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Archive for June 7th, 2010

Texas’ Political Culture Protects ‘Economic’ Interest Over Environment

Posted in Campaign Finance, Energy, Global Warming, Good Government, green jobs, Renewables, TCEQ, Toxics, tagged , , , , , , on June 7, 2010 |

It was a bit surprising that the EPA finally has taken a stand against the TCEQ’s practices of giving “flexible permits.” Prominent Texas politicians including the governor criticized the action taken by the EPA and once again, Gov Perry used a very important local issue to launch his attacks on the Federal government as part of his re-election campaign. “I don’t understand the federal response of coming in to the state that should be the poster child, should be the model for this country,” Perry said last week at a news conference. He was also quoted by the Houston Press saying, “Last week, the federal government sent the very clear message that it seeks to destroy Texas’s successful clean air program and threaten tens of thousands of good Texas jobs in the process.”  Perry’s claims that our air permitting program is successful is equally as dubious as his claims that we are the poster child for clean air.

Perry’s comments came at the same Texas Congress-members criticized Obama’s decision to issue a moratorium on deep-water drilling for a period that can take longer than six months. Some Congress members, who rank among the highest contribution receivers from the oil and energy industry in general, mentioned that jobs will be affected if such regulation was to take place, “”It’s exactly the wrong decision,” said Joe Barton, a Republican from Arlington, “It’s going to raise unemployment, and it’s going to raise oil prices.”

One must question the sincerity of such comments and whether they truly are accurate or not. The Dallas Morning News in an articled called “Texans in Congress say drilling support not tied to campaign donations” showed records that were obtained from Center for Responsive Politics that show how many contributions were received by Texas Congressmen:

CONTRIBUTIONS TO TEXANS IN CONGRESS

SOURCE: Center for Responsive Politics

A look at oil industry donations to members of Congress from Texas:
Member Oil/gas industry donations Rank*
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison $2.1 million 1
Sen. John Cornyn $1.6 million 3
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Arlington $1.4 million 1
Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland $651,718 1
Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas $642,864 2
Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth $612,807 1
Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Rockwall $529,468 3
Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands $445,697 1
Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock $440,772 1
Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston $423,561 1
Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco $409,698 9
Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Plano $393,700 3
Rep. Lamar Smith , R-San Antonio $391,147 2
Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston $374,113 5
Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Clarendon $351,480 1
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler $257,063 3
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas $232,650 10
Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi $220,432 2
Rep. Pete Olson, R-Sugar Land $216,300 1
Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble $208,450 3
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin $207,734 6
Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville $195,246 3
Rep. Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson $178,632 17
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston $173,525 6
Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock $164,150 5
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo $157,350 4
Rep. Charlie Gonzalez, D-San Antonio $143,500 7
Rep. Kenny Marchant, R-Coppell $139,750 1
Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes $98,084 9
Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-San Antonio $96,500 13
Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso $83,350 12
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin $51,730 n/a
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas $32,875 n/a
Rep. Al Green, D-Houston $26,400 13
NOTE: Tally includes donations from political action committees and individuals starting in 1989, for the lawmaker’s first year in office if later than 1989.
* Rank indicates where the oil industry ranked among the top industries to donate to a lawmaker. N/A means the oil industry wasn’t among the top 20 givers to that lawmaker.

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These numbers are staggering and if you want to bet that those massive contributions don’t alter or affect the decisions of those politicians, I have some beachfront property in Arizona I’d like to sell you. (more…)

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False Claims by the TCEQ Meet Growing Support for the EPA

Posted in Sunset, TCEQ, tagged , , , , , , on June 7, 2010 |

The battle between the TCEQ and the EPA is still making headlines, and, at least according to the headlines at the Houston Chronicle, the environmentalists have gained the upper hand!

TCEQ and EPA have been battling in the headlines, as shown by this Google News search

TCEQ and EPA have been in the headlines, as shown by this Google News search

With the looming possibility that Al Armendariz, regional EPA administrator, will take over all of Texas air quality permitting, as they have already done in the case of 39 Texas polluters, the strong opposition that Bill White is presenting to Rick Perry in the race for Texas Governor, and (don’t forget!) the sunset review of the TCEQ coming up in December, the TCEQ is in trouble.

“This has been brewing for about 15 years, ” our own Tom “Smitty” Smith told the Houston Chronicle.  “But what’s happening now is you’ve finally have [sic – Houston Chronicle’s error, not Smitty’s, btw] an EPA administrator who’s got enough guts to stand up to the polluters.”

According to that same article, the fight, which started in response to the TCEQ’s issuing of flexible air quality permits in violation of the Clean Air Act, could potentially escalate from permitting to all environmental regulations.  But with growing magnitude and environmental support comes growing backlash.  Former TCEQ commissioner and now environmental advocate, Larry Soward, worries that the legislature will join forces with the governor to fight off the EPA.

Governor Perry and those siding with him are standing strong behind the argument that the EPA is wrongfully expanding federal control over an issue that they originally delegated to the state and that this action will hurt the Texas economy.  TCEQ chairman Bryan Shaw claims that the fight has already begun to affect Texas economically, and Attorney General Abbott and state agriculture commissioner Todd Staples agree.

Politifact decided to factcheck Staples, and his statement that:

“The EPA’s regulation would directly impact thousands of Texas businesses and cost real jobs. Companies that will be endangered in Texas include 575 dairy facilities, 58 swine operations, 1,300 corn farms. No industry is more threatened than the cattle industry. If this rule is implemented, an estimated 28,000 beef cattle operations in Texas will fall under EPA regulation.”

According to Politifact, this is absolutely FALSE.  The EPA ruled last week that farms will not be subject to these regulations, as (more…)

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