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Don’t Let Texas Become the Nation’s Radioactive Waste Dumping Ground

Posted in Nuclear, tagged andrews county, aquifers, compact commission, corruption, dumping ground, glenn shankle, good to glow, governor perry, groundwater, inadequate site, low level radioactive waste, no bonds for billionaires, Nuclear Power, Nuke Free Texas, nukes, politics, Public Citizen, rad waste, radioactive contamination, radioactive waste dump, save the ogallalaa aquifer, SEED Coalition, Sierra Club, TCEQ, Texas, texas capitol, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, texas compact commission stakeholder meeting, vermont, waste control specialists, WCS, west texas on December 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Join us next Thursday, December 10th to help stop Texas from becoming the nation’s radioactive waste dump!

Please Come:

Texas Compact Commission Stakeholder Meeting
Thursday, December 10th at 9am
Texas Capitol, Extension Auditorium, E1.004

You are invited to attend the press conference as well, held by the SEED Coalition, Public Citizen, and Sierra Club, on stopping Texas from becoming the nation’s radioactive waste dump, the inadequacies of the west Texas dump site and the corruption surrounding the permitting process.

Thursday, Dec. 10th at 12:30 pm – Texas Capitol, Speaker’s Committee Room, 2W.6.

* Show your presence and that the public interest matters.

* Tell the Compact Commission not to allow import of radioactive waste into Texas from the rest of the country!

All of the State TCEQ scientists who worked on the permit for the West Texas dump site, owned by Waste Control Specialists (WCS), determined the site to be inadequate because of the possible radioactive contamination of our aquifers and groundwater. Corruption and politics led to the permitting of the site anyways, ignoring the entire TCEQ technical team’s recommendation against issuing the permit. 3 TCEQ employees quit over the decision.

Now the Compact Commission is putting rules in place, to let nuclear power waste from across the country into Texas, making this site the nation’s radioactive waste dumping ground. The Texas Compact Commission, appointed by Governor Perry, and responsible for managing so-called “low-level” radioactive waste generated within its boundaries, is developing rules for importation of radioactive waste from outside the compact (TX and Vermont), AGAINST the original intent of the law, which was for only the 3 states of the compact to be able to dump there.

The Commission is taking comments from stakeholders on the development of the import rule. We want to let them know that the generators of nuclear waste and the dump company that is profiting from taking the waste are not the only stakeholders in this process. Please come help make the voices of the public, Texas taxpayers, and water drinkers heard LOUD and CLEAR.

Learn more at:

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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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URGENT ACTION ALERT: Help air quality and solar in Texas!

Posted in Global Warming, tagged 2009 iecc building codes, auto emissions, building codes, clean air, dirty energy, Energy Efficiency, federal stimuls funds, green jobs, lobbyists, plug-in hybrids, sb 541, sb 545, sb16, solar energy, texas capitol, texas house, voter id on May 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

government_uncle_sam_go_green The House has been moving very slowly in an effort to kill a Voter ID bill, but it appears the logjam has been broken. Now we have to pass our key solar and clean air bills before midnight Tuesday, May 26, which is the deadline for the House to pass any bills from the Senate.

We need YOU to pick up the phone and call your representative to say that you support solar energy and clean air.

Click here to find out who represents you, then call their office at the Capitol. Tell them:

I support SB 545, which would give homeowners incentives to put solar on their rooftops and create new green jobs.

I also support SB 541, which would support more large scale solar projects and repeat the success of our wind industry.

I also support SB 16, which would improve air quality through reducing auto emissions, better building codes, more energy efficiency, and plug-in hybrids. **If Texas does not adopt these 2009 IECC building codes, we could miss out on hundreds of millions in federal stimulus funds for weatherization.

Please support these bills in order to create tens of thousands of new green jobs in Texas and ensure a cleaner, cheaper, cooler energy future.

There are dozens of dirty energy lobbyists working to try to kill these bills as we speak. Will you stand up to them? Will you make your voice heard?

Call your Representative now!

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Clean Energy Rally and Lobby Day

Posted in Global Warming, tagged Clean Energy, climate change, climate justice, coal moratorium, Coal Plants, distributed solar, Energy Efficiency, grassroots politics, rally and lobby day, reenergize texas, student climate change movement, texas capitol, Texas Legislature on March 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Sponsored by ReEnergize Texas, the event will feature speeches by leaders in the student climate change movement, as well as a diverse group of Texas Representatives and Senators.

fund_future_rally When: Monday, March 30th
Rally: 9:30am-10:30am
Lobby Appointments: 10:30am-2:30pm
Where: Texas Capitol (north of 11th and Congress)

Hundreds of youth from all over Texas will converge at a rally and a lobby day at the State Capitol for clean energy and climate justice! We will lobby for:

* Increasing distributed solar to 2,000MW of generation
* Stopping all new coal-fired power plants
* Creating programs that help disadvantaged youth stay on track to complete high school while improving energy efficiency in low-income homes

This promises to be a powerful moment in Texas grassroots politics. Join us 9:30am-10:30am for great speakers from the movement and the State Legislature including Senator Rodney Ellis, Representative Tara Rios Ybarra, and Public Citizen Director Tom “Smitty” Smith.

Lobby Day training will happen on Sunday, March 29th, 3:45pm-6:00pm. This training is crucial for those who want to play speaking roles during lobby visits. We will have materials, Q&A, and role play exercises.

The Texas Legislature only meets every 2 years. If we want a clean and just energy future for Texas, we have to go to the Capitol and make our voices heard. Join us!

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Green Jobs, Clean Power!

Posted in Global Warming, tagged 81st Texas Legislative Session, alliance for a clean texas, California, clean jobs, climate change, denver museum of nature, Energy Efficiency, green power, Lloyd Doggett, mark strama, obama, Rodney Ellis, solar, state legislature, Texas, texas capitol, van jones, wind energy on February 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

2_18_09-001 Bright and early yesterday morning, US Representative Lloyd Doggett, State Senator Rodney Ellis, State Representative Mark Strama, and environmental and civil rights advocate Van Jones stood together to tout the Alliance for a Clean Texas’ Texas Energy Future: Clean Jobs, Green Power Conference.

Rodney Ellis opened up the press conference, stating that this year’s legislative session looks to be a very green session. He also mentioned, as he has before, that the legislature is at a crucial moment in terms of climate change action. If the legislature doesn’t act this year, the federal government will likely pass and begin implementing comprehensive global warming legislation before the state legislature will have a chance to meet again. If Texas is not prepared for this kind of drastic policy change, we may not have a chance to address these issues again until 2011.

Senator Ellis then gave the mic over to the group he termed the “Dapper Three” (swoon!).

Continue Reading and watch video of Van Jones after the jump! (more…)

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