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Archive for the ‘Energy’ Category

Pecan Street Project Public Meeting June 23rd

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on June 22, 2009 |

You are invited to learn about and provide input to the Austin Pecan Street Project tomorrow, June 23 from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Capital Area Workforce Board, 6505 Airport Blvd., Suite 101-E (please enter from the Highland Mall side of the building).

The Pecan Street Project is an initiative charged with exploring the challenges Austin faces in building a modern energy system, including a smart grid.  On September 25, 2008, the Austin City Council adopted a resolution directing the city to work with Environmental Defense Fund and other community stakeholders, to conduct an analysis of system improvements, technology advances, and business models that would enable Austin Energy to more fully develop its capacity for the distributed generation of clean energy.

Attendees will be provided information about the project, followed by an invitation to participate in breakout sessions encouraging discussion and soliciting feedback about the project’s technology, system design, financial and economic development aspects.

The project is a partnership among the City of Austin, Austin Energy, University of Texas, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and Environmental Defense Fund. The project has already garnered 11 corporate partnerships, including Dell Inc., IBM Corporation, Intel, Cisco Systems and others.

For a primer on just what a “smart grid” is, check out the following video.  Hope to see you at the meeting tomorrow!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrcqA_cqRD8]

For more information on the Pecan Street Project, check out their YouTube channel and watch a couple of their videos.

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Whoops!! Nukes Fail to Pay-off

Posted in Energy, Nuclear, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 22, 2009 |

An abandoned WPPS cooling Tower

An abandoned WPPSS cooling Tower

Whoops is a word with a negative connotation. It is also a word commonly associated, for better or worse, with Northwest Energy. It is an association they been trying to shake since the 1980s. They even went as far as to pay $260,000 in a 1998 lawsuit to avoid being associated with the stigma of Whoops.

It all began in late 1950’s, when the coalition of utilities now known as Northwest Energy originally came together under the name Washington Public Power Supply (WPPSS, pronounced whoops). During the seventies they developed an ambitious plan to build 5 nuclear power plants, funded by municipal bonds. For a decade the project was plagued with delays, surprise expenses and plan revisions. WPPSS had to contend with inflation, high interest rates, constantly changing safety requirements, shifting public opinion and a management team that had no experience in building nuclear power plants.

By the early eighties the estimated cost of completing the project had jumped from $4.1 billion to $23.8 billion. The WPPSS managers decided that completing the project was too expensive to be feasible and chose to default on the $2.25 billion in borrowed money they had already spent. This became the  largest municipal bonds default in U.S history, and it created a decades worth of law suits from angry investors and did considerable damage to the regional economy. Responsibility for paying this money eventually fell on the member utilities, or more specifically, their customers. When in 1988 WPPSS reach a $753 million dollar settlement with many of its investors, most of them received just 10 to 40 cents per each dollar they invested.

The disaster dubbed “Whoops” has haunted WPPSS for years. By 1998, the entity decided to change its name to Northwest Energy and paid another company with the same name $260,000 for the rights to that name. This was done primarily because the WPPSS name and the reputation that went with it was hurting business. For years the remains of the abandoned power plants have stood, as well as the debt owed by the rate payers of the utilities to remind us of the Whoops debacle.

This is a really unfortunate story, but there are many important lessons to be learned from it. First of all, it shows that nuclear power plants are and have always been very expensive to build, and even more expensive to build if the appropriate safety precautions are made. This is especially true if the bill is paid by investors and the government is not pitching in. Nuclear power is literally the most expensive known way of boiling water and we should not trust claims that it is cheap. Secondly, it teaches us that we should not lock  ourselves into using energy plans that are unable to adapt to changes in the economy, safety standards and consumer preferences.  The story of the “Whoops” debacle should serve as a warning, as well, to entities planning on building new nuclear plants here in Texas.

Northwest Energy has expanded its game into many other energy sources over the past 3 decades. These include wind, solar and biomass. Unfortunately they have recently expressed interest in not only expanding their coal burning facilities, but are also talking about building a new nuclear plant, possibly at the location of one of the sites abandoned during the eighties.

I would urge anyone who is not satisfied with the cost effectiveness or the safety of nuclear power to voice their concern and openly question the reasoning used to justify the building of a new WPPSS plant.

The Disappointed Environmentalist

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Citizens Oppose South Texas Project Expansion before Atomic Safety and Licensing Board

Posted in Energy, Nuclear, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 19, 2009 |

Oral Hearing Set for June 23rd-June 24th in Bay City, TX

Citizen opposition to more nuclear reactors in Texas continues. On June 23rd-24th an oral hearing will be held before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board on the Citizens’ Petition to Intervene in South Texas Project (STP) Nuclear Power Plant Units 3 and 4.

SEED Coalition, Public Citizen and South Texas Association for Responsible Energy are petitioners seeking to intervene in the proposed expansion of South Texas Project.

“Building two more nuclear reactors at STP is not in the best interest of the local community,” said Susan Dancer, a local wildlife rehabilitator. “Pursuing the most expensive and most water intensive energy source in a time of extraordinary drought and economic recession makes no sense. The local community will get stuck with more radioactive waste and bear heavy infrastructure costs if the proposed reactors get built. The existing reactors have not solved local economic problems.” Dancer chairs the Bay City based organization South Texas Association for Responsible Energy (STARE).

Attorney Robert V. Eye will represent the petitioners before the designated Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel and argue the admissibility of the 28 contentions citizens filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on April 21st. These contentions point out the inadequacies and the incompleteness of South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company’s (STPNOC) combined operating license application (COLA) to construct and operate South Texas Project Units 3 and 4. NRG Energy and San Antonio’s municipal utility CPS Energy are both applicants for the proposed reactors, which fall within STPNOC.

“NRG has failed to comply with new federal regulations regarding aircraft impacts,” stated Mr. Eye. “These new regulations are very specific and require the applicant to plan for catastrophic fires and/or explosions that would cause the loss of major critical functional components in the plant. After 9-11, an aircraft attack on a nuclear power plant is a real and credible threat. Moreover, fire hazards represent about half of the risk of a nuclear reactor meltdown. NRG’s noncompliance with these regulations puts citizens around South Texas Project in a dangerous position, which is completely unacceptable.” (more…)

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Week-End wrap-up: global warming is REAL, coal ash “too dangerous”

Posted in Coal, Energy, Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 12, 2009 |

For any of you global warming denier trolls lurking out there, here you finally have it: ANOTHER final study that undeniably shows a link between manmade greenhouse gas emissions and the warming that has occurred.

Yes, yes, and the sky is blue as well.  AND the Earth revolves around the sun.  I know most of us don’t need more scientific evidence that putting pollution in the atmosphere fundamentally disrupts the climate, but what is most interesting about this study is it calculates a precise amount of warming per ton of CO2 or equivalent:

Until now, it has been difficult to estimate how much climate will warm in response to a given carbon dioxide emissions scenario because of the complex interactions between human emissions, carbon sinks, atmospheric concentrations and temperature change. Matthews and colleagues show that despite these uncertainties, each emission of carbon dioxide results in the same global temperature increase, regardless of when or over what period of time the emission occurs.

These findings mean that we can now say: if you emit that tonne of carbon dioxide, it will lead to 0.0000000000015 degrees of global temperature change.

If we want to restrict global warming to no more than 2 degrees, we must restrict total carbon emissions — from now until forever — to little more than half a trillion tonnes of carbon, or about as much again as we have emitted since the beginning of the industrial revolution.

The full article will eb published in the June 11 edition of Nature.

And if that wasn’t enough, this from the HuffPo about coal ash:

Aerial photo of the Kingston fly ash spill

Aerial photo of the Kingston fly ash spill

Just how bad has the coal ash situation gotten in the United States? So bad that the Department of Homeland Security has told Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) that her committee can’t publicly disclose the location of coal ash dumps across the country.

The pollution is so toxic, so dangerous, that an enemy of the United States — or a storm or some other disrupting event — could easily cause them to spill out and lay waste to any area nearby.

There are 44 sites deemed by the Environmental Protection Agency to be high hazard, but Boxer said she isn’t allowed to talk about them other than to senators in the states affected. “There is a huge muzzle on me and my staff,” she said.

“Homeland Security and the Army Corps [of Engineers] have decided in the interests of national security they can’t make these sites known,” she said.

There are several hundred coal ash piles across the nation, she said, all of them unregulated.

“If these coal ash piles were to fail they’d pose a threat to the people nearby,” she said. While keeping it from the public, DHS is alerting first responders as to the location of the piles.

“I believe it is essential to let people know,” said Boxer, arguing that if people knew what was in their backyard they’d press public officials to clean it up and protect the area. “I think secrecy might lead to inaction…I am pressing on this.”

Especially in the wake of Kingston fly ash disaster, which was the worst environmental disaster ever in the US– worse even than the Exxon Valdez- this seems pretty simple to me: climate change is caused by greenhouse gases, coal is the major contributor to CO2 emissions, coal ash is so dangerous we can’t even know where the dumps are because of national security… so, let’s stop burning coal? That’s a solution so easy, it’s not surprising anyone in Washington (or for that matter, Austin) hasn’t proposed it.  Oh wait, we have.  It’s called a coal moratorium, and we should be doing it.  For more info, visit www.coalblock.org

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Perry Announces Special Session

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 11, 2009 |

rickperryEarlier this week, Governor Perry announced that he would, in fact, call back legislators for an extended special session.  What exactly this session will cover (voter ID? please no!) remains unclear, but the Governor has committed to addressing the “sunset safety net” bill that was left on the table.

The Houston Chronicle reports,

The governor had hoped to avoid a special session to keep intact the Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Department of Insurance, as well as three others that were not renewed, but calling lawmakers back to the Capitol proved to be the only option.

The other agencies are the Texas Racing Commission, which regulates horse and dog tracks; the Office of Public Insurance Counsel, which represents the public in insurance rate cases; and the State Affordable Housing Corporation, which links low-to-moderate-income people with potential home purchase lenders.

The five agencies are set to go out of existence on Sept. 1, 2010, because the legislation reauthorizing them did not pass.

If the specter of having no department at all for transportation, insurance, or affordable housing is scary enough to call a special session, I wonder what other issues the Governor will decide are important enough to address in a special session.

Certainly of note is the specter of Texas losing its leadership role in creating jobs tied to clean energy.  According to a new study by Pew Charitable Group on the clean energy economy, Texas ranks 2nd in businesses (4,802) and jobs (55,646) tied to the sector.

This is an exciting piece of information, especially considering that the clean energy industry grew twice as fast as the rest of the economy over the last decade.  Furthermore, Pew cited our renewable energy policies as a critical aspect of the state’s wind power explosion.

This information makes it even more painful that we weren’t able to pass similar legislation to jump-start Texas’ solar economy.  Especially when as soon as the session ended with solar still on the table, Tennessee Senators started saying they would be happy to take the solar jobs Texas snubbed.

Senator Jim Kyle of Memphis was actually quoted as saying, “Legislators in Texas have yanked the welcome mat for an industry that could pay huge dividends for their economy.  To any company that had an eye on Texas, we say come on up to Tennessee.”

Salt, meet my wounds.  Not only has Texas missed out on a great economic opportunity, but now we’re going to be one-upped by Tennessee? Unacceptable.

But with a special session upcoming, Texas may have another chance to revisit that solar legislation — which, by the way, passed with bipartisan support.  Everyone was on board for solar, we just ran out of time to get the nuts and bolts right.  Tragic.

Senator Rodney Ellis of Houston recently announced that he would like for the special session to take up lost clean energy legislation.  In a statement earlier this week, he said

Texas became rich from fossil fuels, but we could easily lose our position as an energy leader because of fossilized thinking. We could create far more wealth and jobs from wind and solar energy, but only we aggressively pursue clean energy opportunities. Unfortunately, we missed a golden opportunity this session one the governor should address if he calls a special session.

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Emergency preparedness at nuclear plants: Let’s discuss

Posted in Energy, Nuclear, tagged , , , , , on June 10, 2009 |

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will hold two public meetings tomorrow in Irving, Texas, on a proposed new rule that would change the emergency preparedness requirements for existing and proposed nuclear power plants. Since 9/11, there has been growing concern that the country’s 104 existing reactors are potential terrorist targets and are more vulnerable to major disasters if attacked. There is additional concern that the nuclear reactors being proposed across the country, six of which are in Texas, would not be able to sufficiently mitigate a terrorist attack such as by aircraft.

In their 2007 report, Nuclear Power in a Warming World, the Union of Concerned Scientists issued a set of recommendations that address shortcomings of current NRC regulations including a recommendation that the NRC treat the risks of sabotage and attacks on par with risks of nuclear accididents, and require all environmental reviews during licensing to consider such threats. This issue is particularly relevant to Texas because the NRC is currently hearing oral arguments by the SEED Coalition, Public Citizen, Rep. Lon Burnam, and the local citizen’s group True Cost of Nukes, who seek to intervene in the application by Luminant to expand the Comanche Peak nuclear plant near Glen Rose, Texas.

A contention regarding the lack of safeguards and emergency preparedness for the crash of an airliner into nuclear reactors is among the issues being raised by the groups, who point out that concerned citizens and groups have not had access to the full information needed in this regard.

Public Citizen intends to file comments on the proposed rule, which are due no later than August 3.

The meeting is an opportunity for the public to learn about the proposed rule and ask questions. It will take place at the Westin Dallas Fort Worth Airport; 4545 W. John Carpenter Freeway; Irving, Texas. The meeting will have two sessions, from 2:00 to 4:30 and from 7:00 to 9:30 PM.

The NRC press release for the meeting is available at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2009/09-019.iv.html.

For those who cannot attend in person, the meeting will be webcast. To participate, register ASAP at https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/8001607981/Registration.aspx?PageName=bg8044041h843dp2 and call in to 1-800-779-8609 (PIN 21726). For more information, contact Annette Stang with the NRC at 1-800-368-5642.

The proposed rule is published in the Federal Register at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-10947.pdf

The UCS report is available at http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/nuclear_power/nuclear-power-in-a-warming-world.pdf.

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Online/Mail Voting for PEC Board Election ends Friday!

Posted in Energy, tagged , , , , on June 8, 2009 |

vote-buttonDo you know some electric coops help their members get solar power and make their homes and businesses more energy efficient? It saves a lot on electric bills.

The Pedernales Electric Coop can adapt these kinds of programs… but the direction of the PEC depends on if the newly elected board really cares about clean energy.

Learn what candidates are saying at cleanenergyfortexas.org.

Vote online or by mail by this Friday — or you can vote at the annual members meeting in Johnson City on June 20th.

Listen to the radio spot here.  (paid for by Public Citizen Inc.)

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So Much for the Solar Session

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 1, 2009 |

Well, the sun has just about gone down on the so-called “solar session”.  Today is Sine Die — the last day of the legislative session.  Friday night, HB 1243 — solar’s last lifeline — was killed on the House floor.

Earlier in the week, Rep. Warren Chisum called for a strict enforcement of the House rules on germaneness.  As you may recall, last week we were pretty excited around here that the solar and electric coop reform bills were tacked onto the net metering bill because they were related enough to be considered germane.

But they weren’t germane enough under STRICT enforcement of the rules, so the bill was killed.

I waited to break the news, because we still had a chance to amend SB 545  to the energy efficiency bill, SB 546… but that didn’t work out either.  The House and Senate authors of the bill (Anchia and Fraser) simply could not agree over the size and scope of the solar and efficiency goals, so the bill never made it out of conference.

Its all rather depressing.  Feel free to join my Tom Waits/ James McMurtry/ Leonard Cohen Pandora radio station and wallow in grief.  Leave a comment and I’ll send you an invitation.  But no need to worry about Citizen Sarah getting dangerously down in the dumps… I’ve left my Townes Van Zandt CDs in the car, and am headed out to the river tomorrow.  Will be back to my chipper self before too long.

Plus… the session wasn’t a total loss.  It just wasn’t all that we dared hope for.  As of right now, here’s a list of bills that passed both bodies and will go to the Governor:

  • Green fleets legislation to promote low emissions and plug-in hybrid vehicles for fleets of major State Agencies (HB 432)
  • Legislation allowing cities to create financial districts to loan money for renewable power and energy efficiency (HB 1937)
  • Legislation setting a ‘no regrets’ strategy for greenhouse gas reduction in the State; a study of the state’s energy use to find ways to reduce our emissions and save money at the same time (SB 184)
  • A coordinated green jobs strategy including funds allocated for child care programs, vocational training initiatives, energy efficiency measures, the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), and/or any other recovery funds (passed as a Rider to Article 12)
  • Green fee bill passed allowing governing board of public colleges and universities to institute an environmental service fee once approved by student body election

Even now there is still good legislation pending that could maybe possibly potentially pass… but I’m just not at a point where I can get my hopes up anymore.  Check in later this week for an update.

For you policy nerds out there, I’m willing to get further into the nitty gritty politics of how all this went down if you’re interested.  Leave a note in the comments and let us know what you’d like to hear.

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Net Metering and Resurrected Solar Bill Passes Texas Senate

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 28, 2009 |

wewonLast night at 11:58 pm (wink, wink), just as we suspected would happen, the Texas Senate unanimously passed through the net metering bill, HB 1243, with solar SB 545 amended on as a bonus.  This is great news for Texas consumers, the environment, and solar power.

As you may recall, HB 1243 will ensure that owners of solar installations, small wind turbines, or biogas generators get paid a fair price for the excess power they produce.  SB 545 — which after the Voter ID slowdown, we thought was dead — increases incentives for distributed solar power generation by creating a pool of $500 million in solar rebates over the next 5 years.  It also calls for a pilot program with a minimum funding of $4 million to put solar on schools (nudge: the State Energy Conservation Office could potentially spend considerably more of their pending stimulus funds to further these projects) and will create thousands of green, local jobs across the state of Texas.

Another amendment to the bill added on SB 2349.  This provision would allow oil wells that create natural gas, but not enough to justify paying for collection, to build a generator to run the gas through, make electricity, and sell it back into the grid.  The bill would limit production to 2 MW so that they can provide distributed generation.  As of right now, they’re just flaring that gas off, so this is definitely a good thing.

According to our friends at Environment Texas (via the Houston Chronicle’s NewsWatch: Energy blog), the amended HB 1243 also

• Requires home builders to offer solar as a standard option in developments with 50 homes or more.

• Prevents homeowners associations from blocking solar panel installations

• Allows up to 70% of incentive funds to be used for utility-scale solar projects

• Allows the Public Utility Commission to extend the program for an additional five years and another $500 million if it determined that a “substantial” amount of manufacturing of solar generation products located in Texas after the initial five-year program

• Requires electric co-ops to allow consumers to interconnect solar to the grid

• Clarifies that consumers will not have to register as a utility and that third party ownership of solar is allowed

• For the next two years, requires retail electric providers to pay at least five cents per kilowatt hour for surplus solar and four cents for other renewable technologies and directs the PUC to determine a fair market price that will become a new “floor” following the two years

• Creates a “Made in Texas” program to certify and encourage Texans to buy locally manufactured solar panels and other energy products.  As a result, locally produced products qualify for a 20% larger rebate than imports.

Now that HB 1243 has successfully passed through both chambers of the legislature, we’ve just got to wait and see what comes out of conference committee, where bill authors from both sides will smooth out the differences between their bills.  Many thanks to all of you that wrote e-mails and made phone calls in support of these bills.  This is a tremendous victory for Texas solar.  Keep your fingers crossed that we can send this bill to Governor Perry’s desk!

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Good Day (for Texas) Sunshine!

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 28, 2009 |

[vimeo 4890600]

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A Ray of Hope for Solar Power

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 27, 2009 |

Earlier this morning, I offered the consolation that bills which died due to the Voter ID debacle could be revived as amendments to other bills.  This afternoon, I’m keeping an eye on the Senate to see if my solar dreams will come true.

rays-of-hopeThis afternoon, the Senate has HB 1243 on their intent calendar.  HB 1243 is a “net metering” bill which would ensure that owners of solar installations, small wind turbines, or biogas generators get paid a fair price for the excess power they produce.  As HB 1243 is a solar-related bill, it can be deemed germane, or related, to solar SB 545, which “died” last night (as a reference, I’d also recommend this Houston Chronicle article).

Which means that SB 545 can (maybe, possibly) be amended to HB 1243.  Tentative huzzah!

It gets better.  HB 1243 is co-authored by Senator Troy Fraser — the same fellow who sponsored SB 545.  As both of these bills are Fraser’s babies, the chances of SB 545 living on as an amendment are looking pretty good.

Senator Fraser has yet another opportunity with this bill to fix a gaping hole in the 500 MW non-wind renewable portfolio standard (RPS) passed last session.  When this bill was passed, the RPS was described as a “goal” rather than a “target” — which due to a rather frustrating determination by the PUC, means that it can be interpreted as a recommendation rather than a requirement. Fraser was heard in committee calling this determination “the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard.”  Translation: PUC has decided they don’t actually have to do anything to work toward that 500 MW of non-wind renewables.

fraserDuring these dark, cloudy times at the Texas legislature, Senator Fraser can shine a ray of hope into the Senate chamber.  He can create a pool of $500 million in solar rebates over the next 5 years, start a pilot program to put solar on schools, and create as many as thousands of green, local jobs in one fell swoop.  He can fix net metering so that individuals get a fair buy-back for the excess electricity they produce and actually have an incentive to shell out the cash for a new solar installation.  He can also ensure that Texas ends up with an additional 500 MW of non-wind renewables.

So cross your fingers, cross your toes… cross your arms and legs if you think it will help.  If Senator Fraser is your representative, give him a nudge — but otherwise, I’d stick to chanting.

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Act Now To Stop New Coal and Nuclear Subsidy

Posted in Coal, Energy, Nuclear, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 25, 2009 |

nuke plantA bill currently moving in the Texas Legislature, HB 4525, would create new state subsidy of $50 million each for new nuclear and coal plants.

We need your help to stop this pork bill from passing.  Call your Senator now and tell them that nuclear power doesn’t need taxpayer help!

Although the claim of HB 4525 is that subsidies are necessary to attract new manufacturing plants to Texas, the bill would actually primarily reward plants already intending to build here with a totally unjustified housewarming gift.

In particular, the two nuclear projects singled out by the Legislative Budget Board analysis as the most likely beneficiaries of these subsidies –the South Texas Project and Comanche Peak — are expansions of existing complexes.  We aren’t in danger of these facilities relocating to out of state, and giving them $50 million a pop “to stay” is an extravagant waste of taxpayer money.

At a time of economic crisis, when state tax revenues are plummeting, Texas cannot afford to give that kind of money away, especially to such financially and environmentally risky projects.

Nuclear plants are already the most heavily subsidized energy industry in the United States at both the state and federal level. Coal plants are heavily subsidized as well, and the Texas Legislature is currently considering two new subsidies for “clean coal” projects. Considering the likelihood that a cap-and-trade bill will take effect soon, this is the wrong time to be adding financial support to the quickly changing energy industry.

Call your Senator today, and tell them to STOP this new coal and nuclear subsidy by voting NO on HB 4525.

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House Calendars Committee Has Ultimate Power over Solar

Posted in Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 21, 2009 |

Bad news from the big pink dome. Looks like two of our key bills to promote solar power this session, SB 545 (Fraser/Strama) and SB 541 (Watson/Farabee) are getting stuck in the gummy gears of the legislative process. These bills have both made it through committee and the Senate, but still need to be voted on by the House. Unfortunately, they may never make it that far due to the tremendous power of a little group called the House Committee on Calendars.

At this point, Calendars has an incredible amount of power over what bills will make it to become laws this session. There are now just ten days left before sine die, and hundreds of bills left waiting to go to the House floor. Calendars is like the legislative bouncer at this point, only letting certain skinny, sexy, well-dressed bills into the club.

SB 545 has yet to come out of Calendars, and SB 541 hasn’t even made it onto the list yet. If 541 isn’t at least on the list by tomorrow, it is dead. If 545 hasn’t made it from the list and into the club by Sunday, it’ll be the bill’s last chance to shine.

You think old Bill had it had it bad, at least he didn’t have a Calendars committee to hold him up.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouZTIqcvb30]

House Reps on the Calendars committee need to hear that these bills are necessary to jump-start Texas’ solar future. If one of the following members is YOUR representative, please give them a call today and tell them that you want these solar bills moved up the calendar and out to the dance House floor!!

Rep. Brian McCall (Chair) — (512) 463-0594

Rep. Eddie Lucio III (Vice Chair) — (512) 463-0606

Rep. Norma Chavez — (512) 463-0622

Rep. Garnet Coleman — (512) 463-0524

Rep. Byron Cook — (512) 463-0730

Rep. Brandon Creighton — (512) 463-0726

Rep. Charlie Geren — (512) 463-0610

Rep. Jim Keffer — (512) 463-0656

Rep. Lois W. Kolkhorst — (512) 463-0600

Rep. Jim McReynolds — (512) 463-0490

Rep. Allan Ritter — (512) 463-0706

Rep. Burt R. Solomons — (512) 463-0478

Note: Word on the street is that the Calendars committee has locked its door and taken the phone off the hook.  How’s that for open government?  This shouldn’t keep you from calling individual members though, their offices will still be answering the phone.

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Public Safety Victory in California over Pet-coke Plant Dispute

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Toxics, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 19, 2009 |

Carson, California was recently on the path to becoming home to a pet-coke power plant, situated conveniently next door to the BP Carson refinery. The project, though touted as the “cleanest and greenest of energy plants possible,” would really have been an environmental and possibly a public safety nightmare. Luckily the project was scrapped, largely due to the activities of the Wilmington Coalition for a Safe Environment and other grassroots organizers.

Pet-coke, short for Petroleum Coke, is a petroleum by-product that can be burned to produce energy in a manner similar to coal. The proposed plant, which would have been built by BP America in conjunction with Edison International, would burn pet-coke as a means of producing energy — hydrogen. 90% of the carbon dioxide used would be pumped into the Wilmington oil field (This is a common method of enhanced oil recovery. The CO2 pushes the oil closer to the surface, making recovery more economic), which is a massive oil field stretching through Los Angeles county from San Pedro Bay to Long Beach. Needless to say, much of the land above this oil field is heavily populated with Los Angeles residents.

Recently I was able talk with Jesse Marquez, founder and Chief Director of Wilmington Coalition for a Safe Environment, about his victory over BP and Occidental and why this proposal was such a bad idea. (more…)

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Countdown: 13 Days Left in Legislative Session, 7 High Priority Bills Left

Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Renewables, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 19, 2009 |

Original post found at Alliance for a Clean Texas.

With the deadline for House bills to pass third reading last Friday at midnight, the 81st Session entered its final phase. The good news is that seven of ACT’s high priority bills have made it to the last two weeks of the session. Here’s a run-down of the bills’ current status:

SB 545 Fraser —  Passed the Senate; currently in House Committee on Energy Resources

SB 541 Watson — Passed the Senate; currently in House Committee on State Affairs

SB 546 Fraser — Passed both Senate and House

HB 280 Anchia — SB 546 is companion (HB 280 made it through House)

SB 16 Averitt — Passed the Senate; committee substitute adopted by House Committee on Environmental Regulation (5/18).

HB 1553 Burnam —  Left pending in House Calendars Committee (no longer moving)

SB 184 Watson — Passed Senate; in House Committee on Environmental Regulation

HB 821 Leibowitz —  Passed House; in Senate Committee on Business and Commerce

HB 300 Isett —  Passed House; in Senate Committee on Transportation & Homeland Security

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