Miss President wants to talk to you

She took out another document and placed it in front of Eleanor.

The Tennessee Valley Integrated Development Project.

Eleanor picked up the document, opened it, and found that it was full of blank pages.

"The Tennessee Valley is a problem that has plagued the Federation for decades. There has been talk of developing it, but there has been no progress."

"If you do the math, it's been stagnant for over a decade."

Louise said, "Now I'm handing it over to you. I don't expect you to solve it completely, but you should at least produce a sufficiently impressive preliminary result."

"So that I can use it to convince others."

Indeed, Louise was not prepared to immediately hand over the Public Works Department directly to Eleanor.

She first wanted Eleanor to prove that she was capable of shouldering such a huge responsibility.

The Tennessee Valley is the perfect test.

The problem here is complex enough.

However, the scale is not yet so large that it becomes uncontrollable.

If only Eleanor could move the Tennessee Valley from controversy to development.

Louise had every reason to entrust the entire public service to him.

Even then, others can still criticize him for being too young.

However, it is difficult to say that he lacks the ability to lead large-scale projects.

Eleanor stared at the blank document, lost in thought.

Louise did not urge them, but waited patiently.

Although it has been said that this opportunity is compensation for Eleanor having her job taken away.

But Louise herself knew in her heart that this was not the case.

It is Elinor's long-standing outstanding performance that has allowed her to overcome one enemy after another under tremendous pressure and prove her ability.

Louise finally made up her mind to hand over the Tennessee Valley to him.

Perhaps, only he can resolve the complex power dynamics within the valley.

After a long while, Eleanor finally raised his head.

“Ms. Louise, I am willing to take on this task.”

He said, "I assure you, I will do everything in my power to complete this task!"

Louise asked, "How long will it take?"

Eleanor gave the most straightforward, clear, and unambiguous answer.

"do not know."

He said, "I am completely blind to the specifics of the Tennessee Valley right now."

"Without investigation, there is no right to speak."

"I can't give you a specific time right now; I can only go and investigate first."

This answer seems to say nothing at all.

Louise nodded in satisfaction.

That's exactly the attitude she wants.

Be realistic and responsible.

Unlike Zola.

Before anything even started, they dared to slam their fists on the table and declare that all problems would be solved within a year.

"In that case, I will send you all the information on the Tennessee Valley."

"Eleanor, keep it up!"

……

That evening, the first batch of files was delivered.

The Tennessee River.

It originates in the Appalachian Mountains in the east, flows southwest through several southern states, then turns north, eventually joining the Ohio River.

Numerous tributaries flow into it from both sides.

The vast area covered by these rivers is the Tennessee Valley.

It covers an area of ​​100,000 square kilometers and is home to more than two million people.

The Tennessee Valley has many problems.

The first and foremost problem is poverty.

Resource-poor, the river valley region used to have three major resources: forests, oil, and natural gas.

However, these resources have been completely depleted by factories from the north over the past century.

Then there is poverty.

The per capita income here is less than half of the federal average.

In the highlands, more than half of the families live on relief, and in one county, 87% of the families are on the relief roster.

The only thing worth praising is the abundance of natural energy in the area.

Every rainy season, floods occur at specific locations; every summer, wildfires break out on schedule.

The people who live here and have survived to this day have all developed invincible abilities against water and fire.

Eleanor knew very well that truly saving these people would be impossible without a massive project that would take ten or twenty years.

not to mention

Eleanor turned his attention to the biggest problem facing the Tennessee Valley today.

Masr Shoal

This is a shallow stretch of land nearly 100 kilometers long that the Tennessee River passes through as it flows through northern Alabama.

The riverbed is covered with rocks, and the water flows fast and is shallow.

In the past, cargo ships that arrived here often found themselves unable to proceed.

This directly blocked the Tennessee River's shipping capacity.

The federal government has tried many solutions to this problem, such as building canals and locks.

But the results were not good.

Things only changed when the World War broke out.

At the time, the federal government needed large quantities of nitrates to manufacture explosives.

In order to reduce dependence on foreign imports, the War Department decided to build two nitrate plants on the Masr Shoals.

The factory needs a lot of electricity.

So the federal government built the Wilson Dam on the Tennessee River.

After the dam was built, the stored river water submerged the original shallows.

The obstacle that had plagued Tennessee River shipping for nearly a century has now disappeared.

But before the Federation could truly make use of these facilities, the world war ended.

The military no longer needs such a large nitrate production capacity.

As a result, the federal government suddenly acquired a large dam, two factories, and a large tract of associated land.

Over 100 million yuan has already been invested in these facilities.

We'll continue operating, but we don't know what to do with the money.

Even if they wanted to sell it, no one was willing to buy it.

Ford Motor Company had previously made an offer, but was only willing to pay five million.

The federal government isn't really stupid; how could they possibly be willing to sell something they've invested hundreds of millions of dollars in at this price?

And so, things stalled there.

The stalemate has continued since the end of the last major war.

Fifteen years have passed, and there is still no result.

In fact, a dam has already been built. Logically, by generating electricity through hydropower, one should be able to make some money by selling the electricity.

But that's where the problem lies.

The federal government owns dams, but it does not have its own power transmission network.

To deliver electricity to cities and rural areas, it still needs to go through local private power companies.

These companies own the power lines, buy the electricity from the dams cheaply, and then sell it at a higher price.

The federal government has no way to address this.

If they want to bypass private companies, they can build their own power lines and sell electricity directly to residents.

This would immediately trigger strong protests from the power company.

They say the federal government is using taxpayers' money to compete with private companies for profits.

Upon seeing this, Eleanor suddenly relaxed.

After all that, it all comes down to people.

Fighting with others only leads back to your comfort zone, doesn't it?

Eleanor, familiar with the process, began investigating the actual holding groups behind those power companies.