Jack Comes Through for Delaware Again (Updated).
One more time that our Governor, Jack Markell, has come through for the people of Delaware. Governor Markell and his administration facilitated an agreement to reopen the Valero Delaware City refinery under new ownership, bring 600 new jobs to Delaware and cutting pollution significantly at the same time. The news is so good that even David Anderson is calling it a “significant victory” for the Governor.
Five months after the Valero Corporation announced it was permanently shutting down the Delaware City Refinery, PBF Energy Partners, LP has entered into an agreement with Valero to acquire the refinery and restart refining operations as early as spring 2011. Since the closure announcement, Delaware Governor Jack Markell has sought a buyer/operator for the plant and eventually helped facilitate the negotiations between PBF and Valero. At the same time, Governor Markell and his team negotiated with PBF to bring 600 full-time jobs to Delaware, in exchange for certain economic development incentives, should PBF acquire and operate the refinery.
“We want to get people back to work in a way that is responsible, sustainable and protects public health. While there are still specifics to be resolved, today’s announcement is a very significant step forward.” Markell said. “Over the past several months, we have worked hard to save the many hundreds of good-paying jobs at this facility and the related economic contributions to our state’s economy. We are hopeful our efforts will be successful.”
Valero offered the state some early help by agreeing to the Governor’s request for the company to stop dismantling efforts on-site and keep much of the refinery intact so the state could make a more compelling case to potential buyers. The state agreed to work with PBF after PBF pledged to operate the refinery and make substantial investments in the refinery’s infrastructure. Those investments should allow the company to meet its agreement with the state, which requires that it will keep annual emissions of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) more than 300 tons below 2007 levels and reduce those emissions further by 300 tons starting at the end of 2013 and an additional 575 total tons beginning at the end of 2014. These reductions represent more than an 1100 ton reduction compared to 2007 levels or more than 40%.
Good job Governor Markell! Also, good for Chris Coons for getting in on the photo op. I’ll bet Castle is sad he couldn’t show up to take credit.
I’m glad to hear that it going to be much cleaner.
btw is Valerie Longhurst a female Benjamin Button or what? Seriously, the way she is going she is not going to be old enough to run for office in a year or two.
Way to go Governor.
For some reason I dont think we will be hearing about this over at Delaware politics?
You are so cynical anon. Good news for Delawareans should be celebrated. here is a note from the blog post log. Last edited by David Anderson on April 8, 2010 at 22:03
I prepared it when I saw the flash in the Newszap. I admit that I added the video after I saw it on this site last night.
You wouldn’t know that I prepared it because it was scheduled for this morning. Stop being so cynical. We celebrate capitalism. Jack Markell received a mixed but fair review in our year in review that some thought was surprisingly favorable. He received good reviews on economic policy, not so good on energy and social policy, and very favorable reviews on education policies. Overall he actually got a passing grade.
I call it the way I see it. When he is off, I call it. When he succeeds, I tell you. As a citizen who likes to live here, I don’t want the governor to be a screw up. Markell isn’t. I am glad.
It is not about R and D. It is about a conservative approach to government.
And if it were Governor Lee, Protack, or Levin it would be a 900 word post on his brilliance. Still good news needs to be celebrated. Governor Markell has refused to lay down and take the job losses. Levin and Markell have been swimming hard against the tide and deserve credit. Even if Washington is undermining them at different turns such as with the Sallie Mae jobs due to the student loan take over. We are citizens first, partisans second.
Student loan takeover? I thought Republicans hated bank bailouts, which is what it was.
The student loan subsidy is about helping people afford a college education not banks. I already outlined the problem with this idea as well as its benefits.
The student loan subsidy was about paying banks to make loans that the US taxpayer held all of the risk for. That counts as a massive waste of money which could actually be funneled into more loans for deserving students.
We should have a rule where people who can’t follow the fundamental basics of money cannot claim to be the Party of Business.
The government provided the money for the loans and the banks acted as middlemen, taking a profit and passing on government money. The changes remove the middleman and make sure more money is going to students with better terms and conditions. Banks will still service the loans.
Better terms and conditions, sure. The experts who run the college financial aid offices doubt that. I don’t even think the ruling regime is claiming that.
One more thing. Levin has slimmed down. He is going to lose his conservative lard sack street cred if he keeps eating baby carrots.
Who’s the woman next to Denn? Is that Longhurst?