State
VT Halter breaks ground on $7.5M facility to help eliminate overspray
BY MARY PEREZ AND KAREN NELSON
Sun Herald
PASCAGOULA -- Gov. Phil Bryant spent the day before Election Day in South
Mississippi breaking ground on a $7.5 million blast and paint facility that
will bring another 40 jobs to the VT Halter Marine's Pascagoula shipyard.
http://www.sunherald.com/2015/08/03/6349395/vt-halter-breaks-ground-on-new.html
City looking at $1,500 daily fines over wastewater
Hattiesburg American
Hattiesburg City Council received a classic dose of good news-bad
news Monday during an update on its quest to find a solution for its
wastewater disposal woes.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story/news/local/hattiesburg/2015/08/03/city-council-talks-sewer-rates-fines/31086203/
Lamar officials not keen on possible spray fields
Hattiesburg American
PURVIS – Hattiesburg may be facing another issue when it comes to
choosing between a mechanical or land-application method for
disposing of the city's treated wastewater.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story/news/local/lamar-county/2015/08/03/lamar-county-officials-spraying-waste/31084661/
MS Phosphates faces federal violation and violation of neighbors' trust
WLOX
PASCAGOULA, MS (WLOX) -Mississippi Phosphates is facing federal charges of
violation of the Clean Water Act. A federal judge unsealed court papers
this week that claim the East Jackson County fertilizer plant illegally
discharged pollutants into Bayou Casotte.
http://www.wlox.com/story/29685046/ms-phosphates-faces-federal-violation-and-violation-of-neighbors-trust
DeSoto leaders seek unified approach for flood control
Commercial Appeal
DeSoto County supervisors want the Corps of Engineers district offices in
Memphis and Vicksburg to coordinate a unified flood-prevention effort.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/local-news/desoto/desoto-leaders-seek-unified-approach-for-flood-control_25487093
Oil Spill
Hurricanes Transport Pollutants to Coastal Beaches, Study Says
The Weather Channel
A recently published study from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School
of Marine and Atmospheric Science has revealed interesting information on
the possible effects of hurricanes on pollutants within the ocean.
http://www.weather.com/news/news/hurricane-pollution-study
National
Obama: 'Such a thing as being too late when it comes to climate change'
The Associated Press
August 03, 2015 at 1:56 PM
WASHINGTON -- Calling it a moral obligation, President Barack Obama
unveiled the final version of his plan to dramatically cut emissions from
U.S. power plants, as he warned anew that climate change will threaten
future generations if left unchecked.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/08/obama_cut_emissions_power_plan.html#incart_river
Obama Announces Rule to Cut Carbon Emissions From Power Plants
Final regulation calls for 32% cut in emissions by 2030 from 2005 levels
WSJ
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama's announcement Monday of an aggressive
plan to cut carbon emissions from U.S. power plants launched what will be a
monthslong push that the administration hopes culminates in a global
climate accord later this year.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-announces-rule-to-cut-carbon-emissions-from-power-plants-1438627158
New Expectations for Electricity Consumers
Households and businesses, largely passive for decades, will have to be
involved
WSJ
For most of the last century, Americans have been passive consumers of
electricity, paying whatever their utility charged for the juice to run
their lights and appliances.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-expectations-for-electricity-consumers-1438558455
Obama unveils major climate change proposal
CNN
Washington (CNN)The Obama administration unveiled a major climate change
plan on Sunday aimed at a large reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from
the nation's coal-burning power plants. On Monday, President Barack Obama
started selling it to the public at a White House event.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/02/politics/obama-climate-change-plan/index.html
Obama announces power plant regulations, GOP lawmakers vow fight
Fox News
WASHINGTON – President Obama on Monday announced new regulations on
power-plant carbon emissions that will have a dramatic impact on how
Americans make, store and use energy.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/08/03/obama-announces-power-plant-regulations/?intcmp=hplnws
Clean-energy debate pitted ambition against legal worries
Washington Post
Four weeks before the official rollout, the news for President Obama's
signature regulation on climate change suddenly went from bad to abysmal.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/internal-debate-over-clean-energy-plan-pitted-ambition-against-legal-worries/2015/08/02/9e0c1c94-3966-11e5-9c2d-ed991d848c48_story.html
Move to Fight Obama's Climate Plan Started Early
NY Times
WASHINGTON — In the early months of 2014, a group of about
30 corporate lawyers, coal lobbyists and Republican
political strategists began meeting regularly in the
headquarters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, often,
according to some of the participants, in a conference
room overlooking the White House. Their task was to start
devising a legal strategy for dismantling the climate
change regulations they feared were coming from President
Obama.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/us/obama-unveils-plan-to-sharply-limit-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html?ref=earth&_r=0
Who are the winners under Obama's stricter power plant mandates?
The Associated Press
August 03, 2015 at 9:11 AM
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is mandating even steeper greenhouse
gas cuts from U.S. power plants than previously expected, while granting
states more time and broader options to comply.
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/08/obama_power_plant_limit_winner.html#incart_river
States to sue Obama administration over climate rules
The Hill
A coalition of conservative states wasted little time Monday in promising
to sue the Obama administration to stop its climate rules for power plants.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/250125-states-to-sue-obama-administration-over-climate-rules
Three lines of attack against Obama's climate rule
The Hill
Opponents of the Obama administration's sweeping new standards for power
plant emissions have identified three avenues of attack, as they formulate
a strategy to beat back the central pillar of the president's climate
change initiative.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/250145-three-lines-of-attack-against-obamas-climate-rule
Accident waiting to happen: the Ohio village that's built on a crumbling
dam
MSN
Buckeye dam is not much to look at. It is not a towering monument to
engineering like the Hoover dam. It does not contain a mighty river or spin
electric turbines.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/accident-waiting-to-happen-the-ohio-village-thats-built-on-a-crumbling-dam/ar-BBlm1cG
Opinion
Climate-Change Putsch
States should refuse to comply with Obama's lawless power rule.
WSJ
Rarely do American Presidents display the raw willfulness that President
Obama did Monday in rolling out his plan to reorganize the economy in the
name of climate change. Without a vote in Congress or even much public
debate, Mr. Obama is using his last 18 months to dictate U.S. energy
choices for the next 20 or 30 years. This abuse of power is regulation
without representation.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/climate-change-putsch-1438642218
Press Releases
Wicker: Obama's CO2 Plan Would Stall Economy, Cut Jobs
Miss. Senator Says 'Regulations Have Nothing To Do With Cutting Smog or
Achieving Cleaner Air'
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., a member of the Senate
Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today called President
Obama's Clean Power Plan "an intrusive federal overreach that would stall
economic growth, leading to widespread job losses and skyrocketing energy
costs." The President's plan would impose strict carbon dioxide emission
standards on power plants.
"The Administration's overreach would force many Americans out of work,
leaving them with a multi-billion-dollar bill in the process," Wicker said.
"Low-income families, in particular, are likely to take the biggest hit
from higher energy costs and increased prices on consumer goods. Many
states, like Mississippi, are finding that the plan's standards are
prohibitively expensive and ultimately unattainable. It is important to
remember that these regulations have nothing to do with cutting smog or
achieving cleaner air.
"The White House has no business unilaterally picking winners and losers
when it comes to the nation's energy portfolio. I hope Congress will soon
take action to rein in the Administration's potentially unlawful plan. With
so much at stake – the economy, people's livelihoods, and the environment –
President Obama should pay less attention to his legacy and more time
working with Republicans on policies that would actually create jobs, help
the middle-class, and protect the environment."
Last month, Wicker was joined by Mississippi's entire congressional
delegation in sending a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the White
House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) calling for an investigation
into whether carbon dioxide reduction goals associated with the Clean Power
Plan are achievable at a reasonable cost – specifically for Mississippi.
Wicker is a cosponsor of the "Affordable Reliable Electricity Now Act,"
S.1324, introduced by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. The bill, which is
scheduled to receive a vote in the EPW Committee on August 5, would prevent
implementation of new EPA rules regulating coal-fired power plants.
The legislation would also allow states to opt out of complying with the
new regulations while preventing the federal government from tying highway
funding to a state's implementation of the regulations. Finally, the
measure would allow state governors to refuse to implement the regulations
if they determine that the EPA regulations would slow economic growth,
decrease the reliability of the electrical system, or increase energy rates
– adding oversight and transparency to arcane EPA regulations.
VT Halter Marine Opens Dry Dock Expansion, Breaks Ground on New Blast and
Paint Facility in Pascagoula, Miss.
PASCAGOULA—Gov. Phil Bryant and officials from shipbuilder VT Halter Marine
gathered today to celebrate the completion of the company's dry dock
expansion and to break ground on its new blast and paint facility. The dry
dock expansion represents a corporate investment of more than $13 million
and the creation of 400 jobs, which were announced in 2012. The blast and
paint facility is a $7 million corporate investment and will create 40
jobs.
"I am grateful to the team at VT Halter Marine for again investing in its
Pascagoula operations and creating new jobs in our thriving shipbuilding
industry for the residents of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The company's
investment will have a positive effect on the Gulf Coast economy," Gov.
Bryant said. "VT Halter Marine is a prime example of the longevity
companies enjoy in our state, and I wish the company many more years of
success in Jackson County."
"With the completion of the dry dock expansion, we have realized the core
segment of VT Halter Marine's five-year strategic plan to develop a full
service repair facility that complements our existing shipbuilding
operations. The construction of the blast and paint building will not only
greatly improve efficiencies and competitiveness, but it will continue our
commitment to provide jobs that benefit our economy," said Jack
Prendergast, VT Halter Marine chief executive officer. "We are grateful to
all of our local, state and federal partners that made these opportunities
possible."
The Mississippi Development Authority provided assistance for site
preparation and the construction of the dry dock, as well as assistance for
the construction of the blast and paint facility.
"MDA is glad to have assisted VT Halter Marine as it once again creates so
many great career opportunities for Mississippians along the Gulf Coast,
and we thank the company for being such a valuable member of the state's
business community," said MDA Executive Director Glenn McCullough.
"Successful economic development requires teamwork, and we thank our
partners at Jackson County Economic Development Foundation, the Port of
Pascagoula and the Jackson County Board of Supervisors for their hard work
in making these two projects a reality."
VT Halter Marine has three Gulf Coast facilities: Halter Marine Pascagoula,
its flagship facility; Halter Moss Point and Moss Point Marine. The company
is a modern and progressive subsidiary of VT Systems. VT Halter Marine
specializes in ship design, construction and repair and offers
comprehensive packages covering shipbuilding projects from blueprint to
blue water. For more information, visit www.vthaltermarine.com.
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