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Archive for April 5th, 2011

Bill of the Day – SB 875 by Fraser – BAD

Posted in Climate Change, Global Warming, tagged , , , on April 5, 2011 |

Senate Bill 875 by Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horsehoe Bay) would take away a Texan’s right to sue a company for “nuisance” or “trespass” resulting from greenhouse gas emissions if that company is compliant with air emissions permits issued by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality or an agency of the federal government.

The bill would roll back Texas nuisance law that predates the Clean Air Act, protecting businesses that emit greenhouse gases from enforcement actions, civil lawsuits or criminal claims.

The Texas Chemical Council, Association of Electric Companies of Texas, Texas Association of Business, Texas Association of Manufacturers and Texas Pipeline Association and other business groups back the bill, but environmental groups oppose the measure.

The bill is designed to put a halt to a trend of public nuisance claims as a way to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Although the EPA has announced plans to issue rules governing greenhouse gas emissions, air quality permits held by Texas businesses do not currently regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Our ownTom “Smitty” Smith of Public Citizen’s Texas office, testified against the bill in committee, telling the committee that greenhouse gases are effectively a nuisance because they can cause adverse health effects, change the fertility cycles in plants and animals, and require retrofitting of roads and bridges to withstand greater temperatures. The bill would take away a legal tool citizens have used that predates the Clean Air Act and one that has been used by citizens to sue oil and gas companies.

Smitty further testified that if the standards are unclear, the fallback position you have is nuisance. It interferes with your enjoyment of the environment or causes health effects making the bill far more nefarious than it appears on the surface.

Sen. Kirk Watson (D-Austin) argued, “It’s not right, to say you can do whatever you want with greenhouse gases simply because you are in general compliance with some permit that doesn’t cover greenhouse gases.”

Even the TCEQ has reported that the bill could “hamper the agency’s ability to cite a nuisance violation for greenhouse gases” and allow the “nuisance” to persist and result in lower revenues from penalties, according to the bill’s fiscal note.

Bill by bill, this legislature seems intent upon whittling away protections for individual Texas citizens in favor of the rights of industry.

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Razing Arizona? – Save the Grand Canyon

Posted in Radiation, tagged , , , on April 5, 2011 |

A crucial ban on mining uranium around the Grand Canyon is about to expire, and corporations have already staked more than 1,100 claims to drill.

Ripping up radioactive material around a national landmark, with its fragile ecosystem and designation as one of the seven natural wonders of the world, will cause irreversible damage to its beauty and wildlife, put nearby communities at risk (especially the Havasupai, a Native American tribe who inhabit the canyon itself) and contaminate the water supply for millions who live nearby.

Thousands have already signed a petition started by Suzanne Sparling of Arizona calling on the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to extend the ban on uranium mining around the Grand Canyon.

A nationwide outcry has forced the Interior Department to extend the time window for public comment about the decision.

To read more about the impacts of uranium mining on the Grand Canyon, click here to visit the Grand Canyon Trust’s website whose mission is to protect and restore the Colorado Plateau — its spectacular landscapes, flowing rivers, clean air, diversity of plants and animals, and areas of beauty and solitude.

You can click here to send an email to your representatives in Congress telling them you support U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s new Bureau of Land Management “Wild Lands” policy.

There is just a short time to protect one of America’s most important national parks, click here to sign Suzanne Sparling’s petition.

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It all began with an innocent phone call…

Posted in Consumers, Energy, Good Government, tagged , , , on April 5, 2011 |

On April 13th, the Uptown Marble Theater at 218 Main Street in Marble Falls will present the world theatrical premiere of Green Dreams, a 50 minute documentary about the revolution at the Pedernales Electric Cooperative. Following the screening will be a meet & greet with PEC’s newly-hired CEO, R.B. Sloan.

[vimeo 21828817]

Former PEC General Manager Bennie Fuelberg has been sentenced to 300 days in jail, the entire former board of directors has either resigned or been voted out. The co-op has been wracked with scandal and tales of intimidation and mismanagement.

But a new day has dawned. PEC has a new, leaner, reform-minded board of directors, new bylaws and a member Bill of Rights. Transparency and member input have become desirable goals when once they were forbidden. And, some say, it all began with a phone call.

In 2006, filmmaker Ric Sternberg called the PEC, his electric co-op, for information about any “green” programs that the co-op might offer. This phone call led to more calls until he began to realize that decisions were being made by what appeared to be a rubber-stamp board of directors who maintained their well-paid positions, some for as many as 40 years, by a proxy voting process that was rigged – no competition.

Ric registered a web domain and organized a loose-knit group of PEC members who called themselves PEC4U. That rag-tag organization began the struggle for democracy and transparency at the Pedernales Co-op, which soon led to a member lawsuit and the “house of cards” crumbling. Meanwhile Ric, being a documentarian, started to record the process. Green Dreams is the result. It tells the story of the revolution and then talks about the future as it might be. The film is being presented as a conversation-starter – the beginning of a dialogue among members about where PEC should be headed.

The film screening will be followed by a meet & greet – an opportunity for PEC members to meet R.B. Sloan, the Pedernales Electric Co-op’s brand new CEO.

The theater will open at 7:00pm for casual socializing. The program will begin at 7:30pm. After the screening, the filmmaker and some of the people seen in the film will be available for Q&A. The meet & greet with Mr. Sloan will be in the theater’s lobby, beginning at about 8:45pm. Admission is free and all are welcome.

The documentary will be shown at other theaters in the PEC service area.  Watch for other scheduled showings.

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