and Yost have stated publicly that they support biomass, even though black infants are already dying in Valdosta at a rate twice as high as white infants. According to Mr. Wright,

Continue reading →

A letter from a local physician —Dr. Noll

This comment from Dr. Noll came in today on “Because it would be monitored. -jsq
Because it would be monitored?

Our community could subsequently also “monitor” increases in respiratory illnesses, cancer rates, cardiovascular diseases, and mortality rates. Just ask the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society, and the American Heart Association.

This is incredible. A city council member who still hides behind an EPD air permit, and who chooses to ignore the testimony of thousands of medical professionals throughout the United States. At the same time, we have a City Council that continues to isolate itself from its citizens with a policy that undermines open dialogue.

The continued silence of our City Council and Mayor in regard to biomass is mind-boggling. Haven’t they noticed the developments of the past couple months? The regular protests? Hundreds and hundreds of signatures and voices in opposition to biomass? Ashley Paulk’s statement? George Bennett’s statement? Even a statement, it appears, by Wesley Langdale who said that biomass is economically not feasible … which is something WACE stated as far back as October 2010, supported by an article from the Wall Street journal called “(Bio)Mass Confusion”.

Dr. Mark George once asked all City Council members the following question: “What is it you still need from us, so that you understand that biomass is a bad deal”? To my knowledge that question was never answered.

Last night I shared a letter from a local physician

Continue reading →

Everyone agrees there’s a problem with education — pro and con CUEE @ LCDP 2 May 2011

Pretty much everyone agrees there are problems with the two local school systems in this county, those of Lowndes and Valdosta.

Proponents and opponents of school unification even agree on many of the details. They just don’t agree on the solution. CUEE believes that unification will somehow lead to solutions to all this, and believe is the word they use, because they have no evidence. Opponents such as me don’t see any plan to get to better education, and some think that unification will cause problems that CUEE is not even considering, just like integration did in 1969.

Here’s a pair of pie charts from 2008 from Who’s losing in Winnersville? a project unification opponent Dr. Mark George was involved in:

And here is a similar comparison from CUEE using data from 2009-2010.: Continue reading →

“Because it would be monitored” —Robert Yost via Karen Noll

This comment from Karen Noll came in last night on “Well Councilman Yost certainly believes Councilmen should give their opinion”. -jsq
On Friday, April 29, 2011 I met with Mr. Yost to discuss the biomass issue in person. Mr. Yost stated that he is FOR the biomass project and FOR selling (grey) water to the plant.

When asked for his reasons, he said it “would be good for the citizens of the county”. When pressed to clarify, he said that the jobs and the energy would be good for the citizens. He had no clear rationale for how these 25 jobs would positively effect his constituents, nor how diversifying GA Powers energy sources would help his constituents.

The other reason given for supporting the biomass project

Continue reading →

Rev. George Bennett is a big man @ LCDP 2 May 2011

He admits in public when he’s proven wrong by new knowledge.

At the LCDP meeting 2 May 2011 Rev. Bennett praised Ashley Paulk for revealing what has been going on with the proposed biomass plant. Then he says he had years ago suggested we should get one of those. He had approached Wesley Langdale, who said:

It’s not economically feasible to do it.
So he was surprised when he discovered a group proposing to finance such a plant. And he later learned that there were many health problems with biomass plants, and he now thinks it would be wrong to build it.

So as my mother would say, Rev. George Bennett is a big man!

Here’s the video:


Rev. George Bennett is a big man @ LCDP 2 May 2011
Debate between proponents of school system unification (CUEE) and opponents,
at Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP), Gretchen Quarterman chair,
Videos by George Rhynes, Jim Parker, John S. Quarterman, and Gretchen Quarterman
for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 2 May 2011.

-jsq