Thursday, September 12, 2013

Barbour Shakes up the Nuclear Debate

The conflict over storing nuclear waste in Mississippi took an interesting turn Tuesday when former Governor Haley Barbour spoke before a group in Madison to endorse Governor Bryant's plan(s)... whatever they are.

Governor Bryant and the Mississippi Energy Institute have lost control of the messaging campaign around their plans for nuclear waste so they had to call in a favor to Barbour to swoop in and save the day. If there is one thing Barbour likes doing, it's running campaigns. It's not like Bryant and the MEI had to do much convincing; the Butler Snow firm, for whom Barbour works (perhaps the other way around,) is on the board of directors for the MEI.

During his remarks, Barbour also voiced support for the idea of "limited" drilling for natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico. We're now facing the prospect of "limited" nuclear waste storage and "limited" drilling for natural gas off of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Barbour really can't expect us to believe that any type of drilling is going to be limited. I suppose it depends on what his definition of "limited" is.

From Bryant's plans for nuclear waste storage to the possibility of earthquakes as a result of Barbour's natural gas drilling ideas, these proposals by the state's top Republican leaders are looking more and more like a bad deal for our family and friends in South Mississippi.

Still no word from Barbour if any "limited" drilling and/or storage will take place in Yazoo City.

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