Fresh Loaf

Our federal overlords are currently mulling climate change legislation that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thus reducing the impact of global warming. (They’re doing it for the children, ya skeptics.) Some carbon belchers — as well as some Republicans — aren’t thrilled about the bill.

According to a study reported by E&E, a subscription-based energy industry and policy publication, Atlanta-based Southern Co. would be hardest hit if the legislation passes. The article’s only available to subscribers, but here’s a snippet:

Atlanta-based Southern Co. will suffer most from a federal carbon cap-and-trade system, facing $393 million in costs to comply with legislation to curb emissions of greenhouse gases, according to a new study by Point Carbon, a carbon market information firm. Two other energy producers, American Electric Power and Duke Energy, round out the top three firms in the nation facing the most risk, with those two companies expecting to incur costs of $252 million and $125 million, respectively, Point Carbon analysts said.

In an attempt to flesh out the “winners and losers” of federal cap and trade, analysts zeroed in on 18 companies that are expected to represent 40 percent of any future U.S. market in emissions allowances. Southern Co. is characterized as the worst off, while Chicago-based Exelon Corp. is seen as the best off. Point Carbon believes Exelon, the nation’s biggest nuclear power producer, could actually see net revenues of $1.7 billion from the sale of its surplus allowances.

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MAKE IT RAIN, Y'ALL

Get pumped, crunk and amped all up in this muthafucka, recycling fans!

City Hall yesterday officially launched ReCART, Atlanta’s new “incentive-based” recycling program. If your household is one of the lucky 10,000 randomly selected to receive the 96-gallon recycling bin pictured to the right, you can start earning restaurant discounts and pharmacy deals just for tossing out your beer cans! It’s brilliant, ya drunks!

The program, a partnership between the city’s department of public works, Coca-Cola and Rehrig Pacific, is aimed at improving Atlantans’ recycling habits, helping residents save money, and making the city more sustainable. RecycleBank, the private company that manages the reward program, says similar efforts in 21 states have increased recycling program participation rates.

Depending on how much they recycle, selected households earn points which can be redeemed at local and national businesses. A department spokeswoman says local participating businesses include Radial, Zoo Atlanta, Rita’s Water Ice, Edgewood Avenue Pizza, and Six Feet Under locations.

Sounds great! One quick question: how much will it cost taxpayers?

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Greenies rejoice! The City of Atlanta is finally rolling out a long-discussed pilot program that would offer “points” that recyclers could redeem at local and national businesses.

Details are vague at the moment. A press release last week contained some incorrect information, and the specifics are being kept under wraps until the initiative’s official launch on Thursday, Oct. 29.

What we do know: The incentive-based pilot program will be operated by RecycleBank, a private company that, according to its Web site, “partners with cities and haulers to reward households for recycling.” Here’s a graphic-tastic idea of how RecycleBank’s program works. The company says its program has been shown to more than double recycling rates in 21 states and the United Kingdom. Participating national businesses include CVS, IKEA, Whole Foods, The Home Depot and Target.

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Sally Bethea

In addition to crime, finances and transportation, Atlanta’s next mayor has a sizable task on his or her to-do list: continue fixing the city’s antiquated sewer system. Sally Bethea, executive director of the Upper Chattachoochee Riverkeeper, reminds the candidates not to lose sight of the estimated $4.1 billion project.

Eight short years ago, Atlanta’s aging sewer system was a disgrace to its citizens and to the state of Georgia. It was also illegal.

When the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper sued the city of Atlanta in 1995 for violations of the Clean Water Act, hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage were routinely dumped into our streams and the river.

Although a federal judge ruled that the city had to clean up its act, then Mayor Bill Campbell did little but stall, leaving it to the next mayor to solve the problem, even while the judge threatened a moratorium on new development because Atlanta did not have the sewage infrastructure to support such development.

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Gov. Sonny Perdue has tapped Allen Barnes, a partner at King & Spalding, to head the state Environmental Protection Division. Director Carol Couch resigned last week to take a job at the University of Georgia.

From the Atlanta Business Chronicle:

Before joining Atlanta-based King & Spalding, Barnes served as chief of staff for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region Four, which has jurisdiction over eight Southeastern states, including Georgia. Prior to that, he taught natural resource policy and law as an associate professor at Mississippi State University. [...]

Barnes’ professional career also includes stints as a prosecutor in the Florida State Attorney’s office and as a special assistant U.S attorney handling criminal, tort and environmental litigation.

But Georgia Public Broadcasting’s John Sepulvado says some environmentalists aren’t happy with Perdue’s choice.

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The federal judge that recently ruled against Georgia in the decades-long tri-state “water war” basically told the state on Monday that he wasn’t pleased with the state’s legal maneuvering.

From the AJC:

In a three-page order, Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson frowned upon the Georgia parties’ appeals to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

He said an appeal “will only delay and further complicate the resolution of the important claims at issue.” [...]

“The court stayed the matter for three years, to allow the parties and the political system to attempt to reach a solution to this inherently political problem,” Maguson wrote Monday. Magnuson said he “fully anticipates” the parties will resolve their differences before the deadline.

But Magnuson also noted that “keeping with the gamesmanship evidenced throughout this litigation,” the Georgia parties never abandon their legal claims.

Since Magnuson’s July ruling, Gov. Sonny Perdue has said the state will continue the legal fight, consider building more reservoirs, and — after some huffing and puffing — look at conservation measures. The state’s finding out those first two solutions are more tricky now that Georgia’s behind the eight ball in this little dispute.

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About 14 seconds in. Wait for it.

After the jump, some background about the video from the Clean Air Campaign.

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The Camak Stone, seen here in an undated photograph, was swiped from Tennessee over the weeked

Hark! The Camak Stone, a 14,000-year-old relic placed upon the invisible line separating Georgia from our fellow apes in Tennessee, hath gone missingeth!

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that a volunteer for nearby State Line Cemetery, Freddie McCulley, noticed the [Camak Stone] was gone after discovering some vandalism at the cemetery.

A surveyor placed the Camak Stone in 1826 at what he thought was the 35th parallel marking the border between Tennessee and Georgia. The marker has become a source of controversy between the two states in a battle for water rights in the Tennessee River.

Georgia lawmakers have argued off and on since 1818 that the state’s border was actually a couple of clicks farther to the north — which would mean we’d have dibs on the Tennessee River and it bounteous flows. In 2008, some bills were introduced and a commission to discuss the matter was supposed to convene. But from what we’ve heard, there hasn’t been much movement on the issue.

But something strange is afoot.

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State Sen. Jeff Chapman

This is several days old, but since there’s been quite a buzz about a recent op-ed by state Sen. Jeff Chapman, R-Brunswick, we thought we’d share it for the rest of the world.

Chapman’s one of the Gold Dome’s greatest enigmas. He’s one of the few Republicans who doesn’t march in lockstep with his fellow pachyderms and isn’t afraid to butt heads with leadership over his constituents’ concerns. Last year, he won an army of fans when he pointed out problems with Jekyll Island’s proposed redevelopment.

One day after Sen. Chip Pearson, R-Dawsonville, published an op-ed banging the reservoir drum, Chapman released an op-ed titled “Fixing the holes in Georgia’s water bucket.” It was a welcome response to Pearson’s call to simply build more holes.

In it, Chapman says the state should first offer incentives and tax credits for low-flow toilets and fixtures, tighten up its infrastructure, and dredge existing reservoirs. To do so would save money, prevent intrastate water wars, and send a clear signal to Alabama and Florida — and Congress — that the state is serious about its precarious situation.

After the jump, for posterity’s sake, Chapman’s full op-ed.

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The recent ruling by U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson that told Georgia to start kissing ass or coming up with water-supply solutions might have also sparked a cottage industry of sorts: developers with nifty ideas about how to make a profit while also ensuring more water for cities who fear their taps — and tax base — could run dry.

It’s happening right here.

Last week, sources told CL that Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport officials had been approached by a private developer with the idea of selling Dawson Forest — a 10,000-acre tract of North Georgia land owned by the airport — and building a reservoir. The city bought the tract of land in 1971 in anticipation of a second airport.

According to tentative details, a tributary of the Etowah River would be dammed to create the large body of water. Officials were tight-lipped and sources couldn’t connect all the dots, but Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle was able to get the goods.

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Because the only thing worse than potentially losing metro Atlanta’s main source of drinking water is, well,  potentially losing another.

The next skirmish in metro Atlanta’s so far losing battle for drinking water will begin in a federal courtroom here Monday.

Last month a Minnesota judge ruled that Atlanta has no right to drink from Lake Lanier, a potentially crushing blow for future growth and development in North Georgia.

But what happens in Birmingham could prove doubly dire for Atlanta. U.S. District Court Judge Karon Bowdre is weighing whether North Georgia illegally taps Lake Allatoona, too. Her ruling is expected next year.

Lake Allatoona provides drinking water to roughly 800,000 customers in Cobb and surrounding counties.

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Oh, state Sen. Chip Pearson, you do not disappoint, sir!

The Republican lawmaker from Dawsonville — whom we’ve lovingly nicknamed “Dirty Sanchez” — is the Gold Dome’s biggest cheerleader of reservoirs and always open to revisiting some of those pesky environmental laws that get in the way of economic development and jobs, jobs, jobs.

Every year he seems to offer one bad legislative idea after the other, and every year we recognize him for his efforts with a Golden Sleaze Award. It’s like clockwork, people!

In a Dawson Times editorial today, Pearson says the state needs a “MacArthur Plan for Georgia’s water future.”

Does it involve more conservation, which environmental advocates say is the cheapest and easiest measure and offers the biggest bang for the buck when it comes to reducing demand on metro Atlanta’s fragile water supply?

Nope! Pearson says we need to dig holes. Lots and lots of holes.

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It was an eerie and stinky scene at Piedmont Park today as hundreds of dead fish floated on the surface and washed up on the shores of Lake Clara Meer.

Parkgoers were baffled by the event, which a Georgia Department of Natural Resources official interviewed by the AJC said was most likely caused by algae bloom. When the algae die off, the water’s oxygen can dissolve. If that was what caused today’s die-off, then the fish essentially suffocated to death.

Underneath dead fish washed ashore, you could spot schools swimming below nipping at the flies landing on the bodies. A spokesman for the Piedmont Park Conservancy, the nonprofit that helps maintain the public park, say it’s likely those fish will also die.

The AJC notes that these events are a common occurrence during the summer in the Southeast. Park officials expect more information to become available in the coming days. Additional DNR officials are scheduled to evaluate the situation on Monday.

After the jump, a statement from the conservancy’s president and CEO and more photos of dead fish.

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Second only to CL, the Marietta Daily Journal has some of the best letters to the editor. For less than a dollar a day you get some of the most whimsical glimpses into Cobb County life.

Yesterday, MDJ columnist Don McKee reprinted his readers’ thoughts about this whole ‘water wars’ mess. The best comes from my boy “B.E. (Pitt) Pittman.”

I think Atlanta and its metro counties and cities should build regional reservoirs similar to the new Hickory Log Creek Reservoir in Canton. It really ticks me off that a non-elected federal judge in a far off Northern state can dictate our use of Lake Lanier. Gainesville has built a regional lake on Flat Creek in north Hall County. We should build one on Sope Creek, Ward Creek and Sweetwater Creek. Also, we should build some smaller lakes so folks can use the water to water their lawns, wash cars and water golf courses. I have always thought it ridiculous to use treated water to wash cars, water lawns and golf courses. I wish we could get Bob Barr, Newt Gingrich and Zell Miller back in Congress.

After the jump, we examine Mr. Pittman’s opinions, because that is why Jimmy Carter invented the Internet.

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'I'll bring the giant slab of meat, guys!'

In a shameless attempt to mimic Kenyan President Barack Obama, an illegal alien who is doing keg stands at this very moment with a Harvard professor and Boston police officer, Gov. Sonny Perdue has invited the governors of Alabama and Florida to chew the fat and talk about sharing Lake Lanier’s water.

“Water issues have dominated the headlines in recent days, and I have read statements from both of you that indicate your willingness to resume water negotiations,” Governor Perdue wrote in a letter to both governors. “Judge Magnuson’s insistence on a Congressional solution was specifically related to authority for Lanier and did not address the allocation of water in the basins between the three states. I have always believed that a negotiated settlement that protects the rights and resources of all three states is the most lasting solution.”

Perdue even gave them a list of 40 days that he’s free. (Gotta be something Biblical about that.) Can’t make it to Atlanta? No biggie! Perdue said he’s willing to travel to them.

The governor might want to be accommodating to their schedules. According to the Associated Press, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley is none too pleased with Perdue’s decision to appoint Georgia Power CEO Mike Garrett to an “impact team” that’ll coordinate the Peach State’s strategy in this wacky mess.

Perdue’s full letter to the governors is pasted after the jump.

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Pretty please? Wouldn’t it be nice to do the right thing and help metro Atlanta continue to sprawl? I mean, we did kind of pass legislation in 2008 saying we’d look into redrawing the border so we could tap that mighty river you got there. We could just avoid all that red tape and work it out, right?

Whattaya say?

Tennessee officials still have no intention of letting Georgia tap into the Tennessee River, despite a federal court ruling last week that set a three-year clock ticking for Atlanta to find a new water source.

“Tennessee officials are not rethinking this issue,” said Gov. Phil Bredesen’s spokeswoman Lydia Lenker on Monday.

$@%#! Oh well, maybe we can just learn to conserve the water we have. Wait, what? $@%#!

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Atlanta-based Southern Co. says it’ll file project paperwork in 2011 — the same year its Georgia Power subsidiary will start charging ratepayers for two new proposed reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta.

Bloomberg News reports:

Southern Co., the biggest U.S. power producer, is considering building a nuclear power plant in the U.S. to meet demand for electricity and limit the emissions of fossil fuels blamed for global warming.

Southern, based in Atlanta, plans to file for a combined construction and operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2011, Beth Thomas, a spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview today. The company hasn’t picked a site for the new facility, she said.

…

Southern, which serves 4.4 million customers in the Southeast, already plans to expand its Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia to add two 1,100-megawatt reactors at the site, which already has two operating units. The Energy Daily reported the plan for the new plant on its Web site yesterday.

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Flanked by Mayor Shirley Franklin, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, state lawmakers and business bigwigs, Gov. Sonny Perdue this morning told reporters the state would appeal a recent ruling that said metro Atlanta’s use of Lake Lanier for its primary water supply was illegal.

Perdue met behind closed doors with 130 officials at the Governor’s Mansion this morning to discuss Georgia’s next step in the ongoing water wars dispute with Florida and Alabama. (Jim Galloway has a list of those who attended.)

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson has given Georgia three years to seek Congressional approval for the use of Lake Lanier. If not, withdrawals would return to 1975 levels, when the metro region population was a third the size it is today. Perdue, who earlier this week said he’d “fight to the death” for Georgia’s water, said he hopes to bring other states on board because the federal management of reservoirs is a “national” issue.

For nearly 20 years, the three states have argued over water withdrawals from the lake, which was originally built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s for flood control, hydroelectric production and downstream barge navigation.

When asked by CL if he’d considered asking his floor leaders to introduce legislation that would encourage conservation or set mandates, Perdue bristled. He said the state had made strides over the last 18 months  simply by asking local governments and residents to reduce their use of water.

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Good to know our elected officials are thinking big when it comes to dealing with a recent ruling that says metro Atlanta’s use of Lake Lanier as a source of drinking water is illegal.

SOCIAL CIRCLE – State Sen. John Douglas is poised to take the water wars between Georgia, Florida and Alabama to a new front – the football field.

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Douglas said this ruling comes just as the contract between the University of Georgia and the University of Florida to play the annual football game in Jacksonville, Fla. – which has been called the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party – is set for renewal.

“But if the state of Florida wants to play hardball, then as far as I’m concerned, the vendors in Jacksonville can frankly pay the price,” the Social Circle Republican said.

Douglas said he traditionally “doesn’t have a dog in the fight,” but with the recent ruling in the tri-state water wars, he’s ready to work with UGA’s Athletic Association to bring the Georgia-Florida game to Georgia at least every other year.

…

“Now is the time for us to use economic leverage,” he said when contacted by the Citizen on Wednesday. “This is one of the few economic tools we have at our disposal, and I don’t think we should ask the people of Georgia to spend their money in Florida and then have them use that money against us in a courtroom.”

Never mind that the annual Georgia-Florida game is a boon for South Georgia, particularly in the areas of St. Simons, Sea Island and Savannah. Hotels, condo and restaurants along the Golden Isles are packed to capacity during the event. We’re sure business leaders there won’t mind at all.

(Courtesy Senate Press Office)

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On Tuesday, July 28, an Atlanta City Council committee will discuss the long-planned “sustainable building ordinance,” a beast of a bill that dictates green-building standards for new construction. Supporters say it could make Atlanta one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the country.

The legislation — which has been in the works since last summer — is a key part of the Sustainable Atlanta Initiative, a multi-pronged approach to meet Mayor Shirley Franklin’s goal to reduce the city’s carbon footprint. (PDF of Sustainable Building Ordinance) Included in the ordinance are water-conservation measures, energy-efficiency guidelines, material requirements and various other green-building standards.

At more than 65 pages, the bill covers everything from sink fixtures in your home to spray wands at the car wash. Buildings must meet one or four green-building certifications, including EarthCraft or LEED certification. Under the current language, only new commercial, residential, institutional and industrial buildings taller than three stories would be required to comply with the ordinance. Single-family homes, structures that don’t require running water or electricity and historic buildings would be exempt. The ordinance would take effect one year after passage. It’s an ambitious initiative and worth a look.

Green building codes have the tendency to become hot-button issues. Some traditional builders and developers have argued that the standards are unfair, expensive and that government has no right to set mandates to reduce the effects of global warming. Architects and urban planners usually applaud them because they enforce methods that are lend to better-built homes that lessen our impact on the environment while also saving homeowners money.

We’ve called the usual suspects to see if there’s any concern in their camps. We haven’t heard back just yet.

After the jump, I’ve pasted one paragraph that caught my eye for its potential impact on people who might enjoy the occasional Pall Mall in their chic, hi-rise apartment.

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The Natural Resources Defense Council, a well-regarded environmental nonprofit based in New York, this week released its list of the country’s most green, or sustainable, cities. Seattle received top honors, followed by San Francisco and Portland, Ore.

Compared to other cities with a population over 250,000, Atlanta ranked 33rd.

The rankings are based on, left to right: air quality, energy production and conservation, environmental standards and participation, green building, green space, recycling programs, transit, standard of living and water quality.

The ranking’s a bit disappointing when you consider how much energy the city’s invested in such initiatives as Sustainable Atlanta, the sewer overhaul and the Beltline. Those programs, however, are still far from completion. The city leads the country in the number of LEED-certified buildings, but that’ll only get you so far when you consider the programs such cities as Seattle and Chicago have launched.

Athens ranked 14th on the list of medium-sized cities. Roswell ranked 23rd among among smaller cities.

(Courtesy of NRDC)

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The Georgia Court of Appeals today reversed a landmark 2008 Fulton County Superior Court ruling regarding a proposed “clean coal” plant in southwest Georgia.

That ruling invalidated an air quality permit issued to Plant Longleaf in Early County because the state failed to place a limit on the facility’s carbon emissions.

UPDATE after the jump.

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(Sad horn)

From the Savannah Morning News:

The sun won’t be generating significant electricity any time soon in Chatham County – plans for the biggest solar projects were delayed when Georgia Power announced last month that it was out of funds to produce solar and other “green” power.

“We had to cap the amount we would buy back, because there’s only so much the program would bear as we rolled it out and it started to be developed,” said Ervan Hancock, Georgia Power’s renewable and green strategy manager.

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“Just at the time alternative energy is beginning to take root, they are stifling these initiatives by artificially putting a cap on it,” [Savannah-based solar advocate Jack Star] said. “This is unbelievable at a time when the rest of the country is moving forward with alternatives.”

Georgia Power’s Green Energy Program, launched nearly three years ago, has enrolled about 4,400 customers among a total customer base of 2.3 million. Those enrolled voluntarily purchase nearly 19,000 blocks of 100-kilowatt-hours each per month for an extra $3.50 to $4.50 per block. That money funds the premium that Georgia Power pays to producers of solar and other green power.

The Morning News has the full story.

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Much like its subsidiary Georgia Power did under the Gold Dome with its controversial Plant Vogtle bill earlier this year, Atlanta-based Southern Co. has cranked up production in its lobbyist factory and ordered more than 60 well-dressed foot soldiers to march through the halls of Congress.

Their mission: Twist lawmakers’ arms about the global warming bill that last week narrowly passed the House and is on its way to the Senate.

From the Center for Public Integrity:

Southern Company, the nation’s largest electric power generator, also had the largest force of lobbyists among the hundreds of businesses and interest groups that were seeking to influence the landmark climate change legislation that just passed the House.

With 63 lobbyists, the Atlanta-based energy giant had nearly twice as many climate lobbyists as any other company or organization, according to registration statements filed with the Senate Office of Public Records for the first quarter of 2009. (The second quarter filings won’t be available for a few weeks.) Eleven of Southern’s climate representatives were in-house, while the rest came from a dozen different lobbying shops.

It’s for good reason, too. The center reports that “more than 80 percent of the 200 million megawatt hours of electricity [Southern Co.'s] plants generate annually is fired by fossil fuel — the main source of greenhouse gases.” Should the bill pass, it could greatly impact Southern Co.’s — and in the process, your — bottom line.

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The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the Waxman-Markey bill, a piece of legislation aimed at curbing global warming through energy-efficiency standards, clean energy technologies and a cap-and-trade system.

And despite the bill’s good intentions, not everyone’s exactly thrilled with what it contains.

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