Smokin'!
By the same 2-1 vote that it had earlier approved the plant, the Arkansas PSC today refused to rehear its decision to let an old-fashioned, poison-belching, coal-fired power plant be built in Hempstead County, though most everyone else in the civilized world has taken a dim view of such installations. And most everyone else doesn't have a pristine natural area right next door. This, remember, is a Mike Huckabee PSC, he of the new-found interest in conservation. (CORRECTION: As noted in comments, though the PSC staff, which has been supportive of this proposal, is heavily influenced by a decade in which Huckabee appointed all the commissioners, the two-member majority in this decision was formed by one Beebe and one Huckabee appointee.)
Please read David Newbern's brief and pointed dissent to get what's wrong here.
Comments
Doesn't the PSC now have more Mike Beebe appointees than Mike Huckabee appointees on it? Not defending Huckabee but just making a clarification as I don't think it is any longer a Huckabee PSC.
ARK. BLOG: You are correct and I stand corrected. The two-member majority is one Beebe and one Huckabee appointee. It likely would have been 3-0 for coal (two Huck, one Beebe) had Sandra Hochstetter stuck to her original plan to hear the case despite a clear conflict of interest. The staff, which wholeheartedly supported the plant, also reflects the mindset established during the decade of Huckabee appointees.
Posted by: Under The Dome![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/nav-commenters.gif)
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January 1, 2008 06:14 AM
What would need to be done to make the PSC more representative of ALL the people? Three commissioners to represent almost 2 million people. That's simply too easy to control.
Posted by: eLwood![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/nav-commenters.gif)
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January 1, 2008 08:30 AM