The city’s utility consultants essentially acted as judge and jury, they say.
Author Archives: Michael Isaac Stein
Michael Isaac Stein covers New Orleans' cultural economy and local government for The Lens. Before joining the staff, he freelanced for The Lens as well as The Intercept, CityLab, The New Republic, and Pacific Standard. He was recently awarded a fellowship from the Heinrich Boll Foundation, which he used to report on water scarcity, division, and colonialism in Cyprus.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Power plant in New Orleans gets the green light over concerns about transmission reliability
Entergy New Orleans says the plant in eastern New Orleans will guard against an unlikely but catastrophic transmission failure.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Opponents say Entergy’s proposed power plant is an old-fashioned solution in search of a problem
Entergy says a new plant can handle periods of unusually high demand, and it will protect against a catastrophic situation in which the city can’t get power. Energy experts and opponents say the company’s argument doesn’t hold up, and it has an incentive to build new facilities rather than improve transmission reliability.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Pumping problems, hurricane scares play into debate over new Entergy power plant
Without a new power plant, Entergy New Orleans says “New Orleans is at risk of cascading electrical outages or blackouts.” Critics say the vast majority of outages in the city are related to power lines, and a new power plant won’t solve the problem. They say it would cost less to fix the power lines.
Posted inEnvironment
Some oyster leases near offshore wells have a surprising owner: oil and gas companies
Oil and gas companies hold several thousand acres of oyster leases off the coast of Plaquemines Parish. The industry says they’re guarding against frivolous damage claims. Oystermen say they’re trying to avoid accountability.
Posted inEnvironment
Hilcorp seeks dredging permit a year after dragging drilling barge through shallow water
Members of the Louisiana Oystermen Association said the state should reject it because of the company’s history of problems.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Opportunities for ‘lifers’ — but little programming for inmates nearing release
Angola rodeo’s crafts fair points up an absurdity in Louisiana’s penal system.