Tag Archives: Economy

Transparency in government is essential to the public trust –VDT

VDT editorial yesterday, Violating public trust,

Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens successfully fought for and implemented changes to the state’s Open Records law, believing that transparency in government is essential to the public trust. The law passed in 2012 states, “The General Assembly finds and declares that the strong public policy of this state is in favor of open government; that open government is essential to a free, open, and democratic society; and that public access to public records should be encouraged to foster confidence in government and so that the public can evaluate the expenditure of public funds and the efficient and proper functioning of its institutions.”

The VDT asked for records from the Lowndes County school system and didn’t get them. Their experience sounds quite similar to many LAKE has had with the county government in particular, with records not being provided in the statutory three days, and sometimes not even an excuse or a list of what might eventually be available.

That plus failure to make even agendas for the Planning Commission available in a timely fashion so citizens can see whether they need to attend (somebody explain to me the expense of agendas; clearly I don’t understand this Internet suff), and even in response to open records requests returning paper when the documents are obviously composed in electronic formats, agendas for County Commission meetings that are just plain incorrect, resulting in people taking time off from work to show up unnecessarily for a Sabal Trail pipeline item that didn’t happen, a public hearing that wasn’t listed as such on the agenda, a secretive retreat “work session”, and not even being clear about what tax dollars for SPLOST would go for. That’s not even all; just a sample of county government lack of transparency.

And it’s not just the County Commission. Look at Continue reading →

Earthquake busts Augusta water tower: what about Plant Vogtle?

Less than two years after Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning assured us

It is not in a seismic-sensitive area.

Fanning also claimed the technology was safe, before SO failed to get a reactor vessel from Savannah to the site, and before a renewed scandal revealed Korea’s document-forging Doosan supplies that “safe” nuclear technology. How safe will Plant Vogtle be in a bigger earthquake? How safe is it even without an earthquake? Not safe for the ratepayers or the taxpayers of Georgia or the U.S.

Mark Sandritter wrote for SBNation yesterday, Augusta National water tower leaking after Georgia earthquake, per report, Continue reading →

Humans are the cause, and it’s time for people to become the solution –Danielle Jordan for SAVE

LTE in the VSU newspaper, The Spectator, today. -jsq

To the Editor,

Climate change is the defining issue of our time. Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree that humans are the cause. S.A.V.E. believes that it’s time for people to become the solution. Globally, we are feeling the impacts of record-setting temperatures, most notably in the extreme weather patterns and rising sea levels. Recent chemical (W.VA) and coal ash spills (N.C.) add to the urgency of moving beyond fossil fuel. Yet here on our campus there’s a remarkable disconnect between the classroom and the board room. Shockingly, the VSU Board of Trustees includes science deniers, oblivious to the threat of climate change—and to the academic integrity of this institution of higher learning.

Recently, the Board dismissed S.A.V.E.’s request that VSU rid its portfolio of fossil fuel holdings. Board Chairman, Wayne Edwards, a financial analyst, cast doubt on the study that accompanied our request. But we ask you, who knows more about climate, a team of 2,000 scientists from 154 countries who have compiled data from more than 9,000 studies, or a stock broker? Our point is that serious decisions at this institution are being taken by people who lack the proper credentials.

Chairman Edwards dismissed socially responsible investing as Continue reading →

Moody Family Housing Environmental Assessment published

Spotted first by Michael G. Noll in the VDT yesterday, the document promised by Col. Ford the previous evening. A quick search finds nothing about the Nelson Hill Wells, and no mention of VSU or any of the professors there who have expressed concern and asked for access to the site to conduct an independent study.

USAF ANNOUNCES AN
ENVIRONMENT ASSESSMENT

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy
Act and Air Force regulations, the Air Force Civil
Engineer Center (AFCEC) has completed a Revised Draft
Environmental Assessment (EA), Finding of No
Significant Impact (FONSI), and a Finding of No
Practicable Alternative (FONPA) to evaluate the
consequences of the following stated proposed action:

The revised Proposed Action would involve the
construction of 11 housing units for senior leadership on
a 15-acre parcel on the base and 90 units on an
approximately 60-acre parcel located northwest of the
city of Valdosta, GA on Val-Del Road (the Val-Del
Parcel). This represents a reduction Continue reading →

Air Force has the environmental assessment for Moody Family Housing

Last night I chatted briefly with Moody’s Col. Ford, before he spoke at the Lake Park Chamber Annual Awards Dinner. He said he had been able to get on the site of the proposed Moody Family Housing about a year ago. I mentioned the Nelson Hill Wells and he said they had spent a lot of time already investigating water issues, and now the Air Force has received the environmental assessment. Perhaps it includes the missing piece this time, and maybe there’s a way for the public and local professors to provide input.

Colonel Edward Ford is commander of the 23d Mission Support Group at Moody AFB, Ga. He leads a group of more than 1,450 military and civilian members providing support and services to a population of 28,000 active duty, retired military and family members. His group maintains an installation with more than 830 buildings and more than 17,500 acres, including an adjacent bombing or strafing range. He is responsible for ensuring the readiness of support forces to mobilize and deploy to build, secure, and sustain air base operations at austere bare base locations anywhere in the world.

The 23d Mission Support Group also retains responsibility for civil engineering, environmental compliance, Continue reading →

Nelson Hill Wells

Seen today on Recent clear cutting in north of Lowndes County:

In the Northwest and Southwest of the most westerly boundary line of Nelson Hill Subdivision there are two well sites that had been previously deeded to Lowndes County for Deep Wells for Lowndes County Water Supply due to the problems at that time with the Well at Stone Creek location. However the test bore water samples came back with negative results due to surface water contamination entering the aquifer from all the fractures in the fragile lime stone basin and active sinkholes in that area, there is a sinkhole less than half of a mile south from where the test bores were done and it’s probably 90 feet deep. All this boarders the subject site Moody Housing.

So let’s look on the west side of the remainder of the Nelson Hill site, parcel 0071 006B. There are two cutouts, each about 50 feet square or 2500 square feet or 0.057 acre. Trying to select those in the online tax assessors maps, we get:

No data found for Continue reading →

Maybe VSU should join this band of Fossil-Free Foundations

Maybe that’s what the VSU Foundation wants to tell SAVE when they dine Monday: VSU gets it (even if Harvard doesn’t) that fossil fuels are a bad investment and solar is where the profits, students, and investors are.

Diane Cardwell wrote for DealBook 30 January 2014, Foundations Band Together to Get Rid of Fossil-Fuel Investments,

Seventeen foundations controlling nearly $1.8 billion in investments have united to commit to pulling their money out of companies that do business in fossil fuels, the group announced on Thursday.

The move is a victory for a developing divestiture campaign that has found success largely among small colleges and environmentally conscious cities, but has not yet won over the wealthiest institutions like Harvard, Brown and Swarthmore.

But the participation of the foundations, including the Russell Family Foundation, the Educational Foundation of America and the John Merck Fund, is the largest commitment to the effort, and stems in part from a push among philanthropies to bring their investing in line with their missions.

“At a minimum, our grants should not be undercut by our investments,” Continue reading →

GA bill for solar financing

What electric utilities fear most: bipartisan support for distributed rooftop solar financing. You can call your legislator and support HB 874, the Solar Power Free-Market Financing and Property Rights Act of 2014.

Dave Williams wrote for the Atlanta Business Chronicle 28 January 2014, Ga. Republican unveils solar bill,

Georgia property owners would be able to contract directly with solar energy installers to finance the installation of solar panels under legislation introduced in the General Assembly Tuesday.

The bill would let property owners lease solar panels instead of having to buy them with cash up front, said Georgia Rep. Mike Dudgeon, R-Johns Creek, the bill’s sponsor.

“We want to make it clear Continue reading →

SAVE to dine with VSU Foundation Monday

The VSU Foundation has invited SAVE to dinner Monday. No agenda is known, but the Foundation gets four attendees and SAVE gets two.

Foundation attendees are to be:

The two attendees from Students Against Violating the Environment (S.A.V.E.), each apparently twice as heavyweight as a Foundation Trustee, will be: Continue reading →