LSN

The Louisiana Public Service Commission will hold an upcoming meeting in Crowley.

Commissioner Clyde Holloway of Forest Hill said during a talk in Rayne on Thursday that the panel will hold its July 20 session at the Rice Theater.

Holloway’s Fourth District’s 17 parishes include Acadia and St. Landry.

Touching on a variety of topics, he said he doesn’t think Cap & Trade legislation, which would place a legal limit on greenhouse gases but allow companies to “trade” among themselves the permission or permits to emit greenhouse gases, will pass Congress..

He said Louisiana’s oil and chemical industry would be “hardest hit” by the regulations. He further cautioned that Cap & Trade would put the United States at a disadvantage globally. “You can’t have it without agreements with China and other nations,” he said.

While he acknowledged there is growing interest in nuclear power and biofuels, Holloway also cited the abundance of natural gas reserves which could be “a great future for the country.”

When Rayne Mayor Jim Petitjean questioned Holloway about Louisiana’s electrical transmission grid hampering efforts to obtain lower cost energy, the PSC Commissioner acknowledged that Louisiana is ranked among the fifth lowest-states in the country in that category.

Holloway’s appearance at The Crossing at Mervine Kahn was co-sponsored by Eric Thomas, owner of The Crossing at Mervin Kahn & Crawfish Hut, with special thanks to MB Industries.