Disappointed

I was disappointed in the Blueprint Mississippi luncheon I attended in Pascagoula. Little emphasis was placed on protecting our environment and cutting pollution. In fact having "shovel ready" sites was touted as an advantage. Dr. Hank Bounds was unable to attend due to a conflict in his schedule, but the emphasis seemed to be on having more high school graduates (which is good) but I didn't see much encouragement for having more university graduates. The idea Blueprint Mississippi seemed to be advancing was to attract industries by allowing them to build no matter how much damage their company would do to our environment, while providing cheap labor.

Tourism was touted as a major employer in our community. But no acknowledgment was made of the harm heavy industries that damage our environment would do to the tourist industry.

I would like to see more emphasis placed on having more university graduates and bringing higher paying jobs to Mississippi. I would like to see CLEAN Industries encouraged and more stringent regulations on industries so our environment isn't harmed.