Come join us tomorrow, Saturday morning, for a satellite rally of John Stewart’s “Rally to Restore Sanity” which is happening in Washington D.C. The festivities start at 11am and go till 2pm (a march against the death penalty starts at 3). (more…)
Archive for the ‘Global Warming’ Category
Rally to Restore Sanity in Austin
Posted in Global Warming, Good Government, Renewables, tagged Austin, capitol, john stewart, Public Citizen, rally, restore, sanity, Texas on October 29, 2010 |
Pancho the Donkey, White Stallion and Water: The community responds
Posted in Air Quality, Coal, Global Warming, Toxics, tagged bay city, Coal, colorado river, Donkey, lower colorado river authority, Matagorda County Texas, Pancho the Donkey, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, TCEQ, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, waste water, water, white stallion on October 29, 2010 |
The No Coal Coalition brings their mascot, Pancho the Donkey, to the TCEQ hearing, but he is turned away. Photo by Susan Dancer
On Thursday, the TCEQ (Texas Commission of Environmental Quality) held a public meeting for the White Stallion Energy Center at the Bay City Civic Center to hear feedback on the plant’s application for a wastewater permit. (more…)
Texas last holdout on issuing greenhouse gas permits
Posted in Air Quality, Coal, Energy, Global Warming, natural gas, Renewables, TCEQ, tagged clean air act, EPA, flex permits, fort worth star telegram, George W. Bush, greenhouse gas, greenhouse gases, Major stationary source, TCEQ, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, United States Environmental Protection Agency on October 29, 2010 |
With states scrambling to align their own rules with U.S. EPA‘s new regulations, which are set to take effect on Jan. 2, 2011 and require regulators to start issuing Clean Air Act permits next year for large stationary sources of greenhouse gas emissions, Texas is now the lone holdout, according to an analysis by the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA). Click here to see a copy of the analysis. (more…)
Tar Sands Operator Fined for Tailing Pond Duck Deaths
Posted in Global Warming, Tarsands, Toxics, tagged greenpeace, Oil sands, Synacrude, tailing ponds, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on October 28, 2010 |
Not your average swimming hole
From the New York Times:
Syncrude, the largest operator of oil sands projects in Canada, was ordered to pay $2.92 million on Friday for causing the deaths of 1,603 ducks.
The company was convicted in June by an Alberta court for failing to deploy scarecrows and loud cannons in April 2008 to prevent the migratory birds from landing on a tailings pond containing oily residue from one of its operations.
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Mike Hudema, a climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace, said the fine was “no more than a slap on the wrist” considering the size of Syncrude, which produces about 110 million barrels of oil a year. He acknowledged, however, that Syncrude had now been forced to improve its bird deterrence and monitoring.
This is just one of many incidents involving wildlife mistaking tar sands oil tailing ponds as safe natural places. Many of these lakes are enormous and pose great risk to wildlife as clearly shown in this massive bird kill. The most disturbing thing about this incident is Synacrude’s neglect. Tar sands operators aren’t taking care of their basic responsibilities and doubtless they are cutting corners elsewhere in order to maximize their profit at others expense. These fines will go to environmental charities, but Mike at Greenpeace has a point; $3 million doesn’t mean anything to a multi-billion dollar company and safety lapses will continue. While conditions have improved here, where else are bad deeds taking place that haven’t been corrected? Tailing ponds are one of hundred reasons why tar sands oil is the dirtiest massive energy project on the planet and why it can’t continue.
Foreign Oil Companies Fund Climate-Skeptic Congressional Candidates
Posted in Campaign Finance, Energy, Global Warming, Good Government, green jobs, tagged bp, campaign donations, cap and trade, carbon policy, Carbon Policy Politics, energy bill, Koch Industries, midterm elections, politics, tea party, Texas on October 27, 2010 |
We were right when we said the Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case was going to have a negative impact on the political system in this country. The ruling has paved the way to make mid-term election campaigns the only growing industry in this economic crisis. The ruling has turned candidates’ focus from the policy to their pockets.
One of the issues that has fallen victim to the mid-term elections is the legislation to address climate change and regulate the energy industry. It was one of Obama’s main objectives on the campaign to cut emissions and provide incentives to renewable energy. But as election approached, Congress backed out of its commitment to this issue.
A European-based organization, Climate Action Network (CANE) released a report that shows European energy companies are paying contributions to Tea Party Candidates and other Congressional candidates who have denied climate-change is even occuring and have been outspoken against regulating the energy industry.
Remember Oklahoma’s Senator James Inhofe? He thinks Environmentalists are out there to scare people and proclaims that “Global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people,” and because of this “special” remark, he qualified to be one of the recipients of campaign funds from Europe’s biggest emitters. Inhofe is not the only one, many others in Congress have made some similar funny comments that got them some money. Montana’s Roy Blunt is another skeptic. made a blunt comment discrediting science on climate change, “There isn’t any real science to say we are altering the climate path of the earth.” this is more ridiculous than Montana’s law which makes it illegal to “have a sheep in the cab of your truck without a chaperone” but despite that, Blunts comments has put him as one of the top ten recipients from two of these companies.
Those companies, Such as BP(who is responsible for the US worst Environmental disaster), BASF (which spent $50,500 to block cap-and-trade), and others generally have two objectives: one is to stall and block climate change/energy reform legislation in the United States, second is to use that as an excuse to tell the European countries not to introduce such legislation. The companies who are funding those climate-skeptic candidates are based in countries such as Germany, France, UK, and Belgium (so much for those candidates’ being anti-socialist).
In a time when the president has gone all the way to teaming up with Mythbusters to encourage American kids about math and science, our representatives are doing their best at discrediting them. Climate Change is one issue that should cross partisan lines. I think every human being can agree that we need continue our existence on this planet and maintain it for the next generations. Al Gore says that in order for clean-energy advocates to achieve climate-friendly and renewable energy legislation, they need to get into the lobbying business just as the dirty energy lobbyist.
I disagree.
I think we need to reform the relationship between lobbyist and Congress. We shouldn’t need to write serious checks in order to get things done in this country.
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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.
CALIFORNIA PUSHES BACK AGAINST TEXAS
Posted in Campaign Finance, Energy, Global Warming, Good Government, green jobs, Renewables, solar, tagged Adrian Grenier, California, California law, climate change, David Arquette, environment, Matthew Cooke, Texas on October 27, 2010 |
Supporters of a California law designed to battle climate change are pushing back against money from Texas oil and gas interests that’s helping to fund an initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot in the Golden State that would roll back some of the law’s provisions
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/Wo1wNpza2rM?fs=1&hl=en_US”]
Starring David Arquette – Written & Directed by Matthew Cooke – Produced by Gabe Cowen – Executive Produced by Peter Glatzer and Adrian Grenier.
California is leaving Texas in the dust in solar energy projects
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, green jobs, Renewables, solar, tagged Arnold Schwarzenegger, California, concentrating solar power, Mojave Desert, Mojave fringe-toed lizard, Obama administration, solar power, Texas on October 26, 2010 |
In spite of its many problems, California is leaving Texas in the dust in solar energy production.
The Obama administration has approved the sixth solar venture authorized on federal lands within the last month for a project in the Mojave Desert near Blythe, Calif. All of the projects are on federally owned desert in the Southwest that the land management bureau opened in 2005 to solar development. Even with these six projects and a 7th expected in the next few weeks, solar energy will remain a tiny fraction of overall energy production on U.S. lands compared to the 74,000 oil and gas permits issued in the past two decades
This project will be the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant which will use a “parabolic trough” system where parabolic mirrors focus the sun’s energy onto collector tubes. The fluid in the tubes is then heated and sent to a boiler, which sends live steam to a turbine to produce electricity, producing enough electricity to more than double the U.S. solar output, power at least 300,000 homes, and generate 1,066 construction jobs and 295 permanent jobs.
Construction on the $6 billion plant is expected to start by the end of 2010, with production starting in 2013. Solar plants that begin construction before Dec. 31 qualify for a Treasury Department grant totaling 30 percent of a project’s cost, as part of last year’s economic stimulus package.
The project had run into opposition by some environmentalists due to wildlife concerns, but the project will now be required to “provide funding for more than 8,000 acres of desert tortoise, western burrowing owl, bighorn sheep and Mojave fringe-toed lizard habitat to mitigate the project’s impacts.”
The solar industry is touting the efforts made by the Obama administration and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to promote solar power, which are clearly beginning to pay off. Take a hint, Texas.
Tom DeLay’s trials and tribulations continue
Posted in Campaign Finance, Global Warming, Good Government, tagged Dick DeGuerin, election fraud, Grand jury, Jack Abramoff, jury selection, social justice, Texas, Tom Delay, Travis County Texas, United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2010 |
Jury selection begins today in former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay‘s felony conspiracy trial. In 2005, A Travis County Grand Jury indicted the former U.S. Congressman on charges he helped funnel $190,000 in illegal corporate donations into statewide elections in 2002. State law prohibits corporations from contributing to political campaigns.
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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.
You can participate in setting new fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks
Posted in Global Warming, Transportation, tagged CAFE Standards, fuel efficiency, mpg, Texas on October 23, 2010 |
The Obama Administration released a notice of intent on Friday, October 15 to opened up a public comment session on fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, specifically setting a goal of an average of 60 mpg by the year 2025.
Comments on this first proposal should be sent by October 31, 2010. There will be another opportunity to comment after the issuance of the proposed rules due by September 30, 2011. Comments can be e-mailed to a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov with the docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-0799 in the subject line.
Below is an example of a possible comment:
Dear President Obama,
We can use American ingenuity to end our dependence on oil, keeping billions of dollars in our economy, cutting pollution and protecting our coasts from devastating oil spills. The best way for you to help put America on this path is by making our cars and trucks cleaner and more efficient.
I urge you to strengthen pollution and fuel economy standards for new cars and trucks, that ensure we reduce our dependence on oil by at least 45 billion gallons per year by 2030- beyond what is expected from current vehicle standards. Thats nearly three times as much oil as we currently import from Saudi Arabia. You can do this by:–Setting new standards requiring cars and light trucks to achieve at least 60 miles per gallon and emit no more than 143 grams of global warming pollution per mile by 2025, with accurate accounting for fuels including electricity for plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles; and–Setting standards that reduce fuel consumption from long-haul tractor-trailers at least 35 percent by 2017 and require all other medium- and heavy-duty trucks to increase fuel economy to the maximum technically feasible level.
We need your leadership to set strong pollution and fuel economy standards that will unleash American technology and ingenuity to help break our countrys dependence on oil.
Sincerely,
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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.
In Texas, Few Campaign on Renewable Energy, Climate Change
Posted in Campaign Finance, Energy, Global Warming, Good Government, green jobs, Renewables, solar, tagged bill white, charlie gonzalez, mark strama, Mid-term elections, Renewa, solar, Texas, texas energy, wind power on October 20, 2010 |
A recent poll shows that voters are more inclined to vote for a candidate that voted for the Federal climate change and renewable energy legislation than for those who didn’t. This is interesting in a time in which many conservative groups are advocating that climate change is a hoax and humans don’t need to intervene to save the planet. Or, that (even worse) voters just know.. they just KNOW that policies like cap and trade are just a hidden energy tax and they won’t tolerate it at the ballot box.
This poll should be eye-opening to many of the Texas local and federal candidates (and it is worth noting that both of the competitive US House races in Texas are ones where the incumbent voted NO on the American Clean Energy and Security Act). Even more surprising, very few candidates campaign on clean energy in a state where energy makes a great deal of the revenue. And despite how much the governor boasts about Texas leading in renewable energy, Texas is falling behind to a couple of other states, notably California.
Although it seems a scarce phenomenon, a few Texas candidates have climate change and clean energy as part of their campaign. We wanted to highlight the campaigns of a couple of these candidates. *
Last month, Bill White, gubernatorial candidate, announced his energy plan and he explicitly said that clean energy (solar in particular) will be the future of Texas.
Texas can remain the energy capital of the world if we lead in new energy development. That’s why we must educate Texans for high-demand, high-paying clean energy jobs, promote job growth in construction and manufacturing, and invest in science and technology research,” said Bill White in a speech in Lubbock last month.
Mark Strama, who is running for re-election for his seat in the Texas House of Representatives, has been airing a campaign ad where he says “For the past hundred years, Texas has prospered as the leader of energy, but promising new energy technologies are being developed in other states and other countries.” Strama, who chairs the Technology, Economic Development & Workforce Committee, introduced a couple of green bills in the last legislative session and it looks like he will continue this effort during the forthcoming session. Yesterday, he facebooked about “a promising development” of a Bastrop clean energy park.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9hldvAQ3Cs&feature=player_embedded]
On the Congressional level, Representative Charlie Gonzalez includes clean energy and climate change on his legislative agenda. According to his website, in order to “address threats faced to our country and our planet by climate change, America needs an energy policy that relies on resources that are both clean and efficient.” Gonzalez points out that the issue of climate change is tied to the nation’s energy policy.
Texas needs more politicians to come out for renewable energy and those who tell their constituents that it doesn’t create more jobs and revenue for the state, they are simply ignoring the facts facts. According to a recent report, a robust renewable energy market in Texas can create as many as 23,000 jobs and almost 3 billion in revenue every year for the next 10 years. Strama is right, Texas does have a future in renewables and it is time for Texas politicians to “put solutions above ideology and Texas above politics.”
* Public Citizen does not endorse any political candidate and/or party. Nothing in this opinion blog ought to be construed as an endorsement of any kind. The author’s words are his own.
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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.
TCEQ Status Update on Las Brisas Application an Effort to “Fast-Track” the SOAH process
Posted in Air Quality, Coal, Global Warming, tagged Coal, las brisas, TCEQ, Texas on October 15, 2010 |
This morning at a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) hearing, Las Brisas Energy Center attempted to try to move their permitting process along by asking the commissioners to intervene in the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) process, but the SOAH Admininistrative Law Judges (ALJs) informed the TCEQ that changes to their process would not be prudent.
[vimeo 15967410]
Both Commissioner Garcia and Chairman Shaw are shown here asking the administrative law judges who presided over the contested case hearing for the proposed Las Brisas coal (pet-coke) plant to speed the process along. The main reason for this is likely that the EPA’s new CO2 rules take effect on January 2nd of next year – and they don’t want to have to make the coal plant owners meet these new standards. Once again it is clear that the sole interest of these Governor-appointed commissioners is the financial interests of the applicants (coal plant owners, etc.) and not the health and well being of the people of Texas and their environment.
To watch the entire TCEQ video of the hearing (second item on the agenda), click here.
Stop Tarsands Oil Pipeline
Posted in Global Warming, Tarsands, tagged Audubon Society, david daniel, Eminent Domain, oil pipeline, Texas on October 15, 2010 |
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QotpWw6AmFA]STOP is a coalition of landowners in Oklahoma and Texas who have united to voice their opposition to the proposed Keystone tar sands oil pipeline. These landowners oppose this pipeline for a variety of reasons but they share a concern of how this pipeline will affect their own and their children’s future.
John Tutor fears the impact of soiling a local preserve that boasts black bears and songbirds for scout groups and the Audubon Society; others, the addition of more especially dirty oil to the global energy market rather than clean technologies that don’t destroy tracts of land thousands of square miles in scope. Many of these citizens have received notices threatening the use of eminent domain.
In a previous post you can see the Thorntons’ talk about how Keystone has sent them multiple notices with an initial offer of about $2,200 per acre. This is about 20% of what they value the land they had hoped to develop. Keystone is using eminent domain to force landowners to sell their land at low prices. STOP is an organization for those people who would not like to see this dangerous and dirty pipeline cross through their land. David Daniel and Betty S Vaughn Scott don’t want the generations following them to lose claim to pristine Texas forest in exchange for a dirty pipeline and the inherent risk that comes with piping hundreds of thousands of toxic material at high pressure every day.
This pipeline is different from all the other pipelines. This pipeline will transport hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil that has a carbon footprint of over 3 times that of conventional oil. Tar sands oil extraction has already destroyed vast amounts of land in Alberta and it is set to become an area the size of Florida. We can’t let it endanger Texas’ forests either. If this pipeline has affected you or if you are just a concerned citizen in the area of the pipeline STOP can help you raise your voice in opposition to this pipeline.
U.S. nuclear loan-guarantee program is testing how much risk the US government is willing to take
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Nuclear, tagged Constellation Energy, loan guarantee, NRG, nrg energy, Nuclear, nuclear loan guarantees, Office of Management and Budget, STP, Texas, united states department of energy on October 12, 2010 |
Constellation Energy Group Inc. said last week it was pulling out of talks on a $7.5 billion loan guarantee to build a reactor at its Calvert Cliffs facility in Maryland. Constellation Energy Group’s Chief Operating Officer Michael Wallace told the Energy Department that they felt the estimated $880 million the company would have to pay the Treasury Department was “shockingly high”.
Still, that’s only 12% of the loan guarantee, and only 7% of the estimated (pre-financed) cost of building a nuclear plant. Compare that to low-risk lender qualifications for buying a home in this country and it doesn’t seem so shockingly high. Traditionally lenders required a down payment of at least 20% of the home’s purchase price for a home mortgage, and to qualify for owner-builder construction loans, the down payment can be up to 30 percent of the requested loan amount. Seems to me the industry is getting a better break than the American public right now.
A senior energy and environment analyst for a Milwaukee-based brokerage whined that the administration is offering terms no better than Constellation could get from private investors, yet we are not seeing private investors lining up to get a piece of this action-especially considering that these projects are projected to have a 50% loan default rate.
If the administration must support a nuclear renaissance, it is irresponsible of them to not consider limiting the risk that taxpayers will be stuck with should a nuclear utility default, and the Office of Management and Budget is doing just that by requiring these fees.
Constellation’s decision probably places NRG Energy Inc., a Princeton, New Jersey-based power producer, in the lead for the next loan-guarantee award. However, if the fees are this large, it might be a victory that NRG and its partners will also not necessarily want, dooming that project too.
NRG is seeking a guarantee to add two units at its South Texas power plant in Matagorda County. The company is also seeking to secure Japanese government financing, but that is also contingent upon the project securing the US loan guarantee. Perhaps this is a project that needs to be doomed. Clearly the building of nuclear plants are so high risk that the private sector appears unwilling to take on that risk, without the US government (read US taxpayer) bearing the brunt of the risk. If they put it up to a vote, I certainly wouldn’t vote to put my money into such a high risk project, would you?
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, cleaner cars, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
In the “great things to see happening” file… Georgetown350.org launches
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, tagged 350.org, Georgetown Texas, Georgetown350, Texas on October 11, 2010 |
Just came across an announcement in the City of Georgetown newsletter that mentioned the new Georgetown350 organization (part of the larger 350.org that you may have heard of).
Check our their blog here. Good luck y’all!
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, cleaner cars, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
CPS Energy adds another 30 MW of Solar to its generation mix
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, solar, tagged CPS Energy, Energy, renewable, renewable energy, San Antonio, solar power, SunEdison, Texas on October 9, 2010 |
CPS Energy in San Antonio continues to move forward with its renewable plans under Mayor Julian Castro. A major new solar announcement, just as its 14 MW solar system is getting finished, is good news indeed. San Antonio has been a leader in wind energy and now leads the state in solar, where is the leadership in the other cities and the state? They should take a long hard look in the mirror, and then go visit the new green leader, way to go San Antonio.
CPS Energy Rising to Be National Leader in Green Power
10/07/2010
CPS Energy’s renewable energy portfolio will increase by 30 megawatts (MW) with this week’s signing of a new 25-year purchase power agreement (PPA) with SunEdison, a global leader in delivering solar electricity. With the SunEdison agreement, CPS Energy now has 44 MW of solar generation under contract, solidifying its position as the leader in renewable energy resources among municipally owned utilities in the nation. The contract moves CPS Energy closer to its vision of providing customers with 1,500 MW of renewable energy (wind and solar) by 2020.
“The market for solar energy continues to improve, and this agreement takes advantage of that,” said President and CEO Doyle Beneby. “In addition to more than 40 MW of solar generation, CPS Energy has rebates that incentivize the use of solar by homeowners and businesses, and a developing distributed-generation program. With 300 days of sunshine each year, it just makes sense that San Antonio becomes a hub for solar energy in the U.S.”
By fall of 2012, Maryland-based SunEdison is expected to complete installation of 120,000 single-axis tracking photovoltaic (PV) panels that will follow the sun throughout the day, generating a total of 30 MW at three locations across the CPS Energy service area. The three locations will be announced later this year, and construction is expected to begin in early 2012. The combined energy output of the three facilities is expected to be approximately 54,000 megawatt hours—enough to power about 3,700 homes.
“We are pleased to provide this long-term, renewable energy solution for our customers,” added CPS Energy Chief Sustainability Officer Cris Eugster. “In addition to helping us meet our goal to provide 100 MW of solar generation by 2020, we’re also looking to SunEdison to be a key partner in transforming San Antonio into a national hub for solar energy.”
“SunEdison is committed to the growing Texas solar energy market, and we look forward to expanding our utility scale presence in the state in 2011,” said Carlos Domenech, President of SunEdison. “Our development capabilities, financing power and execution track record enables municipal utilities, like CPS Energy, to benefit from economically viable solar solutions.”
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, cleaner cars, 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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