Archive for the ‘Public Service Commission’ Category

The unfolding situation in northern Japan has had another repercussion in east Georgia. From the Augusta Chronicle:

Environmental groups opposed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s plan to license two new AP1000 reactors to be built at Plant Vogtle filed a new petition Wednesday asking the commission to suspend the licensing process until more is known about the evolving Japan disaster.

“It is apparent that while little is known definitively about the cause and impacts of what occurred at Fukushima, many aspects of the accident have grave consequences for U.S. nuclear plants, including the AP1000 reactors,” said the petition, filed by the AP1000 Oversight Group, comprised of 12 environmental groups.

Southern Nuclear, which plans to use the Westinghouse reactor design at Vogtle, risks potential cost overruns if it moves ahead too quickly on the $14.8 billion project, said Sara Barczak, the program director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

- By Jim Galloway, …

Continue reading Citing Japan disaster, green groups want NRC to suspend Vogtle reactor licensing »

China is subjecting Japanese tourists to radiation tests, and Germany has sworn off nuclear power. But Tim Echols, a member of the state Public Service Commission, has a more interesting response to the nuclear debacle in Japan: Increased privatization.

From his op-ed piece in today’s Athens Banner-Herald:

The nuclear plant crisis in Japan threatens to chill any nuclear renaissance in the United States. One reason is that it appears the Japanese have procrastinated with regard to the disposal of nuclear waste, just as we have in this country.

I believe it’s time to demand that our government turn nuclear waste management over to the private sector. As Heritage Foundation nuclear expert Jack Spencer recently testified, America’s disposal strategy has failed…..

This country has more than 60,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste stored at more than 100 sites in 39 states. The country’s 104 commercial reactors produce approximately 2,000 additional tons of used fuel annually. While …

Continue reading Tim Echols: ‘Let’s privatize handling of nuclear waste’ »

Just before noon, I ran into an elated Tim Echols, the rookie member of the state Public Service Commission – who had just learned that he’ll be the PSC’s next chairman.

Tim Echols, a Republican elected to the Public Service Commission last November. Bita Honarvar, bhonarvar@ajc.com

The House had surprised everyone – including Echols – and defeated HB 216, a measure that would have set the five-member PSC free to name its own chairman by majority vote. Republicans split on the measure, sinking it with a 60-103 vote.

The measure had been pushed by PSC members Doug Everett and Lauren “Bubba” McDonald – both former House members, whose connections many thought would carry the day. McDonald or Stan Wise of Cobb County were likely to have been named the permanent chairman.

Instead, the PSC will continue its policy of rotating leadership on the panel. “I will be the next chairman,” said Echols, who has been an advocate of encouraging the use of compressed natural gas in fleet …

Continue reading House defeats PSC chairmanship measure »

From Washington, my AJC colleague Bob Keefe has this:

Democratic U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop called Internet insinuations that he was somehow involved in fraud surrounding last year’s settlement between the government and African-American farmers “one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard.”

Videos featuring two Georgia farmers that are being circulated on the Web by conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart hint that Bishop, of Albany, may have known about possible fraud in last year’s so-called “Pigford” settlement between the government and black farmers who claimed that a Department of Agriculture farm loan program discriminated against them.

Read the rest here. Below is one of the videos at issue. It’s pretty thin gruel:

Keefe also offers up this reminder:

Continue reading Your morning jolt: The video that has Sanford Bishop steamed »

It’s not easy being green. Especially if you can’t bring yourself to use the word.

One of the biggest surprises of the summer primary season was the victory of Christian conservative activist Tim Echols of Athens in the Republican race for a seat on the utility-regulating Public Service Commission.

From left to right, Lauren "Bubba" McDonald, member of the Public Service Commission; U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson; and Tim Echols, Republican nominee for PSC at a unity breakfast following the August runoff. John Spink/jspink@ajc.com

Echols’ opponent in the GOP runoff was veteran state Sen. John Douglas of Social Circle, who enjoyed strong support, financial and otherwise, from members of the Legislature and two of five PSC members.

Echols’ church-based, grass-roots experience gave him some advantage. He is the founder of the nonprofit TeenPact, an organization that introduces kids — often home-schooled — to the workings of government and political campaigns.

Echols also, for a time, …

Continue reading Conservation and conservatism: How to be ‘green,’ but without the word »

On Monday, we passed on reports from Tim Echols, locked in a Republican runoff contest for a seat on the Public Service Commission, that he’d been endorsed by a number of people — including Randy Hicks, president of the Georgia Family Council.

This morning, Hicks reportedly posted the following on his Facebook page:

To my Georgia friends: Contrary to what was reported in the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Political Insider yesterday, I have not endorsed anyone in any race. Could I? Yes, as an individual. But I choose not to because the issues GFC deals with transcend parties and candidates. But I HAVE already voted in today’s runoff election and so should you!

Echols conceded the point in a note this morning:

Technically speaking, Randy Hicks’ statement on my website is not an endorsement (since he doesn’t do endorsements), but only as a testimony to our relationship over the years.

For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.

Continue reading When an endorsement isn’t an endorsement »

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks during a rally for GOP runoff for governor candidate Karen Handel. AP/John Bazemore)

If the tone of Karen Handel’s campaign of the last three weeks has surprised political veterans, perhaps it is because it has violated an unwritten rule – that frontrunners should present themselves as good cops.

 Let the underdog play bad cop, and make the attacks.

But if Sarah Palin’s visit to Atlanta this afternoon did anything, it made clear that Handel would finish the runoff campaign as she started it – with a furious volley aimed at Nathan Deal and members of the state Legislature who back him.

Said Handel, after climbing the stage to appear with her husband Steve, Palin and her husband Todd:

“Governor Palin was underestimated, too. She took on the powerful career politicians. And no one thought she could win, but she did. And she pushed through real ethics reform that had the political elite screaming in their smoke-filled backroom. And that’s …

Continue reading Karen Handel finishes like she started — and Sarah Palin slams Georgia Right to Life »