Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for March 4th, 2009

Public Citizen Texas… Tweeting the Day Away

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 4, 2009 |

We caved.   Public Citizen Texas is on Twitter.  Follow us here!

twitter-logo

Don’t worry though, we at PublicCitizenTX will be careful to use our Twitter powers for good, not evil.  We’ll use tweets to keep you updated on new blog posts, legislative action alerts, and the occassional inside scoop from a city council meeting or committee hearing.

Speaking of which, be sure to check in tomorrow morning for updates from the much awaited Austin City Council meeting.  You’ll be the first to know if Austin Energy gets the green light on the proposed Webberville Solar Plant.

No tweets on what we’re having for lunch, we promise.  Old Man Stewart won’t be shaking his fist at us, I can guarantee you.

While you’re at it, be sure to follow our friends at Alliance for a Clean Texas, Texas League of Conservation Voters, and of course the big boys at Public Citizen in Washington, DC.  Its okay, we know you like adding followers just like kids in the ’50s collecting baseball cards.  No shame.

Read Full Post »

Public Citizen’s Energy Efficiency Op-Ed in Houston Chronicle

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 4, 2009 |

lightbulbThe Houston Chronicle ran an Op-Ed Sunday entitled An energy winner: Big savings are possible by upgrading efficiency goals. Authors: Public Citizen’s Tom “Smitty” Smith and Matthew Johnson.  Check it out:

In the world of energy, there’s one clear winner when it comes to cost, cleanliness and speed: energy efficiency.

Although regulated utilities in Texas, with few exceptions, met or surpassed all energy efficiency goals set by the Legislature in 2007, this is not the time for Texans to get complacent.

Rather, it’s time to increase our energy efficiency goals and give utilities more tools to achieve new, more aggressive targets. In this time of economic uncertainty and out-of-control utility bills, homes and businesses across Texas deserve more action.

Last year, the Public Utility Commission of Texas completed a study of the state’s energy efficiency potential. Conducted by the independent firm Itron, it concluded that there’s room for Texas to reduce its energy use by 18 percent. We could save even more during times of peak demand. The study also reported that if the Texas Legislature sets higher goals for energy savings, consumers could save $4 billion to $12 billion on utility bills over the next 10 years. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Answer the Door! It’s Federal Stimulus Funds Knocking!

Posted in Efficiency, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 4, 2009 |

pubclearYowza!  Looks like the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) won the stimulus dollars scratch off, big time.  SECO, which usually has a budget of around $2 million, will get an additional $233.8 million of federal money due to the stimulus bill.  That’s quite a sum that will be available to the state for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, green jobs training programs, and building retrofits.

The Select Committee on Federal Economic Stabilization held a hearing last week to make sure that SECO could handle this influx of funds and spend it wisely.

SECO’s response, in a nutshell, was “No Sweat.”  Which I certainly hope is true.  This is an incredible amount of money, and should be used as efficiently (yuk yuk yuk) as possible.

Floor Pass reports,

The agencies didn’t ask for help making policy changes to draw the dollars down from Washington, and they generally reported they had programs already in place to administer the money.

Robert Wood, the director of local government assistance and economic development, said the State Energy Conservation Office would have no problem spending the $233 million expected to flow through the State Energy Program. While there were some strings attached, the strings would not require SECO to make any changes not already planned pre-stimulus. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Global Warming Causes More Than Heat

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 4, 2009 |

The incredible snowstorm that swept across the east coast yesterday was a bit of a surprise to the thousands of people that flocked to Washington, DC for Powershift 2009. While it did not stop the enviro-activists from protesting dirty energy sources such as coal, some blog noise today indicates that the snowstorm may have blurred the whole message of Powershift.  Several (shortsighted) bloggers wrote that the snow debunks the whole threat of global warming.  This only demonstrates that some people still don’t truly understand the effects of global warming.
hurricane2
“Global Warming” has become a jazz word over the past decade, but it can misconstrue the environmental effects of the general “warming” of our atmosphere. If you’re reading this blog, you are probably familiar with the fact that an increase of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere (hacking cough, coal plants, cough)  has caused an increase in the average temperature of the air and ocean.  But don’t be fooled into thinking that this means that every day will get just a little bit hotter.  The rise in temperature has drastic effects in the meteorological dynamics of the earth, and causes more storms and other abnormal weather events.

We don’t need science to tell us that this is occurring—we all remember the THREE major hurricanes that hit the Texas Coast in 2008 — and don’t need a radar to show that Texas (along with so many other parts of the world) is getter hotter and suffering from drought. So just remember, global warming is not just about heat, it’s about tornados and hurricanes and droughts…oh my!

Read Full Post »