The mayor was elected to a second term and a NOLA Power Poll, not one with statistical reliability, showed what she should do. Now you will say this is politics and I would agree until you get to the second part. There the environment comes through.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell faces many challenges when she starts her second term in 2022. Far and away, however, her top priority should be crime and public safety, according to The Times-Picayune Power Poll. That imperative overwhelmingly led the list of nine options offered to Power Poll members this week. Second were drainage-related issues, followed by other infrastructure such as streets. “Citizen safety [and drainage] are first and foremost the two most important issues to address going forward. Violent crime has increased, and the need for safety from flooding of our streets, homes and businesses means that the Sewerage and Water Board needs updated, functional equipment,” said Ruthie Frierson, founder of Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans. “Our streets are in dire need of repairs, and this also effects our safety.”
nola.com
Streets I can agree with as while mine needs work there are others that are truly worse than third world country roads. That is not politics unless the fixing of them depends on race and color and, most importantly, wealth.
Crime – and crime-fighting by New Orleans’ beleaguered Police Department – has long been a top concern of residents. This year, it’s taken on new urgency with a sharp rise in carjackings, among other offenses. “Mayor Cantrell has a mammoth task ahead of her,” said Keith Esparros, WWL television news director. “Over the past four years, violent crime has gotten worse, the streets have gotten worse, garbage pickup has essentially failed and streetcar service has not returned to Rampart Street or parts of Canal Street now two years after the Hard Rock [Hotel] collapse. All of these have direct effects on virtually every citizen. Hurricanes and the pandemic have conspired against her, making her second term to-do list formidable to say the least.” Conducted online Monday through Thursday, The Times-Picayune Power Poll survey is not a scientific inquiry. But because it asks questions of the top Jefferson and Orleans parish influencers in business, politics, arts, media, nonprofits and community affairs, it does afford non-partisan insight into the thoughts and opinions of those who steer the region. Of 377 Power Poll members surveyed this week, 97 voted, for a participation rate of 26%.
Now we get to where the environment comes in and the results look good, at least for desires.
On a separate question, almost three quarters of the respondents said the Louisiana Public Service Commission should require electricity utilities to generate more power from renewable sources such as wind. The survey results showed 71% said yes. “In light of worsening extreme weather events due to climate change…, the Louisiana Public Service Commission must do everything it can to support a movement to efficient and renewable energy in order to mitigate emissions, but also to make our state more prepared for inevitable storms,” said Logan Atkinson Burke, executive director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy. “What’s more, while other states have created renewable targets that are driving economic gains and new industries, Louisiana is leaving opportunities on the table by staying entrenched in fossil focused policy. Not only does this mean our electricity costs are subject to the whims of international energy markets, we are seeing other states attract our skilled workforce for offshore wind and rooftop solar.”
Already some movement to renewable is being done and Entergy has an option where, for a cost, you can go to part or whole renewable.
New Orleans, which gets power from Entergy New Orleans, has already ordered the company to source at least 90% of its power from renewables by 2040. A leading wind energy developer was impressed but suggested that a larger guaranteed market – such as the entire state – would be more enticing. Regulation of utilities in New Orleans’ suburbs and the rest of the state falls to the Public Service Commission. On the survey’s third question, voters in St. Tammany Parish will decide Saturday whether to allow a $325 million casino resort to be built along Lake Pontchartrain near Slidell. The campaign for and against it has become one of the most expensive local campaigns in Louisiana history. The Times-Picayune Power Poll is a partnership between New Orleans’ daily newspaper and powerpoll.com, a nonpartisan survey, news and information company focused on the opinions of influential people. Powerpoll.com is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and surveys in 28 metropolitan markets.
The casino does not interest me as I don’t go to them but the number wanting more renewable is encouraging. So politics is a yes but the need for renewables, while politics considering the split between the parties on energy, it shows who is on the right path.
