Tag Archives: Valdosta

Both water and air are public trusts, requiring the state to protect them

For once some positive change is happening through filing lawsuits in multiple states: on behalf of the atmosphere. Here’s a writeup on that July Texas judge ruling that spells out more of what it means.

David Morris wrote for Alternet 17 July 2012, The Sky Is Now Legally Protected, Thanks to a Texas Judge,

On behalf of the youth of America, Our Children’s Trust, Kids Versus Global Warming and others began filing suits around the country, arguing the atmosphere is a public trust. So far cases have been filed in 13 states.

The “public trust” doctrine is a legal principle derived from English Common Law. Traditionally it has applied to water resources. The waters of the state are deemed a public resource owned by and available to all citizens equally for the purposes of navigation, fishing, recreation, and other uses. The owner cannot use that resource in a way that interferes with the public’s use and interest. The public trustee, usually the state, must act

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U.S. CO2 emissions lowest in 20 years: that’s good and bad

The good news: because utilities such as Southern Company are switching away from coal U.S. emissions of CO2 are the lowest they’ve been in 20 years. The bad news: they’re switching to natural gas, which not only still emits carbon dioxide, it pollutes groundwater through fracking, requires a lot of groundwater to do the fracking in the first place, and then uses more groundwater for cooling. But the further good news is cheaper energy sources drive out expensive ones, and wind and solar are already cheaper than nuclear and coal, and solar is already cheaper than natural gas. Oh, and solar and wind emit no CO2.

Kevin Begos write for AP yesterday, AP IMPACT: CO2 emissions in US drop to 20-year low

“There’s a very clear lesson here. What it shows is that if you make a cleaner energy source cheaper, you will displace dirtier sources,” said Roger Pielke Jr., a climate expert at the University of Colorado.

While conservation efforts, the lagging economy and greater use of renewable energy are factors in the CO2 decline, the drop-off is due mainly to low-priced natural gas, the agency said.

A frenzy of shale gas drilling in the Northeast’s Marcellus Shale and in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana has caused the wholesale price of natural gas to plummet from $7 or $8 per unit to about $3 over the past four years, making it cheaper to burn than coal for a given amount of energy produced. As a result, utilities are relying more than ever on gas-fired generating plants.

Both government and industry experts said the biggest surprise is how quickly the electric industry turned away from coal. In 2005, coal was used to produce about half of all the electricity generated in the U.S. The Energy Information Agency said that fell to 34 percent in March, the lowest level since it began keeping records nearly 40 years ago.

And that’s why Southern Company (SO) turned towards natural gas: it’s cheaper! SO still prefers nuclear and coal before gas, as SO CEO Thomas A. Fanning keeps reminding us. But even SO couldn’t ignore “the revolution in shale gas”, which is cheaper prices through fracking. Solar PV costs dropped 50% last year alone. How long can SO ignore that?

“Natural gas is not a long-term solution to the CO2 problem,” Pielke warned….

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Government Affairs Council, Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce, 2012-07-31

The Chamber’s Government Affairs Council (GAC) met 31 July 2012, and Gretchen was there with video camera. In the first video, they’re talking about sales tax on energy, tax holidays, and about business partnerships in support of the arts. I readily admit I have not watched these videos all the way through: we have so many videos in the queue I’m trying to work off the backlog. If any of you see something especially interesting in these videos, please let us know so we can blog about it. Even better, send us what you think so we can consider posting that.

The Chamber’s web page about GAC appears to be empty. Maybe it works in IE or something. Over on Chamberorganizer, there’s a page about Erika Bennett:

Hello, and welcome to the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce. I am the Business Advocacy & Marketing Coordinator. I coordinate the Chamber’s Government Affairs Council, which watches business legislation throughout the year to ensure that Valdosta is business-friendly.

Here’s a video playlist:

Government Affairs Council, Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce, 2012-07-31
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.

Here’s an update about a GAC meeting of 17 January 2012.

Here’s Chamber PR about the GAC 2011-01-11, New Government Affairs Council Gives Voice to Local Businesses:

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I will work for the people of Lowndes County –Jody Hall 2012-08-04

Jody Hall, running for Lowndes County Commission District 5 (west side) said at the 100 Black Men BBQ:

If I'm elected, I will work for the people of Lowndes County. I'm their employee. That's the way it needs to be.

Here's the video:

I will work for the people of Lowndes County –Jody Hall 2012-08-04
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE), Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.

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Valdosta rank in Georgia cities

Increased population is using increasing resources Recently I saw someone speculating online that Valdosta’s rank among Georgia cities was rising because its population is growing. And its population is indeed growing, as you can see in the graph on the right or the Census Bureau data in the table below right. (Compare to similar information for Lowndes County.) But not as fast as some other Georgia cities, so Valdosta’s rank is not increasing. In fact, the opposite: Valdosta has been dropping in rank.

Census Pop. %±
1860 166
1870 1,199 622.3%
1880 1,515 26.4%
1890 2,854 88.4%
1900 5,613 96.7%
1910 7,656 36.4%
1920 10,783 40.8%
1930 13,482 25.0%
1940 15,595 15.7%
1950 20,046 28.5%
1960 30,652 52.9%
1970 32,303 5.4%
1980 37,671 16.6%
1990 40,135 6.5%
2000 43,724 8.9%
2010 54,518 24.7%

Here are city ranks for the censuses from 1980 to 2000:

1980 7 Atlanta, Columbus, Savannah, Macon, Albany, Warner Robins, VLD.
1990 11 passed by Augusta, Athens, Roswell, Marietta
(Augusta and Athens cheated by consolidating with their counties.)
2000 14 passed by Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, and Alpharetta
2010 14 Sandy Springs passed Macon and Marietta dropped two,
but Valdosta remained #14

So actually Valdosta has been decreasing in Georgia city rank over time, because cities in the Atlanta metro area have been growing faster.

Now I don’t consider that a bad thing: population growth isn’t the same thing as economic growth, and economic growth isn’t the same thing as prosperity or well-being. But it’s an interesting bit of history.

Rank1980199020002010
1 Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta Atlanta
2 Columbus Augusta Augusta Augusta
3 Savannah Columbus Columbus Columbus
4 Macon Savannah Savannah Savannah
5 Albany Macon Athens Athens
6 Warner Robins Athens Macon Sandy Springs
7 Valdosta Albany Sandy Springs Macon
8 Roswell Roswell Roswell
9 Marietta Albany Albany
10 Warner Robins Johns Creek Johns Creek
11 Valdosta Marietta Warner Robins
12 Warner Robins Alpharetta
13 Alpharetta Marietta
14 Valdosta Valdosta

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Second prison guard pled guilty for assaulting strikers

Conspiracy, assault with injury, coverup: another Georgia prison guard pled guilty, all in response to a strike by prisoners for decent pay. And remember, private prisons have fewer guards per prisoner and less training.

WTXL wrote yesterday, Ex-prison officer pleads guilty in inmate beatings

Federal prosecutors said Wednesday Darren Douglass-Griffin pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to violate the civil rights of inmates and falsification of records in a federal investigation.

Douglass-Griffin admitted he and other correctional officers at Macon State Prison in Oglethorpe assaulted and injured inmates in a series of incidents in 2010. He told prosecutors correctional officers beat three inmates in separate incidents to punish them. One inmate was beaten so badly he had to be taken from the prison in an ambulance.

Douglass-Griffin also said he and other officers tried to cover up the officers’ involvement by writing false reports and lying to investigators.

I say “another” because the federal Department of Justice entitled its PR of yesterday Second Former Georgia Corrections Officer Pleads Guilty to Conspiring with Other Officers to Assault and Injure Inmates. DOJ didn’t say who the first to plead guilty was, but it did add:

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Video of stealth education panel at Lowndes High last night

Here’s George Boston Rhynes’ first video from last night’s stealth education panel. The VDT covered it, but, presumably due to its bizarre policy of not covering candidates for office, the VDT didn’t even mention that J.C. Cunningham, Democrat running for Georgia House District 175, was present, even though the VDT posted pictures and quotes from the incumbent, Republican Amy Carter, who apparently organized the panel. Charter schools were discussed; see below after the video.

Video of stealth education panel at Lowndes High last night
Video by George Boston Rhynes for K.V.C.I and bostongbr on YouTube,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 14 August 2012.

On the panel, left to right:

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“It’s almost like they are out to take advantage of the rubes,” —an economist

Do big box stores count as development? Are they worth millions in tax incentives and bond investments? Maybe we can find something better for local industry and jobs.

Rumors have been flying for years about a Bass Pro store coming to Valdosta, like this one on a Georgia Outdoor News forum:

01-22-2008, 09:05 PM, bear-229
ive heard the land has been bought. very close to the new toyota lot but it has not made it to the “new locations” on the web site

That’s on James Road, in that huge proposed development that Lowndes County approved around that time.

Scott Reeder wrote for The Atlantic 13 August 2012, Why Have So Many Cities and Towns Given Away So Much Money to Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s?,

Both Bass Pro Shops and its archrival, Cabela’s, sell hunting and fishing gear in cathedral-like stores featuring taxidermied wildlife, gigantic fresh-water aquarium exhibits and elaborate outdoor reproductions within the stores. The stores are billed as job generators by both companies when they are fishing for development dollars. But the firms’ economic benefits are minimal and costs to taxpayers are great.

An exhaustive investigation conducted by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity found that the two competing firms together have received or are promised more than $2.2 billion from American taxpayers over the past 15 years.

Where does all that money come from? Bonds, usually. Which is yet another reason why last legislature’s HB 475 to give unelected bodies bond issuing privatizing power would be a bad idea.

What does all that money go for?

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Withlacoochee and Little Rivers peaking, 2012-08-14

We've seen the Lowndes County PR about Withlacoochee River flooding. Ashley Tye has posted on the Emergency Management page a list of links to river gauges in Lowndes County. Here are current images from each of them, going from upstream to downstream, left to right:

Little River near Hahira (SR 122)
Little River near Hahira (SR 122) 		Withlacoochee River above Valdosta (Skipper Bridge Road)
Withlacoochee River (Skipper Bridge Road)

Withlacoochee River near Foxborough (US 41)
Withlacoochee River near Foxborough (US 41)

Withlacoochee River near Quitman (US 84)
Withlacoochee River near Quitman (US 84)

You can easily see the rivers have peaked upstream at Hahira and Skipper Bridge, may be peaking at Foxborough, but the Withlacoochee is still rising downstream at Quitman.

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Flooding on the Withlacoochee?

Many of the same factors that cause the prolonged extreme drought we’ve been having (deforestation, impervious surfaces, climate change) also produce flooding when we get a little rain. The flooding map by NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, Weather Forecast Office Tallahassee, FL, 2012-08-14 shows minor flooding on the Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge Road.

WTXL yesterday posted PR from Lowndes County, Georgia, Withlacoochee River under watch due to rising water, flood warnings,

LOWNDES COUNTY, Ga.—Due to rising waters and the issuance of a Flood Warning by the National Weather Service, Lowndes County Emergency Management continues to monitor rising water levels on the Withlacoochee River at the Skipper Bridge Road stream gauge site.

Currently, the water level stands at approximately 14.3 feet and is expected to crest this afternoon at approximately 14.5 feet.

While a flood warning is in effect, the only area flooded at these Minor Flooding of Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge Road, Lowndes County, Georgia levels are woodland areas near the river. Historically, flooding does not affect local roads and/or residences until water levels reach approximately 17 feet.

Lowndes County Emergency Management will continue to monitor conditions and additional updates will be distributed as new information becomes available. While there is no cause for immediate concern, citizens are encouraged to remain aware of their surroundings.

Residents may monitor local river levels by accessing real time stream gauge information by visiting the following link: water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=tae.

For more information, please contact Lowndes County Public Information Officer, Paige Dukes, 229-292-6142 or pdukes@lowndescounty.com.

Curiously, on the County’s own Press Releases web page, there’s no mention of this PR.

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