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Archive for the ‘Global Warming’ Category

Session starts, Straus is Official

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 15, 2009 |

And its off to the races!  The state legislative session has officially begun.  House representatives and state senators were officially sworn into office in formal ceremonies Tuesday.  The biggest news, of course, was the unanimous election of Joe Straus as Speaker of the House.joeanddaughters

Highlights from the House ceremonies:

  • Hope Andrade, Secretary of State, got choked up as she announced and congratulated Straus’s election.  I actually saw her wipe away a tear.  I like a little emotion from my politicians, and this just shows how high hopes run at the dome for a bipartisan, productive session.
  • Environmental folks got a hat tip from Speaker Straus during remarks.  As he listed the work to be done and Texas’ greatest challenges this session, Straus mentioned that “We must be better stewards of our natural resources and protect our environment.” Not too shabby, we’ll certainly take what we can get.

To read more exhaustive, who-said-what-congratulatory-comment type reporting on the Speaker’s election, check out Capitol Annex – Vince Leibowitz did an excellent job of covering the  event, and even “live-Twittered” the whole thing.  Check it out.

Also, try Greg Harmon’s post to the SA Current blog on how Energy efficiency could get greased with Speaker Straus.

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The staggering cost of new nuclear power

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, tagged , on January 7, 2009 |

On the heels of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s environmental scoping meeting about the proposed expansion of the Comanche Peak Nuclear Plant outside of Fort Worth, TX (two of six new units moving through the permitting process in Texas), a new study by Craig Severance –a leading expert in power plant costs- was released detailing the staggering cost estimates of new nuclear power.

The new study, Business Risks and Costs of New Nuclear Power  puts the generation costs for power from new nuclear plants between 25 to 30 cents per kilowatt-hour — triple current U.S. electricity  rates! This staggering price is far higher than the cost of a variety of carbon-free renewable power sources available today, and ten times the cost of energy efficiency. 

This is one of the most detailed cost analyses publically available on the current generation of nuclear power plants being considered in this country. The author, Craig Severance is a practicing CPA and co-author of The Economics of Nuclear and Coal Power (Praeger 1976). 

This important new analysis fills the critical transparency gap in the current debate over nuclear power, demystifying the entire process, so that anyone reading  it (including non-technical readers) can develop a clear understanding of  how total generation costs per kWh come together.  

Join the opposition to new Comanche Peak nuclear reactors

For those living near the Comanche Peak Nuclear Plant near Glen Rose, Texas who are concerned about the health, safety and pocketbooks of Texans, join the opposition by attending a public meeting:

Thursday, January 29th at 7pm
Fort Worth Botanical Gardens

Learn more about radioactive, health and economic risks of nuclear power, as well as the history of Comanche Peak’s existing reactors at www.NukeFreeTexas.org.  (Video of the January 6th scoping meeting coming soon to this site) 

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Don’t Say We Didn’t Tell You So…

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , on January 6, 2009 |

In an editorial published yesterday, the Austin American Statesman agrees:  Texas needs to take the lead on climate change.

And I quote (bold my own),

…sea levels could rise by 4 feet by 2100 – versus the 1.5 feet predicted by a United Nations panel on climate change. That’s a warning that ought to be taken seriously now – especially along the Texas coast.

Unfortunately, it appears Texas government will try to ignore the problem of climate change. Gov. Rick Perry, digging in his boot heels, seems to admit only grudgingly that climate change is occurring, never mind that science has concluded that it is being driven by humankind’s use of fuels that produce carbon dioxide – coal, oil and natural gas, primarily.

Perry says potential federal legislation to begin limiting carbon dioxide production could harm the Texas economy. But drought and rising sea levels won’t? Texas needs to find a way to take the lead on this problem, not try to pretend it will go away.

Well done, Statesman editorial board.  You make us proud.

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Old Argument, New Twist

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 6, 2009 |

tvTelevision sets use about 4% of household power nation-wide, and the newest flat screens are even bigger power suckers — LCD screens use 43% more power than the old tube TV models.  Despite this situation, government efficiency testing standards for televisions haven’t been updated since Leave It to Beaver appeared in black and white.  Energy Star, a voluntary labeling system developed by the EPA, uses modern efficiency tests, but Energy Guide, the mandatory Department of Energy labeling program, still uses standards from the era of Lucy and Ricky in separate twin beds.

In order to confront this problem, California has once again stepped to the forefront.  According to Kate Galbraith at Green, Inc:

California regulators are drafting rules mandating that retailers stock only the most energy-efficient TVs, according to The Times. The program would start in 2011, with a more stringent standard coming into effect in 2013.

Industry, of course, objects:

The proposal is running into resistance from the Consumer Electronics Association and other industry representatives. One retailer told the Los Angeles Times that efficiency standards would “kill dealerships,” because Californians would search the Internet for less-efficient TVs, and get them shipped into California.

I’m sorry, but that argument is completely ridiculous.  And I’ve heard it before.  Remember when the auto industry resisted efficiency measures and stricter environmental standards that would have forced them to create a better product, and then foreign companies did just that and stole all their business?  And then domestic auto companies couldn’t keep their businesses afloat anymore and had to ask the government for a bailout? I remember that, because it just happened.

I’m really tired of industry bellyaching about efficiency and environmental standards that would make them create better products.  All this California amendment would say is, we want our consumers to be provided the most innovative, efficient products on the market.  There are already over 100 models that would keep up with their proposed standards.  Industry reps are just upset that their inefficient, energy sucking TVs won’t make the cut.  Sorry, but it isn’t California’s fault you created a sub-par product.

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Nuclear Power Too Risky, Too Expensive, Too Dangerous

Posted in Global Warming, Nuclear, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 5, 2009 |

Hey, look! A joint press release from Public Citizen Texas, the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, and the SEED Coalition:

An NRC Environmental Scoping Meeting will be held on Jan. 6th in Glen Rose, Texas to take comment on the environmental impact study for two nuclear reactors proposed for the existing Comanche Peak site. A coalition of environmental and consumer groups and their members will be telling the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Luminant (formerly TXU) that nuclear plants are “too risky, too expensive and too dangerous” to help Texas meet its power needs, and makes no sense when clean, safe, affordable options exist. The coalition of groups said they
only learned of the hastily called public meeting to seek input on environmental issues on December 24th.

“We’ve been down this road before,” noted Cyrus Reed, Conservation Director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club. “The utility industry sold Texas on Comanche Peak and the South Texas Project and consumers have been paying the ‘stranded’ costs ever since, even as valuable water resources are expended and radioactive waste piles up on-site.”

Luminant proposes to build two more nuclear reactors at the existing Comanche Peak nuclear site near Glen Rose, in Somervell County, using an unproven, untested technology known as USAPWR. “The design of the reactors has not been certified and has never been builtanywhere in the world. Why should Texas serve as guinea pigs for a dangerous radioactive experiment?” asked Karen Hadden, Executive Director of the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition. “Design problems as well as human error led to numerous problems and shutdowns of Comanche Peak reactors in the past. The competence and character of Luminant need to be examined closely since the history of the existing reactors is disastrous. In the past, there was a chance to fix nuclear reactor construction problems before an operating license was issued, but that safeguard is gone with the new licensing process.” (more…)

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Joe Straus in da HAUS

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 5, 2009 |

straus2Joe Straus (R- San Antonio) announced in a press conference this morning that he has enough pledged supporters to win the race for Speaker of the Texas House.

In holding with the national trend towards change and bipartisanship, Straus will replace the great and powerful Tom Craddick with a pledge to bring harmony back to the sharply divided Texas legislature.

Said Democratic strategist Harold Cook in an article in the Dallas Morning News,

“I don’t know anybody who doesn’t like the guy, and in the Legislature, that’s really saying something,” Cook said. “It’s easy to see why people looking for a new tone out of the Texas House are gravitating toward him.”

Other state Dems agreed,

“He is one of the most honest people that I know,” said Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio. “He’s going to be a fair speaker who will rule with an even hand and an open mind.”

We have seen such a bitterly divided legislature in recent years, these reactions sound almost too good to be true.  But it looks as though Straus may represent Texas’ brightest hope for a constructive, pragmatic legislative session.

What’s more, Straus has a positive history on ethics reform, open government, and has shown significant leadership on environmental issues.  As a member of the Regulated Industries Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy Conservation and Efficiency, Straus oversaw the passage of the most important energy efficiency bill since deregulation. Straus’ HB 3693 doubled utilities’ efficiency goals to 20% of load growth by 2010 and directed the Public Utility Commission to study whether increasing the program to 50% of load growth is technically possible.  This report, released by ITRON a month ago, found that Texas could not only meet but exceed that goal.

Straus has also received awards from both the Texas Public Power Association and the  Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club for his work in energy efficiency and contributions to public power.

Public Citizen congratulates Straus on being the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, and looks forward to working with him in the upcoming session.

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A new year, a new twist on global warming: The Economist even agrees

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , on January 1, 2009 |

Happy 2009, everyone.

Imagine my surprise when I see the new issue of The Economist, now talking about the major problems global warming will be creating called The Curse of Carbon.  When even The Economist is coming around on global warming, it seems like things might be changing on the climate change debate.  Who’s next?  The Free Republic?

From the article:

Copyright The Economist 2009

If the seas continue to become less alkaline at the current rate, the time will soon come when reefs will start to lose coral faster through erosion than they gain it through calcification. How soon? Some scientists think it could be in 60 or 70 years. Many fear that half the world’s coral will be gone by 2030.

The Arctic has lost over 40% of its year-round ice since 1985, 14% in 2004-05 alone. This will not do much directly to raise sea levels, because most Arctic ice is floating, but it suggests that the melting is speeding up, and that is confirmed by the flow of the Jakobshavn glacier in Greenland, which doubled in speed between 1997 and 2003.

Everything depends on the speed at which the ice disappears. Computer models have been predicting that the Arctic will not be ice-free, even for a short time in late summer, until 2040, and at present only icebreakers and the occasional lone yachtsman are getting through. But some people believe change is coming so fast that the northern seas will open up much earlier than expected. They may be right.

If so, it will be seen as a harbinger of a another horror: the prospect of a shutdown of the North Atlantic conveyor. This is the current of water that takes enormous amounts of heat—about as much as would be generated by a million nuclear power plants—from the tropics and carries it to eastern North America and western Europe. The fear is that melting ice, along with increased snow and rain, could reduce the density and salinity of the top layers of the sea, making them more buoyant. At present, the conveyor depends on surface water sinking and travelling towards the equator, there to rise again and bring warmth back to the north (see map in the introduction). If this current stopped, the average temperature in Europe might fall by five to ten degrees Celsius.

They even have a video of the ice melt and the major problems that melting arctic sea ice will create.

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Hey, let’s destabilize a nuclear power because of global warming!

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 30, 2008 |

A truly frightening article from The International News and their Karachi (Pakistan) bureau:

Global warming and the ongoing thinning of Tibetan glaciers will result in as many as 15 million ‘environmental refugees’ in South Asia in the near future, said Chairperson Hisaar Foundation and member of Stockholm-based Global Water Partnership Technical Committee, Simi Kamal.

Full article can be found here.

Besides Pakistan (who we obviously do not want to destabilize), other major powers who get their water from the Himalayan glaciers include India,  China, and other trouble spots like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Thailand and Burma.

Emissions in Texas affect the climate worldwide, and as we all have painfully learned, what happens in other countries can end up right back on our doorstep.  We need to start cooling it, especially considering that if Texas were its own country we would be the 7th largest polluter of greenhouse gases in the world.  Thankfully, we also lead in renewable energy potential and can start saving money today by investing in energy efficiency.

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From deep in the heart of Texas, a Global Warming Solutions Act

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , on December 24, 2008 |

What a beautiful gift to find under my cyber Christmas tree this morning (give me a break, its Christmas Eve and I’m going to milk my holiday references for all they’re worth). From harman on earth, the good news that State Senator Rodney Ellis has filed legislation to get Texas working toward a climate change solution.

Harman reports,

The Texas Global Warming Solutions Act, refiled by Ellis for the 2009 Legislative Session after a failed effort to get traction in 2007, would create a state commission to make an accounting of all the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and then help craft policy to begin reducing those levels. It would be quite a task. It has been widely reported that if Texas were its own country (as some would still have it, no doubt), it would rank as the world’s eighth-largest emitter.

To bring those levels down, Ellis’ act would have all state agencies required to account for their greenhouse gas contributions and create plans to reduce them. Private industry would also have to begin to monitor and report their releases.

In order to move forward with global warming solutions, Texas needs a thorough understanding of our contribution to the problem.

Check out Harman’s full post. Brief warning: the cockroach video is just a smidge on the creepy side.  My stomach isn’t ready for talking bugs first thing in the morning.

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du, duh, DUH! Cartoon Super Obama saves America from energy villains!

Posted in Coal, Energy, Global Warming, Nuclear, tagged , , , on December 24, 2008 |

Check out the League of Conservation Voter’s newest ad supporting Obama’s plan to jump start the economy and solve the climate crisis.  If only he really did have super powers…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEBzRP-ZJuQ]

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News Roundup – Scary Yuletide Ghost of Christmas Future edition

Posted in Coal, Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, Toxics, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 23, 2008 |

The real question is, will we at Texas Vox run out of holiday references before tomorrow or not?

christmas-future-1

Some scary, scary stuff out there in the past few days we wanted to show you, plus some extra holiday snark for all of you.

  • The EPA also released their list of Sooty Cities (and you thought soot was stuff from only back in the days of Charles Dickens!), and, of course, Houston made the list.  Merry Christmas, Houston!  You got… soot!  Also ending up on the list were my old home towns of Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah.
  • And finally, California is buying our cow gas.  Seriously.  Pacific Gas and Electric plans to buy a methane-based substitute for natural gas created right here in Texas from, of all things, cow manure.  Just shows you that one man’s treasure is another man’s… never mind.

~~Citizen Andy

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Hayduke lives!

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 23, 2008 |

ed-abbeyEd Abbey would be proud.

At an auction held by the Bureau of Land Management for oil and gas leases on 149,000 acres of public land in Utah, a University of Utah student and environmental activist named Tim DeChristopher posed as a bidder and bought up 22,000 acres to keep it from industry clutches.  Much of this land was from the area right around Arches National Park, a beautiful swath immortalized in Ed Abbey’s book Desert Solitaire.  DeChristopher also drove up prices for oil and gas leases on other parcels to the tune of about half a million dollars.

Reports the Salt Lake Tribune:

He didn’t pour sugar into a bulldozer’s gas tank. He didn’t spike a tree or set a billboard on fire. But wielding only a bidder’s paddle, a University of Utah student just as surely monkey-wrenched a federal oil- and gas-lease sale Friday, ensuring that thousands of acres near two southern Utah national parks won’t be opened to drilling anytime soon.

Tim DeChristopher, 27, faces possible federal charges after winning bids totaling about $1.8 million on more than 10 lease parcels that he admits he has neither the intention nor the money to buy — and he’s not sorry.

“I decided I could be much more effective by an act of civil disobedience,” he said during an impromptu streetside news conference during an afternoon blizzard. “There comes a time to take a stand.”

The land was being auctioned off in another last-ditch effort by the Bush administration to win Big Industry some holiday goodies before Obama takes office in January.  The BLM didn’t have time to do adequate environmental impact statements, leave much time for public comment, or even take in input from other federal agencies such as the National Parks Service.  Apparently in BLM’s intial announcement of the auction, private property with houses on it and land the agency didn’t have rights to drill on was also included.  BLM won’t re-open the land DeChristopher’s won for auction until February, when the new administration will be in place.  They are also giving bidders who won parcels with inflated prices the chance to withdraw those bids within a ten-day period — but since the Obama administration is unlikely to offer the leases again, most bidders will probably hold on to the land they’ve won.

Watch Amy Goodman from Democracy Now! interview DeChristopher below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1t9PniD-bY]

And a final Ed Abbey parting shot:

A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.

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Senator Barbara Boxer vs. EPA Chief Stephen Johnson: Round 1!

Posted in Coal, Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 23, 2008 |

boxerRemember last week, when I was pissed off at EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson for making up last minute rules to get coal plants permitted?

Today this anger is tempered by my love for Senate Environment and Public Works chair Barbara Boxer, who basically told Johnson he was CHEATING AND MAKING UP FAKE RULES.

Boxer sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey asking that he make Johnson withdraw his “blatantly illegal memo.”

Spake Mrs. Boxer:

Administrator Johnson issued the document without legal authority under the Clean Air Act, and in spite of the clear opinion of the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board in In re: Deseret Power Electric Cooperative, PSD Appeal No. 07-03 (EAB November 13, 2008). Johnson’s guidance also flies in the face of the U.S. Supreme Court in Massachusetts v. EPA (2007).

BOO-YAH! Sometimes, you gotta love a tattle-tale.  Let’s just hope the Attorney General puts Johnson’s ruling in time-out.

Read Boxer’s full letter here.

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I got yer lump of coal for yer stocking… right here!

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , on December 20, 2008 |

Good news, coal activists-

According to the Department of Energy in a new report released this week, coal use will actually decline slightly in coming years. This is partially because of the recession and economic problems.  Power consumption growth is on the decline, and less capital is available for financing coal plants.   However, the data also shows an uptick for renewable energy.

The DOE has also shaved back their predictions of building new coal power plants in the next few years from 104 to 45.

Now if only we can make that number zero.

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Oh, FUUUUUUUUDGE!

Posted in Coal, Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 19, 2008 |

fudge1

The EPA’s newest decision definitely brought the dreaded “F-dash-dash-dash” word to mind.

Reports Grist.org:

Coal-fired power plants’ greenhouse-gas emissions shouldn’t be taken into consideration when determining whether to approve their construction, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson ruled this week. The ruling could clear the way for at least a handful of new coal plants to be approved in the final days of the Bush administration. “The current concerns over global climate change should not drive EPA into adopting an unworkable policy of requiring emission controls,” Johnson wrote.

Just as I was getting into the holiday spirit, Stephen Johnson has to hit us with this.

In case you’re not quite as obsessed with carbon dioxide regulation and coal plants as we are here at Texas Vox, let me provide a little background.  In November the EPA’s governance board ruled that its regional office had been too hasty in approving  a new coal-fired power plant in Bonanza, Utah because the plant didn’t include carbon dioxide emissions or control techniques in their permit application.  The Sierra Club helped secure this victory by filing a suit against Utah’s Deseret Power Electric Cooperative for not controlling carbon dioxide. Their argument was based upon the landmark Massachusetts v EPA case, which required the agency to regulate CO2 as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act.

The Bonanza decision was, in a word, wicked awesome (okay, two words).  It gave environmentalists a great new tool for stopping coal-fired power plants and signalled a sea change in the government’s willingness to take action over carbon dioxide emissions.  So the fact that the EPA is now telling permitters that they cannot consider greenhouse gas emissions when processing applications  is a major kick in the pants.  It could mean slated plants that wouldn’t have been approved could get the green light during these last weeks of the Bush administration. In a New York Times article, Vickie Patton, from the Environmental Defense Fund estimates that as many as 8,000 megawatts of new coal-fired power plants could skate through as a result of this ruling.

I’m still rather uncertain of what this decision means for the incoming administration.   Lisa Jackson, Obama’s new pick to head the EPA, is considerably more progressive on greenhouse gas emissions than Johnson, and could theoretically reverse this decision.

Reports the Washington Post:

It was unclear yesterday what the ruling’s real-world impact will be. The EPA says that about 50 plants — either new or significantly remodeled — must obtain a permit under this provision every year. But Meyers said he does not know if any are positioned to receive final approval before President-elect Barack Obama takes office on Jan. 20.

The Obama administration is likely to review the case, and Democratic officials close to the president-elect’s team say that the Supreme Court ruling and the EPA’s power to regulate carbon dioxide can serve as powerful levers to bring corporations and other parties to a bargaining table about broad framework for controlling greenhouse gases.

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