MISSISSIPPI CHAPTER

NOVEMBER 23RD, 2014 GULFPORT MS
Last Sunday night, at Gulfport's Hard Rock Cafe, two groups that are not normally linked together in people's minds came together to celebrate their alliance: the Gulf Coast NAACP and the MISSISSIPPI SIERRA CLUB. And on a night when the NAACP honored two of the Sierra Club's members with Distinguished Justice Service Awards, the focus seemed to be as much on the work they will do together in the future as it was on past accomplishments.

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES:
For the solar and wind industries in the United States, it has been a long-held dream: to produce energy at a cost equal to conventional sources like coal and natural gas.
That day appears to be dawning. The cost of providing electricity from wind and solar power plants has plummeted over the last five years, so much so that in some markets renewable generation is now cheaper than coal or natural gas.
FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES: SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY START TO WIN ON PRICE VS. CONVENTIONAL FUELS

From State Director Louie Miller:
Sharing the sad and shocking news that Michael Correro has passed away. Michael was a citizen of Kemper County and stalwart opponent of the Kemper County power plant and strip mine boondoggle. He was one of the first to ask the hard questions, doing the analysis and drawing the conclusion that this was not in the best interests of Kemper County nor its citizens.
Funeral arrangements are as follows: Monday, November 24, 2014, at 1 PM Stephens Funeral Home, Highway 16, DeKalb, MS 39328.

Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell sat down with Midwest Energy News to talk about his time in the mayor’s office. Heartwell has elevated the city as a model for sustainability, renewable energy and energy efficiency, which includes an aggressive 100-percent renewable energy goal by 2020 (it’s at 25 percent now) and an entire city lighting system comprised of LEDs. (11/14/2014 By Andy Balaskovitz. Caption: Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell speaks at a benefit in 2009. Photo by Steven Depolo via Creative Commons)

ANN SOMERS ENJOYS HER CAREER BECAUSE OF A VARIETY OF PROJECTS AND THE PEOPLE SHE MEETS
While growing up in Byram, Ann Somers loved putting thing together, such as puzzles, model cars and ships and fantasy Barbie kingdoms. That interest in building things led to a career in architecture, something she learned about as an eighth-grader.
“I knew that was what I wanted to do,” Somers recalls. “Up to that point I did not like school and was an average student. Once I understood I needed to have a good grade point average to get into architecture school, I stepped it up and became a good student. The other thought with architecture was that I could branch into interior design or site design with an architecture degree.”

The Gulfport Branch NAACP will be honoring the Sierra Club and Robert Wiygul at its 2014 Annual Freedom Fund Banquet on Sunday, November 23, 2014 at Hard Rock Live in Biloxi at 6:00pm. This year's program theme is "All in for Justice and Equality", and the organization's incoming National President and CEO, Cornell William Brooks, will be the special guest speaker. He will be presenting Distinguished Justice service awards to attorney Robert Wiygul and Louie Miller for their outstanding environmental justice advocacy. The NAACP has strategically engaged environmental and climate justice as one of its core civil rights issues

SAN FRANCISCO – A woman who has spent a lifetime fighting for environmental justice in a historic African-American community in Mississippi will be among those receiving national awards from the Sierra Club this year. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in San Francisco on Friday, Nov. 21.
Rose Johnson of Gulfport, Miss., is receiving a new award called the Robert Bullard Environmental Justice Award, which is named after Dr. Robert Bullard, who is often referred to as the “Father of Environmental Justice.” Johnson has spent years trying to preserve and protect Turkey Creek, a 13-mile stream where she was baptized as a child. She is prominently featured in the award-winning film “Come Hell or High Water: The Battle For Turkey Creek,” which was released this year.

The MSNBC show All In with Chris Hayes came to Mississippi to report on the settlement between the Sierra Club and Mississippi Power.