As we round out an especially celebratory Earth Day Week, work at Public Citizen Texas is as fast-paced as ever. Though, today, our staff is pausing to celebrate a huge victory for all Austinites: yesterday, city council approved the Austin Energy Generation Plan.
Our staff worked their tails off to ensure that not only is the plan green and affordable but also that the process involved the public as much as possible.
We’re excited about the plan for its overarching goals:
1) Increase energy efficiency to 800 megawatts across the decade
2) Increase AE supply of renewable energy to 35% by 2020
3) Increase our solar production to 200 megawatts by 2020
4) Decrease our carbon emissions to 20% below 2005 levels by 2020
We’d particularly like to thank Matt Johnson and the Clean Energy for Austin coalition for all their hard work.
Now, the week in review… Continue Reading »
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged Austin State Representative Elliott Naishtat, Public Citizen, public citizen texas, Texas |
YeeeeeeeeeeeeeeHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Today is a great day. Not only is this the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, but Austin City Council just gave every Texan a reason to celebrate: Mayor Lee Leffingwell and City Council passed the Austin Energy Generation Plan!
After two years of hard work, enormous inclusive cooperation and citizen participation, the council unanimously approved the proposed Austin Energy Resource, Generation, and Climate Protection Plan.
City hall attendants saw rigorous public approval–and some misguided contention–of the plan’s affordability and the process’ public participation during the public discussion. Council broke for citizen communications and an executive session before returning to approve the proposal.
Mayor Leffingwell spoke strongly in favor of the bill for both its environmental and economic responsibility, saying that global climate change will be the defining challenge of our era. Although it is a global problem, he said, Austin has a responsibility to do its part because “the sum of local policy is global policy.”
I caught up with Public Citizen’s David Power, Ryan Rittenhouse and Matt Johnson outside along with Sierra Club’s Cyrus Reed celebrating the fruition of their tireless efforts.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7kd71dD1pw]
Matt would like to thank all the members and supporters of the Clean Energy for Austin coalition for their hard work and dedication.
Congratulations! Go and celebrate Earth Day with jubilation!
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged austin city council, Austin Energy, Austin Energy Generation Plan, clean energy for austin, Cyrus Ree, david power, earth day, energy affordability, Energy Efficiency, matt johnson, Public Citizen, public citizen texas, Ryan Rittenhous, Texas |
April 19, 2010 by Citizen Carol
The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has agreed to do what the state’s environmental agency should be doing by assuring that Tenaska’s commitment to sequester CO2 emissions can be enforced if this plant is built. While this deal may reduce some concerns about CO2, it doesn’t mean that this still isn’t a dirty old coal plant, and we will continue to work with the local opponents- the Multi- County Coalition-to oppose the permitting of the plant.
The devil is in the details and the metaphor is especially appropriate given the hellish consequences. Substantial questions still remain unanswered due to the confidential nature of the agreement. Is this deal dependent on cap and trade being passed? Does the deal really require that the coal plant will operate only if the carbon capture facility is also built and operated at least 85% of the time? Does the deal contemplate some other agreement for carbon capture without some federal cap and trade requirement for CO2? What happens if the off-takers don’t sequester the CO2? Can EDF take action against them if Tenaska is no longer a partner? What happens if the tertiary oilfields become saturated? What are the penalties? Do they have to shut down?
It is still unknown whether carbon capture and sequestration from coal is a viable part of the solution to climate change. Capturing and storing CO2 from one plant in Texas is one thing – capturing and storing the CO2 emissions from all the existing and proposed coal plants in the country is quite another.
The net output of this plant will significantly reduced by the energy consumed by carbon capture and dry cooling, making some the emissions per MWh of output far higher than other similar pulverized coal plants. Another big question is why is Texas getting stuck with a pulverized coal plant by Tenaska when they are building an IGCC plant in Illinois which far cleaner?
This is not the first deal of its kind in Texas. Public Citizen and the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development Coalition (SEED) reached an agreement with Nu Coastal Corp. to offset 100% of its CO2 from its Calhoun County plant. That plant has been sold to a new company which leads us to question if EDF can take action against the new permit holders if Tenaska is no longer a partner?
This deal doesn’t solve the questions about water availability, waste disposal and the damages done by coal mining.
In summary this still is a dirty old coal plant and we’ll oppose it.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged climate change, Coal, Global Warming, public citizen texas, Texas |
[vimeo 10526826]
On March 16, 2010 Sierra Club, Public Citizen, Downwinders At Risk, Texas Campaign for the Environment and other concerned environmental organizations and individuals held a public meeting to submit comments to the EPA regarding their newly proposed ozone standard. State representatives and staff from Region 6 of the EPA were there to hear comments. These are the video comments that were recorded by those who did not get an opportunity to speak in front of the panel. These video comments were submitted to the EPA.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged attainment, dallas, downwinders at risk, EPA, o3, ozone, ozone standard, pollution, Public Citizen, region 6, Sierra Club, smog, standard, Texas |
Wanna do something green to start off Earth Week? You can do this from your desk. Quick and easy:
- Sign up as a supporter for Clean Energy for Austin.
- Tell a friend or co-worker to sign on too!*
Austin City Council will vote on this forward-thinking energy plan this week! Clean Energy for Austin is a coalition that exists to support council passing this plan. Learn more at www.cleanenergyforaustin.org.
Public Citizen, Sierra Club, Environment Texas, Environmental Defense Fund, SEED Coalition and others endorse this plan but we need your help! Spread the word, and look forward to more easy actions as the week unfolds.
*You’d totes get a ton of karma points if you got 5 people to sign on. You’ll also get a high-five from me, which you can claim on Thursday at City Hall.
Posted in Coal, Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, green jobs, Renewables, solar | Tagged Austin, Austin Energy, clean energy for austin, Energy Efficiency, environment texas, environmental defense fund, renewable energy, resource and climate protection plan, SEED Coalition, Sierra Club, Texas |
Texas is growing. In fact, we’re one of the fastest growing areas of the country. Growing communities and growing business usually means building more power plants, which would add to our already significant air quality problems not to mention all of the greenhouse gases we would spew.
But, rather than building Megawatts, we should be looking at Negawatts, or “creating” energy by simply using less of it, or at least so says a new study from Duke University’s Nichols Institute and Georgia Institute of Technology.
This would save us from not only pollution and global warming, but also from the cost of building new power plants. Efficiency gives a double payback, because not only are you not paying for more oil, gas, and coal, you save money on your electric bills because you use less electricity. And no, efficiency doesn’t mean turning off your air conditioner more in the summer so you sweat more– it means properly insulating your home to keep the cool in and the hot out, or vice versa in the winter, and it means using a better a/c unit that gives you more chills for less bills.
How much money? Well, investments in efficiency would save $13.7 billion in 2020 and $21.5 billion in 2030. These savings are equivalent to the amount of energy used by almost a million Texas households, or an average savings of $330 per household a year. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, we also get Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: 96,300 jobs by 2020, and 132,100 new jobs from efficiency in 2030.
And how do we get these magical green jobs and billions in savings? Why, through efficiency mandates, similar to the ones proposed in federal green energy bills like Waxman-Markey. Unfortunately, those goals were too weak to really produce the type of change we need, so it’s up to the Senate to do better. Early word of a draft bill by Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman doesn’t look promising, and could even be WORSE than the anemic efficiency investments and mandates in Waxman-Markey.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Efficiency | Tagged ACES, climate change, Efficiency, green jobs, Kerry Graham Lieberman, senate climate bill, Texas, Waxman-Markey bill |
Hey folks! Just letting you know that I’m going to be taking a little summer-time breather from Public Citizen. All this advocacy awesomeness is my passion and has been invigorating, but I need to unplug for a little while. Expect to see me again sometime this July!
If you’re going to miss me, miss me — come out to Old Settler’s and say hi!
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged citizen sarah, old settler's, Texas |
If you love and appreciate one or more of the following items, I’ve got a great idea for how to spend your weekend:
- Bluegrass
- Americana
- Camping
- Barbeque
- the Texas Hill Country
- Public Citizen
One out of six? Four, five, six? Excellent! Join us this weekend, April 15-18, at the Old Settler’s Music Festival,
a nationally known music festival featuring the best in roots and Americana music. The festival is held in the gorgeous Texas hill country, at the height of the Bluebonnet and wildflower season. Old Settler’s Music Festival offers great music and activities for the whole family.
The Festival is held at Salt Lick Pavilion and Camp Ben McCulloch, just minutes from Austin, located 11 miles south of Highway 290 West on Farm Road 1826.
We had so much fun last year, we had to make a video about it. Check it out and join us! We’ll have a booth and banners all over the place. Come on over and check us out. Say hello to the team, grab a couple stickers, and learn more about Public Citizen Texas and the work we do!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWD_ABh0glo&feature=player_embedded]
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged americana, Austin, barbeque, bluegrass, camp ben mcculloch, camping, hill country, old settler's music festival, public citizen texas, salt lick, Texas |
Say hello to Carol Geiger. Carol is a Public Citizen stalwart and our Office Manager and EarthShare representative. She’s seen our Austin office grow from three to eight people and move into our current location right across from the Capitol building. Carol is a self-proclaimed “non-profit junkie” and all around do-gooder.
If she had a superpower, Carol would want to show people the truth. This time its free; the next reading will cost you…in carbon taxes.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJtGn6Tmx_w]
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged Activism, carol geiger, get to know an activist, interconnected, non-profit junkie, public citizen texas, Texas |
Here are the weekly highlights from the Texas Progressive Alliance.
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants to know why Republicans like Victoria’s DA Steve Tyler, Nueces County’s DA Anna Jimenez and (who could forget) Alberto Gonzales abuse their offices?
The Texas Cloverleaf thinks Rick Perry is eyeing 2012 before 2010 is even over with.
WhosPlayin is watching the situation in Flower Mound, where a group of citizens successfully petitioned to have an oil and gas drilling moratorium put on the ballot, only to get some mostly frivolous ethics charges filed against them by a former Town Councilman.
Continuing his examination of partisan voting trends, Off the Kuff looks at how voting changed in judicial races between 2002 and 2006.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson has an update as the runoff, to see who will challenge Rep. Diana Maldonado, approaches HD-52 GOP Runoff – issues take a back seat.
Bay Area Houston compares Sarah Palin’s intelligence on safe sex and nuclear disarmament.
They’re everywhere! They’re everywhere! Emissions, which are really toxins, are throughout the entire Barnett Shale area. Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.
McBlogger loves it when Bill Hammond of the Texas Association of Business let’s Teh Stupid flow freely.
FOX News’ 24-hour “War of the Worlds”-styled fearmongering caught the attention of PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.
This week on Left of College Station, Teddy reports on the how the campaign in the Republican primary for Texas Congressional District 17 has turned negative. Also, Teddy takes a first look at the College Station City Council Place 2 candidates and at the Bryan City Council Single Member District 3 candidates. Left of College Station also covers the week in headlines.
Libby Shaw asks a simple question over at TexasKaos – So, How will Rick Perry deliver access to affordable health care to Texas? . She points out that “According to new federal regulations, Rick Perry and the health insurance companies in Texas have 90 days to deliver a plan that will cover uninsured Texans.
Neil at Texas Liberal posted on the history of disco music. Disco Inferno! Learn The Interesting History Of Disco Music Despite the bad historical reviews disco receives, a new book says that the music was an important social indicator in a time of societal gains for women and gays.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged alberto gonzales, Barnett shale, bill hammond, emissions, Ethics, eye on williamson, flower mound, health insurance, left of college station, mcblogger, nuclear disarmament, nueces county, off the kuff, oil and gas moratorium, Rick Perry, safe sex, sarah palin, south texas chisme, Texas, texas cloverleaf, texas liberal, texaskaos, toxins |
This week’s string of fossil fuel disasters–a Chinese coal carrier striking the Great Barrier Reef and dumping tons of oil into the Pacific Ocean, an oil pipeline spilling into the Louisiana Delta National Wildlife Refuge at the same time an Exxon Mobil barge was dredging off coast for oil exploration, and the tragic coal mine explosion in Montcoal, West Virginia–has left all of us saddened and wondering if the finger-wagging backlash will help spur the changes we work towards every day.
These events affirm the facts that environmental and human destruction are part of the costs of fossil fuel energy. If you cannot accept the resulting ecosystem destruction and loss of life, then you cannot accept fossil fuels as the dominant source of your energy.
I know: its frustrating, and changing our energy portfolio feels like its beyond our control. But, we can all make little changes in our own lives. And we won’t realize until years down the road how much those little energy conservation choices matter.
So, channel that sadness into resolve. Be the change you want to see.
At Public Citizen Texas, we hope that this little blog is a light. A light that shows you the good of the people of Texas. The strength of people working together to change energy policy and consumption habits.
We want to lead by example and empower you to do the same.
The week in review… Continue Reading »
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged advanced metering infrastructure task force, Andrew Sauls, david power, get to know an activist, patrick reck, Public Citizen, ryan rittenhouse, smart meter texas portal, smitty love, Texas, Tom "Smitty" Smith, trevor lovell |
A guest column by Ted Nace of CoalSwarm:
Every day in the United States, on average, 65 people die due to particulates from coal plants. On average, each of these deaths represents 14 years of lost life.
These 65 deaths happen day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. They come in the form of heart attacks, asthma attacks, and respiratory problems.
The problem is that banal phrase: “on average.” There is never a dramatic explosion to point to, no television crew interviewing families. Just a grinding toll of anoymous suffering — 65 human beings, 65 families.
Anger begs for a villain. Our sense of justice needs an arrogant, crude, villain in a mustache. Yet the executives who operate the 600 coal plants that do the killing are smooth, personable, well spoken.
The old coal plants that do the killing could all be shut down using well-demonstrated efficiency programs and commercially available renewable alternatives. Continue Reading »
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged accident, Coal, coal miner, cost, death, disaster, Don Blankenship, Global Warming, mine, Mining, other coal deaths, ted nace, Texas, west virginia |
Statement of Tom “Smitty” Smith, Director, Public Citizen’s Texas Office
Today Texans proved that there is a very high demand for energy-efficient products and services when they made reservations for $23 million worth of appliance rebates in just eight hours, using up rebates in the first day they became available. This goes to show how eager Texans are to trade in their tired, energy-sucking clunkers for newer, more efficient models. Not only will this trade-in program reduce consumers’ energy bills, it also will reduce smog and global warming pollution.
Given this incredible demand, we urge the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to establish another appliance rebate program like this as part of the expanded energy efficiency program the agency is currently considering. We’re sure that the numerous Texans who were unable to make a reservation are disappointed and would jump at a second chance at additional funds. In order to make the money go further, the size of the rebates probably should be reduced to assure that more people can participate.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Efficiency, Energy | Tagged appliance rebate program, efficient appliances, Energy Efficiency, Public Citizen, public utility commiss, PUC, rebates, Texas, Tom "Smitty" Smith |
The words sound similar, but are they? Here are the definitions from Webster:
Climatology: the science that deals with climates and their phenomena
Meteorology: a science that deals with the atmosphere and its phenomena and especially with weather and weather forecasting
So even their definitions seem similar, at least on the surface. But as Stephen Colbert points out in this great segment, though Astronomy and Astrology might seem similar as well, they are quite different. Likewise with climatology and meteorology there are important differences that must be clearly understood if man-made global warming is going to be addressed.
Both are defined as “science” and both have schools and degrees associated with them. In truth, however, most of the people we call meteorologists are not scientists. They are news anchors with no advanced degrees of any kind, merely an undergraduate degree in journalism. Take John Coleman for example – the founder of the Weather Channel and much-touted global warming denier. He has no advanced degree of any kind. He is a journalist. Yet, for some reason, his opinion is considered by the general public, and particularly certain information outlets such as Fox News, to be on par with climatologists who have multiple doctorate degrees.
Most meteorologists the general public knows about are simply newscasters, not scientists. They don’t have any greater understanding of climatology than say, me for example. And trying to equate meteorology to climatology is as inappropriate as attempting to equate weather to climate (as many global warming deniers tried to do this past winter with their Snowpocalypse propaganda). Though weather can be affected by climate they are certainly not the same, and certainly need to have any relating trends proven over a multi-year period. If we want information and science, lets stick with the actual scientists and not a bunch of yahoo pundits looking to glorify their position.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged anthropogenic, climate change, climatologist, climatology, colbert, debate, denial, denier, Global Warming, man made, meteorologist, meteorology, Texas |
UPDATE on the UPDATE: All gone! According to the Austin American Statesman, all appliance rebate money has been reserved. Hope you made it in!
UPDATE: Apparently the program got such a high volume of interest, they were having some problems with their website today! Go figure. Here’s an update, looks like there is still plenty of money in rebates left:
While we are still experiencing a heavy response and high traffic, the online rebate reservation system at Texas Powerful Smart has been restored to limited traffic as of 12:25 p.m. CT.
The latest numbers show over $15 million in rebates are still available. So, don’t give up.
The Texas Trade Up Appliance Rebate Program officially began today! Rebate reservations will continue to be accepted online at www.texaspowerfulsmart.org or via toll-free call to 1-877-780-3039.
Word from the Comptroller’s office is that they are getting swamped with requests for rebates. They sent out an email just now with the following:
We’re experiencing unprecedented response to the Texas Powerful Smart Web site and phones for the rebate reservations! Please keep trying!
You can also follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates. Use the hashtag: #txrebate
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Efficiency, Energy | Tagged comptroller's office, Energy Efficiency, rebate reservations, Texas, texas powerful smart, texas trade up appliance rebate program, Twitter |
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