Almost a year after they were nominated and more than six months after they were unanimously approved by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, President Obama’s four nominees to the TVA board of directors finally received Senate confirmation last week. The delay was unconscionable.
There was no question about the ability of the nominees. Barbara Haskew of Chattanooga, Neil G. McBride of Oak Ridge, Marilyn A. Brown of Atlanta and William B. Sansom are highly qualified to serve on the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest government utility. That obviously meant little to several petty practitioners of partisan politics in the Senate.
Those senators – Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Richard Shelby of Alabama and Mitch McConnell among them – held up the confirmation vote by placing “holds” on the nominations. The arcane practice is legal, but it is unnecessarily disruptive of the political process and the smooth and intelligent operation of government agencies and services. That is especially the case with TVA now.
The agency is entering a critical period in its history. The agency must move from its traditional – generally dirty – methods of producing energy to one that emphasizes low-cost, reliable and clean production. That calls for long-range planning that has been impossible for the current understaffed board to start. A full compliment of nine members is needed to take up such important work. Until lasts weeks confirmation, the Senate’s outrageous delay made that impossible.
The addition of four new fur members to the board should expedite that important work. Each of the nominees brings a welcome expertise to the task. For example, Dr. Haskins, the first Chattanooga in recent memory to serve on the board, is former dean of the College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University and is currently Distinguished Professor of Economics there. Moreover, she’s familiar with the intricacies of TVA operations. She managed the authority’s rate staff for eight years.