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Arkansas Governor's School students challenge Beebe on coal power Monday, Sep 1, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - When Gov. Mike Beebe welcomed students to the 28th annual Arkansas Governor's School this summer, he probably could not have predict that one project students would take on would be to challenge him on a public policy issue. During the six-week program, held June 15-July 26 at Hendrix College in Conway, a group of students wrote a letter expressing opposition to new coal-fired power plants in Arkansas and persuaded 203 students, just over half the student body, to sign it. Three of the students presented the letter to Beebe during an Aug. 11 meeting at the state Capitol, along with a "No New Coal" T-shirt signed by Governor's School students and a framed photo of students wearing shirts with the same slogan. Cody Hooks of Little Rock, who led the signature drive, said the effort apparently took Beebe by surprise. "From what I've heard, in years past they haven't had an organized effort to make some sort of statement like that to the governor," Hooks said last week. "But even though he may have been surprised somewhat, he definitely wasn't hostile to it." Started in 1980 by then-Gov. Bill Clinton, Arkansas Governor's School each year accepts 400 gifted and talented students who are heading into their senior year of high school. Funding comes from legislative appropriations to the state Department of Education for gifted and talented programs. "Students are challenged to develop the rigorous creative and intellectual skills that will be critical to their leading the ideal 'life well-lived' and for making positive contributions to their communities and societies at large," the school's Web site states. Hooks, a senior at Mills High School in Little Rock, is not related to Glen Hooks, senior regional representative for the Sierra Club, but he said he supports the Sierra Club's initiative to fight new coal plants across the country. Cody Hooks said he first told Beebe of the students' concerns about coal power while the governor was taping an episode of the Arkansas Educational Television Network program "Ask the Governor" at Hendrix during the last week of Governor's School. When the delegation of students later meet with Beebe at the Capitol, they told him that increasing the state's commitment to coal power may discourage their generation's best and brightest from staying in Arkansas. "We didn't put it as blatantly as saying, 'You can't expect us to stay here,' but it was sort of the tone of, when there are other opportunities elsewhere, we love Arkansas and we want to see it progress and we cannot be part of the state when it is sort of regressing and continuing to pollute the environment," Cody Hooks said. Beebe spent about 20 minutes with the group. "We got the opportunity to present him with our stand and show him that we were willing to take the extra effort to go out beyond our little AGS utopia bubble into the real world and show him that we were really serious about what we were talking about," the high school senior said. Beebe spokesman Stacey Hall said the governor was impressed. "He thought they were informed, passionate and a great reflection of the mission and intent of the Governor's School," Hall said. "The governor appreciated the opportunity to discuss their position and acknowledged their unique perspectives as the future stewards of the Arkansas environment." Southwestern Electric Power Co. is seeking permission to build a $1.5 billion coal plant near Fulton in Southwest Arkansas. The state Public Service Commission approved the plant in November, but the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality is still considering whether to grant SWEPCO an air permit. The Governor's School students asked Beebe to have ADEQ reject the plant. Hall said Beebe's position on the issue has not changed. The governor has said that eliminating coal power is "not going to happen tomorrow" and that the new plant should be equipped with every environmental safeguard possible. Cody Hooks said Beebe assured the group he is committed to developing alternative energy sources. Though the governor did not say he would block the SWEPCO plant, Beebe appeared to take the students' concerns seriously, he said. "We were treated very respectfully, and I think he treated our ideas respectfully as well," Cody Hooks said. Governor's School Director Lyle Rupert said the students' project is in keeping with the school's mission, though the school did not initiate it and has not taken a position on the issue of coal power. "In the personal and social development course, some of the things that they learn about are how to look at the world, how to analyze problems in the world and how to use their own gifts and skills to help overcome those problems. Taking a stand on something and putting their passion where their abilities are, that is a wonderful AGS thing," Rupert said. |
