Texarkana Lignite Development Meeting

Texarkana residents invited to lignite development meeting

MAGNOLIA — Texarkana-area residents are being invited to a town meeting to discuss the potential of promoting and developing the mining of lignite in Arkansas. The meeting is being hosted by State Representative Mary P. “Prissy” Hickerson and the Natural Resource Research Center at Southern Arkansas University.

            The Southwest Arkansas Community Forum on Lignite Exploration and Mining will be held Friday, February 18, at the Southwest Arkansas Electric Cooperative - REA Building, 2904 East 9^th Street (Hwy 82 East), Texarkana. Presenters for the meeting will include Dr. Tim Schroeder of the Natural Resource Research Center, State Representative Garry Smith of Camden, and Richard Wilson of the Bureau of Legislative Research. The program will last about one hour.

            Also attending the meeting will be Arkansas Lt. Governor Mark Darr, State Senators Steve Harrelson and Larry Teague, and State Representatives Lane Jean, Larry Cowling, Nate Steel, David “Bubba” Powers, and Randy Stewart.

            South Arkansas has approximately nine billion tons of lignite resources that remain unexplored and undeveloped. In 2007, the Arkansas General Assembly approved the Arkansas Lignite Resources Pilot Program, directing the Arkansas Economic Development Commission to work with SAU and the Arkansas Geological Survey in developing and promoting Arkansas lignite for economic purposes. Surrounding states including Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana are already reaping dividends from lignite development.

            “With a firm commitment to the use of clean coal technology and the most advanced and environmentally friendly practices available, the lignite process could result in tremendous economic benefit for Arkansas, as well as having the potential for significant impact on energy security in the United States,” Smith said.

            The scheduled town meeting will provide an opportunity for the public to hear of the potential economic benefits to south Arkansas. Financial, geological, and environmental information related to the production of crude oil from lignite will be provided to those who attend.

            All area legislators and community leaders have been invited. The meeting is open to the public, and everyone is invited to attend.

            For more information, contact Hickerson at (870) 773-1603.

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State Representative Mary "Prissy" Hickerson provided this press release.

We The People: A Reminder

America’s future is uncertain.  It’s a fact that can not be denied or hidden any longer.  The United States was once the greatest nation ever conceived on the face of the Earth.  By 1976, just two hundred years into our nation’s history, we had defeated the nations of our time.  The British Empire had failed to hold us down twice, the French had failed to defeat us, the Ottoman Empire and its allies had failed, Nazi Germany and its allies had failed and even an internal Civil War had failed to destroy us.  We had reached out through exploration from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific and even to the moon.  The original thirteen colonies had grown to fifty individual and thriving states.  In 1976 we stood on the verge of a military and economic build up that would force the collapse of the Soviet Union.  We embodied what other nations wanted to be and wanted to have as a nation.

Unfortunately, something went wrong along the way.  We as Americans stumbled and became afraid.  We became afraid of the type of hard work that built this nation.  We became afraid of independence.  We became afraid of business.  We became afraid of everything.  In the end, we started to look to our government to cure our problems.  We looked to the government to save our financial institutions, we looked to them to fix our medical institutions, we looked to them to fix our economy, and we looked to them to tell us what to do and when to do it.  We, simply put, lost our ability to make our own way.

Fortunately for America since the mid 1800’s there has been one group willing to stand up for Americans.  That group has believed in smaller government and greater independence.  The list for the Republicans is impressive and long.  When someone considers what all Republicans have stood for and stood against, you can not help but wonder at what the future holds for them and for America.  Republicans stood against slavery, they stood against the division of the union, they stood for African-American’s right to vote, they stood for women’s right to vote, they stood for Civil Rights, they stood against the Soviet Union, and they have stood against the government solving all our problems.  Republicans have understood one thing that many others have forgotten.  Republicans have understood that a short paper, located behind protective glass in Washington reads three of the most important words ever written for this nation.  These words should be the foundation for all government and all functions of business, economy, and daily life to occur within the boundaries of the Untied States.  Three simple words convey a message that must be conveyed again and again to each generation: “We the people”. 

It is now time to stand up and remind America that the United States is a union of the three words “We the people”.  These words do not sound out “We the government,” they do not sound out “We the other countries,” and they do not sound out “We the dependent.”  These words are the words of independence, unity, and force that forged this nation into the greatest nation on the face of the Earth.   The words are boldly printed and they make the future as clear now as it was when they were written.  “We the people” must take back control of our government.  “We the people” must cut our dependence of foreign countries.  “We the people” must rebuild our economy.  “We the people” must demand business return to our homeland.  “We the people” must demand accountability from all leaders. 

It is once again time for Republicans to stand as we have stood so many times in the past.  If we do not stand now, there will be no future generations studying what our Republican generation did.  The future generations will not know the words “We the people”.  Now is your time.   There is a herd coming and you are either with us or against us, but we will not allow our nation to fall.  Join the herd, or get out of the way.  After all, when “We the people” start to move, you will find that you can’t stop a herd of elephants with a mission to save America again.