CEO Column

As I write this column, Hurricane Michael has devastated parts of the Gulf Coast. Michael is one of many hurricanes that have challenged us with unexpected changes and devastation.  There will likely be more in the future. When a hurricane is being tracked, we hear about the eye of the storm, typically a calm center around which the stormy bands circulate.

Do you remember going with your parents or grandparents to pay the “light bill”? When electric cooperatives first formed more than 80 years ago, most farms only used electricity to power a single light bulb over the kitchen table. How times have changed! Today’s monthly energy bill covers so much more than just the lights.

Last December, my article was titled, Big Mike’s Bean House. It was inspired by an article my friend, Covington County Circuit Judge Ben Bowden, sent me, “If Everyone Ate Beans Instead of Beef.” The Judge is apparently obsessed with protein because last month he sent me another article from the New York Times titled “Memo From the Boss: You’re a Vegetarian Now.”

Alabama has historically been successful in economic development and attracting new industry. That success was better than other states in the region two decades ago when Alabama’s tax incentives and advantages for creating new jobs were superior to those available in surrounding states.

Which of the following statements would you choose as most correct?

1. The world is getting better.
2. The world is getting worse.
3. The world is neither getting better nor worse.

“Beggar Thy Neighbour” is a classic economic policy through which one country attempts to remedy its economic problems by means that tend to worsen the economic problems of other countries. In 1776, Adam Smith wrote about “Beggaring Thy Neighbour” in The Wealth of Nations, the foundation for modern economic theory. Smith’s theory was developed from an earlier economics concept termed, “Tragedy of The Commons,” which appears in the works of Plato and Aristotle. Helping oneself at the expense of one’s neighbors has been around a while. It doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.

Last December, in my article Big Mike’s Bean House, I attempted to demonstrate how misguided studies and impractical solutions impair the serious discussion of climate change. In particular, eliminating beef from our food sources is not a credible solution to mitigating climate change. It just will not happen.

I work in the electric utility industry and am drawn to issues associated with the industry. Recently, a number of cities and states have declared a goal of a 100% renewable electric supply. Most often, the cornerstone of the renewable movement is solar energy. Some people have declared we are in a solar revolution.

You may have heard of the “Butterfly Effect.” It refers to a butterfly flapping its wings off the African coast, causing a movement that starts a wave that moves across the Atlantic Ocean and becomes a hurricane. Edward Lorenz, who coined the term, referred to it as, “A very small change in initial conditions that creates a significantly different outcome.”

PowerSouth invests resources into economic development in Alabama and the Florida panhandle. Economic development, new jobs, and better-paying jobs are the lifeblood of communities. We know it, you know it, and local leaders know it. If an economy (especially a small economy) is not growing, neither is the community. To build stronger communities and cities, we need more and better jobs.