| By Clem Guttata
I've got a long list of "things I've been meaning to write about." Here's a link drop for a quiet Sunday afternoon.
* This is quite simply, unacceptable. In a just world, this would the major topic of discussion in the January legislative session... Andrew Clevenger notes 1 in 6 West Virginians living in poverty:
More than 300,000 West Virginians lived in poverty in 2008, according to new data from the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau yesterday.
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The data can also be broken down by county and school district. Staggeringly, an estimated 46.3 percent of people under the age of 18 in McDowell County lived in poverty. This is almost two times higher than Kanawha County (23.5), three times higher than Monongalia County (15.2) and four times Jefferson County (11.1, the lowest percentage of all 55 counties).
* This Verizon - Frontier deal may be good for Wall Street but its horrible for West Virginia. If regulators have their eye on the ball, they will not approve it.
If this deal is approved by the West Virginia Public Service Commission, West Virginians can expect Frontier to cut, not add jobs. On Nov. 4, in an interview with Bloomberg News, Wilderotter finally admitted that Frontier "plans to cut jobs" -- as part of its effort to achieve cost savings of $500 million a year. Up until that interview, Frontier management maintained the fiction that the deal would mean more, not fewer, jobs. Cutting jobs isn't in the public's best interest.
The deal also will make our telephone utility in West Virginia weaker financially.
* I don't know if Sens. Byrd or Rockefeller will have a chance to ask Bernacke questions during his (re)confirmation hearing, but I'd sure like to see Bernacke get some follow-up grilling on this. Bernacke gets Feds mandate wrong (emphasis mine):
Yesterday, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke referred to the "our dual mandate, which is growth and inflation." In fact, the dual mandate is full employment (defined as 4.0 percent unemployment) and price stability. Presumably Bernanke had unemployment in mind when he said "growth," but it striking that he would not use the right term. The two are of course not synonymous.
* Speaking of employment... I agree with Meteor Blades, we ought to Resurrect and Energize the Conservation Corps:
Because of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration, Americans can go just about anywhere in this country and see FDR's hand on the landscape. These programs weren't flawless, but they were smart, effective, pragmatic. To hear some Party of No politicians and rightist pundits tell it, however, this particular use of the public sector was just short of a Bolshevik coup. So, obviously, anything with a whiff of New Deal scent about it is going to set off another round of patented GOP sulking and barking amplified by our ever-helpful national media.
Let them bark. The White House should press for a direct job creation program anyway.
The CCC put millions of young men to work planting trees, curbing erosion, and generally nurturing the National Park System. Nine years the program lasted. Much of the work done still lives today. A Clean Energy Conversion Corps would not only create jobs but also provide a massive public investment with an impact reaching decades into the future.
* CNN Money has a fascinating article about the new found resistance energy companies are finding to exploration efforts as they move closer to more populated areas: The Domestic Drilling Backlash (thank you to the reader who emailed me this story!)
Most Americans still support increased oil and gas drilling. But opposition is growing, especially when that drilling nears more populated urban areas. Currently there are natural gas booms happening around New York City, Dallas-Fort Worth, Western Colorado, the Midwest, and elsewhere. Opponents fear this new drilling will ruin the drinking water for millions of people, among other concerns.
And energy companies, accustomed to dealing with rural populations familiar with drilling and eager for jobs and lease royalties, are increasingly finding themselves at odds with a more educated and wealthy populace wary of energy development.
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In Western Colorado, public awareness of drilling and the potential dangers has increased as wealthy people from nearby resort towns have become interested in the cause, said Theo Colborn, president of the Endocrine Disruption Exchange, a group studying the effects of drilling chemicals on humans.
Colborn recounted the story of a nearby town where the local officials were considering allowing more drilling. Soon after, residents had their cars leafleted with pamphlets describing the associated dangers. Turns out, a local resident had hired a public relations agency to come in and run the campaign.
"A lot of wealthy people have been affected, and they can afford the lawyers or PR firms to come in and do stuff like this," she said.
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...the days of this industry operating in relative obscurity and with little federal oversight are likely numbered.
What are you reading today?
Eastern Box Turtle in Morgan County, West Virginia
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