State
Hunter Douglas Tupelo celebrates safety award
WTVA
Hunter Douglas Tupelo was recognized for its safety efforts Tuesday with
the 2014 President's Safety Award.
…The Tupelo plant was also congratulated Tuesday for being recognized with
the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality enHance Leadership
Award, a voluntary initiative to recognize environmental leaders in the
state.
http://www.wtva.com/news/local/story/Hunter-Douglas-Tupelo-celebrates-safety-award/ot9SDW7wsUO4pE8fyOOzaA.cspx
Hancock County supervisor questions $1.2 million for beach facelift
BY WESLEY MULLER
Sun Herald
HANCOCK COUNTY -- The beaches from Bayou Caddy to Bay St. Louis looked
almost perfect Monday afternoon, boasting unblemished white sands free of
litter. But the $1.2 million paid to restore them has one county supervisor
worried.
http://www.sunherald.com/2015/05/05/6212499_hancock-county-supervisor-questions.html?rh=1
DEER ISLAND PIER INTENDED TO BOOST TOURISM
MPB
Mississippi officials hope a new pier on one of the state's coastal islands
will inspire tourists to spend more time on the Gulf Coast. But, as MPB's
Evelina Burnett reports, some are worried what impact more visitors will
have on the island.
http://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/news/2015/05/05/deer-island-pier-intended-to-boost-tourism/
Delta-Energy to Start Soon
Natchez Democrat
http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2015/05/04/delta-energy-to-start-soon/
Bryant: Higher salaries needed for state business leaders
Clarion Ledger
Outgoing Mississippi Development Authority executive director Brent
Christensen will make more money in his new job in North Carolina
than he did here.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/money/business/2015/05/05/bryant-higher-salaries-needed-state-business-leaders/26947875/
Oil Spill
BP oil spill money may help colleges
Associated Press
Published: Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at 10:35 p.m.
The House unanimously agreed Tuesday to earmark some future Gulf oil spill
recovery money for Louisiana's college campuses.
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20150505/HURBLOG/150509763?Title=BP-oil-spill-money-may-help-colleges
National
Energy-producing states blast Obama climate change plan
AP
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration's far-reaching plan to address
climate change would cause job losses and lead to higher electricity prices
and even power outages, attorneys general from two energy-producing states
said Tuesday.
http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/28982598/energy-producing-states-blast-obama-climate-change-plan
States preview arguments against Obama's climate rule
The Hill
Two state attorneys general gave a preview Tuesday of their legal arguments
against the Obama administration's climate rule for power plants on
Tuesday.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/241081-states-preview-arguments-against-obamas-climate-rule
Feds to require climate change plans for states seeking disaster relief
The Hill
A new Federal Emergency Management Agency policy requiring states to
address climate change before they can become eligible for grant funding is
drawing fire from congressional Republicans.
http://thehill.com/regulation/241050-gop-lawmakers-ask-fema-to-explain-new-disaster-grant-requirement
Green group launches smog text alert system
The Hill
The Sierra Club launched a system Tuesday to send text message alerts when
smog pollution is at a high level in certain areas.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/241096-green-group-launches-smog-text-alert-system
EPA regulator says set to release key herbicide report, lauds biopesticides
Reuters
The Environmental Protection Agency has wrapped up its review of the
world's most widely used herbicide and plans to release a much-anticipated
preliminary risk assessment no later than July, the regulator's chief
pesticide regulator told Reuters.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/05/us-food-agriculture-glyphosate-idUSKBN0NQ2AL20150505
EPA sends ethanol proposals for final review
The Hill
The Obama administration is conducting the last step in its review of
proposed annual ethanol blending mandates for three separate years.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/241123-epa-sends-ethanol-proposals-for-final-review
Press Releases
Governor Bryant Appoints Dr. John Starr to IHL Board
JACKSON—Gov. Phil Bryant has appointed Dr. John W. Starr Jr. of Columbus,
Miss., to the IHL Board of Trustees. Dr. Starr will represent the 3rd
Supreme Court District. His term begins May 9.
Dr. Starr is a periodontist and owner of Golden Triangle Periodontal Center
with offices in Starkville and Columbus. He has practiced in the Golden
Triangle for 29 years.
"Dr. Starr is a Mississippi native and has applied the education he
received from the state's public universities to a successful career as a
periodontist and business owner," Gov. Phil Bryant said. "I am pleased to
appoint him to the College Board."
Dr. Starr holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Mississippi State
University. He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi Medical
Center School of Dentistry and completed his residency in periodontics at
the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
He served on the Mississippi State Board of Dental Examiners from
2004-2010, serving as president in 2007, and is a past member of the Board
of Trustees for the Mississippi Dental Association. He is a member of the
Columbus Rotary Club and is 2014-2015 president of the Columbus GirlChoir
board of directors.
"I am very humbled and honored to receive this appointment by Gov. Bryant
to serve on the IHL Board of Trustees. I appreciate this opportunity to
serve the public universities in our state," Dr. Starr said. "Serving in
this capacity, to better advance Mississippi and its future, is a way for
me to give back for the opportunities afforded me by the public university
system of Mississippi."
Dr. Starr. and his wife Lee Ann have two daughters, Breland and Georgia
Grace. They are members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
Dr. Starr's appointment will be brought before the Mississippi Senate for
confirmation.
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COCHRAN: FEMA CLIMATE CHANGE MANDATE COMPLICATES DISASTER MITIGATION
In Letter, Senators Demand FEMA Provide Specific Data, Rationale for
Withholding Grants to States
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today said states
like Mississippi that count on federal disaster mitigation grants should
not be put under the gun to adopt climate change policies to continue
receive disaster preparedness funding.
Cochran, who serves on the Senate Homeland Security Appropriations
Subcommittee, has joined other Senators in demanding that the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provide specific data to explain its
recent decision to require states to address climate change in their
preparedness strategies before becoming eligible to receive disaster
mitigation grants.
"I am concerned FEMA is using strong-armed tactics to force states to
embrace climate change ideology. Adding costs and hurdles for Mississippi
to access FEMA support diverts attention from the disaster mitigation
projects that improve our ability to withstand and recover from hurricanes,
tornadoes and other natural disasters," Cochran said.
Cochran, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James
Inhofe (R-Okla.), and five other Senators issued a letter to FEMA
Administrator Craig Fugate requesting information on a series of issues
related to the mandate, including the statutory authority on which FEMA
based the requirement that sets climate change considerations as a
prerequisite for receiving disaster mitigation assistance.
The Senators are also seeking details on the criteria by which states must
adhere, the cost of compliance for states, and a list of governors, local
officials and other stakeholders that were consulted in the development of
the rule.
"We are concerned FEMA's recent decision to require States to address
climate change in their mitigation strategies injects unnecessary,
ideological-based red tape into the disaster preparedness process.
Planning and preparing for disasters should be focused on strengthening and
protecting local communities from inevitable weather events and not about
falling in line with the president's political agenda," the Senators wrote.
FEMA has obligated more than $1.4 billion under the Hazard Mitigation Grant
Program from 2010 to 2014, including more than $239 million for
Mississippi. These grants are used by the state to reduce the risks
associated with natural disasters, including safe room construction or
retrofitting buildings to withstand to tornado or hurricane strength winds.
In addition to Cochran and Inhofe, the letter was signed by Senators John
Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), James
Lankford (R-Okla.) and David Vitter (R-La.).
Cochran has been a leading critic of the Obama administration's Federal
Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS) which requires the adoption of "the
most recent science on expected sea-level rise and take into account the
impacts of climate change" to create higher base flood level elevations for
federally funded investments. President Obama issued Executive Order 13690
to implement FFRMS, which was developed by federal bureaucrats with little
transparency or input from the public or lawmakers on the significant
economic, policy and budgetary consequences of the climate change
initiative.
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