April 2, 2010 - TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas

Archive for April 2nd, 2010

Week in Review

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Activism, Andrew Sauls, carol geiger, david power, get to know an activist, health reform bill, las brisas energy center, Melissa Sanchez, mona avalos, patrick reck, Public Citizen, reengerize texas, ryan rittenhouse, sarah mcdonald, Tar Sands, Texas, trevor lovell, week in review, white stallion on April 2, 2010 |

The staff at Public Citizen Texas would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter and a pleasant weekend with family and friends.

Thanks for taking time during the holiday to read about our energy advocacy progress.

The week in review… (more…)

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Offshore Drilling: Obama’s Black Whale

Posted in Global Warming, tagged fossil fools, fossil fuel fools, obama, obama's black whale, offshore drilling, Texas on April 2, 2010 |

Editor’s note: Normally we don’t stray into the political implications of public policy, but after Patrick wrote this response to President Obama’s new drilling policy we felt it was too interesting to keep to ourselves. So here’s a try at something new: Commentary and Opinion from Patrick Reck.

Wednesday’s announcement by President Obama to expand offshore oil drilling and gas exploration is devastating, especially for a Yankee like myself. I grew up cherishing my yearly family vacations to Ocean City, Maryland and Virginia Beach. Pristine memories of balcony breakfasts at sunrise, pirate mini-golf, and running with kites flying so high that you wonder if the sky is as endless as the sea.

Now, I get waves of nausea thinking that in 10 or 15 years, children will walk down those same beaches and gaze out, not at the brilliance of the colors in the sky and the mystery of where the horizon meets the sun, but at a row of tiny metal cranes, stooping down low to suck black blood out of the Atlantic.

Hopefully the ocean will still evoke profound wonder in developing minds, but will it be the fascination of Copernicus or the madness of Ahab?

“The white whale tasks me; he heaps me. Yet he is but a mask. ‘Tis the thing behind the mask I chiefly hate; the malignant thing that has plagued mankind since time began; the thing that maws and mutilates our race, not killing us outright but letting us live on, with half a heart and half a lung.” (more…)

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They Came From Climate Change

Posted in Global Warming, tagged climate change, Texas on April 2, 2010 |

A report by the National Wildlife Federation warns climate change would spur fire ant invasion as well as allow tiger mosquitoes and other harmful or invasive species to spread farther across the U.S. There is even the potential for us to see ticks that spread Lyme disease expanding their range, cheatgrass fueling more wildfires and poison ivy causing more rashes in the not too distant future.

Check out the video “They Came From Climate Change”:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odof7-s65XQ&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.

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Prevent Texas from Becoming the Nation’s Radioactive Waste Dump

Posted in Nuclear, tagged andrews county, Austin, compact commission, Nuclear, public citizen texas, state district court, TCEQ, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, texas low level radioactive waste dump, waste control specialists on April 2, 2010 |

This month, the Texas Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission will hear feedback on a proposed rule allowing the importation of so-called low-level radioactive waste into Texas from across the nation. Under the proposed rules Waste Control Specialists (WCS) would be allowed to import additional radioactive waste from other areas of the country and potentially the world into Andrews County, Texas.

Click here to take action! Tell the Compact Commission you do not want Texas to become the nation’s radioactive waste dumping ground!

An environmental analysis performed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) found potential problems with the site, including possible pathways to underground aquifers. Three TCEQ staff members have resigned or taken early retirement as a result of the decision to grant the license. While TCEQ did approve the license, the Sierra Club has appealed that decision to the State District Court.

Take Action Now!

Even though the license granted by the TCEQ has been appealed, and the site has yet to be constructed, the eight-member Compact Commission is rushing ahead with this proposed rule at the behest of WCS and nuclear power plants, who are both desperate to find a place to send their waste. The Compact Commission does not even have a staff to review proposed importation agreements. A coalition of groups is opposing the rush to approve this rule. The groups are urging the Commission to deny the ability to import any waste other than Texas-Vermont compact waste or to put much stricter rules in place on how waste might be imported on a case-by-case basis. The present license only has enough capacity for waste from Texas and the other compact state Vermont.

Join us now to send a message to the Compact Commission!

In addition to e-mailed comments, the public may also make comments at two public hearings in Austin, TX on April 5 and Andrews, TX on April 6.

Austin Hearing – April 5, 2010, 1:00 PM at the Texas State Capitol Extension Auditorium, E1.004

Andrews Hearing – April 6, 2010, 6:00 PM at Andrews High School Little Theater, 1401 NW Avenue K.

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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.

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