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2011 – A year of billion dollar weather disasters

December 8, 2011 by Citizen Carol

As 2011 winds to a close, the Weather Channel reports that it has been a volatile year of weather across the United States and the tally of weather-related disasters exceeding a billion dollars set a record for the most billion-dollar weather disasters in a single year earlier this year and now the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) has tacked on another two events to list.

To date, there have been a twelve billion-dollar disasters with a combined cost exceeding $50 billion and a winter storm is heading toward the highly populated East Coast threatening more flooding before the end of the calendar year. The previous record for a single year, since records began in 1980, was nine in 2008.

The additions were to split wildfires and drought into two separate categories plus another severe thunderstorm/tornado event in June. Evaluations are still underway for several other extreme events this year, including Tropical Storm Lee and “Snowtober”. However, the available data to NCDC at this time keeps them below $1 billion.

Below is Weather.com’s look back at these twelve disasters starting with Hurricane Irene and ending with the Groundhog Day Blizzard.

Hurricane Irene

Irene’s path history
  • Irene made its initial landfall over coastal North Carolina and moved northward along the Mid-Atlantic Coast before making a final landfall over New York City as a tropical storm.
  • Highlights:     Caused torrential rainfall and catastrophic flooding in portions of the Northeast. Wind damage in coastal N.C., Va., and Md. was moderate with considerable damage from falling trees and power lines. More than 7 million lost power from Hurricane Irene. Coastal erosion was severe in portions of the North Carolina Outer Banks.
  • Caused more than $7.3 billion in damage and 45 fatalities in the U.S.

Upper Midwest Flooding

River flooding in Minot, N.D. Image: AP
  • Current economic losses are estimated to exceed $2 billion dollars.
  • Highlights: Estimated 11,000 evacuated from Minot, N.D. where estimated 4,000 homes flooded from the Souris River. Numerous levees breached on Missouri River, flooding thousands of acres of farmland.
  • The flooding was caused by melting of an above-average northern Rockies snowpack, and heavy spring and early summer rainfall.
  • Top 10 wettest Jan – July in N. Dakota, S. Dakota, and Montana. Records date back to 1895.
  • A major concern with the flood was rising waters that infiltrated a nuclear power plant on the river whose flood controls nearly failed.
Mississippi River Flooding
River flooding in Memphis (Image credit: NASA)
  • Current economic losses are estimated between $3 billion to $4 billion dollars.
  • Preliminary breakdown:$500 million to agriculture in Arkansas, $320 million in damage to Memphis, Tenn., $800 million to agriculture in Mississippi, $317 million to agriculture and property in Missouri’s Birds Point-New Madrid Spillway, $80 million for the first 30 days of flood-fighting efforts in Louisiana.
  • The flooding was caused by heavy rains in April from northern Arkansas and southern Missouri to the Ohio Valley. This water all flowed downstream into the Mississippi River, resulting in record flooding.
  • April was the wettest month on record in Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee all finished with a top five wettest April.
Major impacts spring into summer in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, southern Kansas, and western Arkansas and Louisiana.
  • Much of the range and pasture conditions were rated very poor in Texas and Oklahoma throughout the 2011 crop growing season.
  • Total direct losses to agriculture and cattle are approaching $10 billion.
  • The Texas state climatalogist is predicting the state is in a multi-year drought pattern and that the state can expect the drought and high heat conditions to continue into the 2012 summer.  Some communities are already out of water and are not expected to recover for quite some time.  In the meantime, this summer had record breaking heat shattering records right and left (Austin 90 days of 100+ degree days, blasting past the previous record of 69 days set in 1925, and other Texas cities set similar records)
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona Wildfires (Spring-Fall 2011) 
Las Conchas wildfire in New Mexico (AP photo)
  • Drought conditions and extreme heat fueled a series of wildfires across these states.
  • Bastrop Fire in Texas – Most destructive fire in Texas history. Over 3 million acres were burned across Texas this year.
  • Wallow Fire in Arizona – Consumed over 500,000 acres, making it the largest fire in Arizona history (See Photos).
  • Las Conchas fire in New Mexico – Largest fire in New Mexico history, consuming over 150,000 acres
  • Total losses from wildfire activity across all three states exceeds $1 billion.

June 18-22 Midwest/Southeast Tornadoes and Severe Weather 

Tornado near Benedict, Neb. on June 20, 2011 (iWitness Weather user mistyand chad)
  • Outbreak of 81 tornadoes over central states (OK, TX, KS, NE, MO, IA, IL)
  • Additional wind/hail damage over TN, GA, NC and SC.
  • More than $1.3 billion in total losses.
May 22-27 Tornadoes and Severe Storm Damage  
Destruction in Joplin, Mo. (AP photo)
  • Severe storms and an estimated 180 tornadoes hit a large swath of the country from the Midwest to the South and Northeast. Insured losses are more than $6.5 billion. Total losses are greater than $9.1 billion.
  • EF5 tornado demolishes Joplin, Mo. on May 22, resulting in 158 fatalities. An EF2 tornado killed one in Minneapolis on the same day.
  • An EF5 tornado carved a 75-mile path across Oklahoma on May 24, including near El Reno, Piedmont and Guthrie. A total of 18 people lost their lives as a result of tornadoes that day in Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas.
  
April 25-28 Tornado Outbreak  
Tuscaloosa, Ala., tornado
  • Massive outbreak of severe thunderstorms and estimated 343 tornadoes from the South into portions of the Midwest and Northeast. Total losses are now estimated to be at $10.2 billion.
  • 321 fatalities combined in Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia. Of those, 240 occurred in Alabama.
  • A deadly EF4 tornado hit the Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Birmingham, Ala., metro areas.
  • EF5 tornadoes struck Smithville, Miss., Philadelphia, Miss., Hackleburg–Phil Campbell, Ala., Dekalb County, Ala.
April 14-16 Tornado Outbreak
Damage in Tushka, Okla. (AP photo)
  • Three-day siege of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes from the central and southern Plains to Mississippi, Alabama, Virginia and the Carolinas. Total damage estimate over $2.1 billion.
  • Preliminary number of tornadoes: 177
  • Both the Jackson, Miss., and Raleigh, N.C., metro areas were hit by tornadoes.
  • 38 fatalities combined in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia.
April 8-11 Tornadoes and Severe Storm Damage
A truck was tossed into this basement in Pocahontas County, Iowa (Image credit: yfrog.com ktivnews)
  • Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes hit portions of the Midwest, South and Plains. Total damage estimate of more than $2.2 billion.
  • Severe damage and several injuries were caused by a tornado in Pulaski, Va., on April 8.
  • An EF3 tornado leveled Mapleton, Iowa, on April 9 .
  • At least 14 confirmed tornadoes in Wisconsin on April 10, a record for any April day in the state. An EF3 tornado heavily damaged Merrill, Wis.
April 4-5 Severe Thunderstorm Outbreak
Tree crushes a car in Memphis, Tenn. (Image credit: twitgoo.com OOHH_My)
  • A massive wind damage event with tornadoes swept from the Ohio Valley to the South and mid-Atlantic. Total damage estimate is greater than $2.8 billion.
  • More than 1,350 damaging wind reports. Estimated 46 tornadoes.
Jan. 29-Feb. 3 ‘Groundhog Day Blizzard’
Cars abandoned in Chicago (Source: twitpic.com/EddiesTPWong)
  • Affected many central and eastern states, causing at least $1.8 billion in total losses.
  • Chicago recorded its biggest 24-hour snow total with 20 inches. Tulsa, Okla., was buried under 14 inches.

Posted in Global Warming | Tagged , , |

Rerouting Keystone XL: From Poisoned Aquifers to Polluted Land

December 7, 2011 by Citizen Carol

This is a guest blog by departing Public Citizen intern Chantelle B.

In recent months, Nebraska’s government has taken a strong stand against the Keystone XL Pipeline’s route, which currently passes through the ecologically fragile Sandhills region and North America’s largest aquifer – the Ogallala – which, if polluted, could have disastrous effects. The majority of this aquifer lies under Nebraska, and provides the state with 70% of its freshwater.  But the Ogallala aquifer’s importance goes beyond Kansas.  It is one of the most important sources of water in the Plains Region, used for residential and industrial purposes as well as agriculture, the base of the economy in the area. Texas is one of the leading states irrigating from the aquifer, accounting for about 40% of Texas’ water use.  Officials in the Nebraskan State government, such as Governor David Heinman, have signed a bill to ensure that TransCanada will not be able to build their behemoth of a Pipeline through the precious Sandhills region.

On November 10th, President Obama delayed the date for granting TransCanada a permit to construct the Pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border until after the 2012 Presidential elections. One component of the President’s decision to postpone the Pipeline’s construction was to ensure a Department of State-approved rerouting that satisfies Nebraska’s demands. Unfortunately for the environment, Nebraskans are showing a proclivity to support the Pipeline generally, and only stress the environmental importance of the delicate Ogallala and Sandhills region. TransCanada is set to collaborate with the Nebraska department of environmental quality and the DoS, which will audit its alternate route to ensure it avoids the regions in question, making it only marginally more environmentally sound. However, TransCanada’s President for Energy and Oil Pipelines, Alex Pourbaix, still affirms his belief that the Pipeline would have been equally safe even if the original route were implemented.

Although a new route will protect the most ecologically sensitive locations in Nebraska, there remains the problem that a daughter project already in play, the Keystone 1 Pipeline in the northern Great Plains, has already exceeded its projected spill figures. Despite TransCanada’s prediction that this smaller pipeline would spill around 11 times throughout its lifetime of approximately 50 years, it has already had more than it’s lifetime number of spills within its first year of operation. So while the Sandhills region and Ogallala may be spared from catastrophe the land traversed in the new route will still be subject to as devastating a fate, like the 6 story geyser of diluted bitumen seen in the worst Keystone 1 spill.

Everyone in the way of this pipeline should become aware of the history of ecological damage these types of pipelines have already experienced.  And those of us near the terminous – where heavy crude oil refineries may be gearing up to refine this most polluting of all crudes, spilling more toxins into the air around Houston, Beaumont and Port Arthur, TX or the ports will load large ships with the diluted bitumen and send them out into the Gulf of Mexico – well, we have other pollution worries to consider.

Posted in Air Quality, Water | Tagged , , , |

Fishing: A great pasttime, but you may not want to eat that fish without checking the state’s mercury advisories

December 6, 2011 by Citizen Carol

One of the great things about living in Texas is our winters are mild enough that many outdoor activities are year round activities, including fishing.  BUT . . ., before you eat that fish, be sure to check out the mercury advisories for the state’s waterways on the Texas Department of Health website to make sure that fish is safe to eat – especially for children and pregnant women.

The main source of mercury in Texas waterways comes from coal fired power plants.  Check out www.stopthecoalplant.org for more information.

Posted in Global Warming | Tagged , , , |

What You Need to Know About the Perils in Gas Well Leases

December 2, 2011 by Citizen Carol

According to a story in the New York Times, landowners across the country have signed millions of leases allowing companies to drill for oil and natural gas on their land, but some of these landowners — often in rural areas, and lured by the promise of quick payouts — are finding out too late what is, and what is not, in the fine print.

Energy company officials say that standard leases include language that protects landowners. But a review of more than 111,000 leases, addenda and related documents by The New York Times suggests otherwise:

  • Fewer than half the leases require companies to compensate landowners for water contamination after drilling begins. And only about half the documents have language that lawyers suggest should be included to require payment for damages to livestock or crops.
  • Most leases grant gas companies broad rights to decide where they can cut down trees, store chemicals, build roads and drill. Companies are also permitted to operate generators and spotlights through the night near homes during drilling.
  • In the leases, drilling companies rarely describe to landowners the potential environmental and other risks that federal laws require them to disclose in filings to investors.
  • Most leases are for three or five years, but at least two-thirds of those reviewed by The Times allow extensions without additional approval from landowners. If landowners have second thoughts about drilling on their land or want to negotiate for more money, they may be out of luck.

The leases — obtained through open records requests — are mostly from gas-rich areas in Texas.  If you want to read the entire New York Times story, click here.

Posted in Consumers | Tagged , , |

Texas, Neither the Worst Run State Nor the Best Run State: Where do we rank?

December 1, 2011 by Citizen Carol

For the second year, 24/7 Wall St. has reviewed data on financial, health, standard of living and government services by state to determine how well each state is managed. Based on this data, 24/7 Wall St. ranked the 50 states from the best to worst run. The best-run state is Wyoming. The worst-run  state is California. And Texas falls right in the middle at 25 but we tie with California for worst in the country in one category.

25. Texas

  • State debt per capita: $1,240 (2nd  lowest)
  • Pct. without health insurance: 23.7% (the highest)
  • Pct.  below poverty line: 17.0% (9th highest)
  • Unemployment: 8.5% (23rd  highest)

Texas managed to spend the third least per capita in 2009, and as a partial  consequence has the second lowest debt per capita, a mere $1,240 per person.  Austere spending comes at a price, however. Nearly a quarter of the state’s  residents are without health insurance. Also, only 80.9% of Texans 25 years or  older graduated from high school. While this is an improvement from its 2003  rate of 77%, it is tied with California for worst among all states.

Read more:  Best and Worst Run States in America — An Analysis Of All 50 – 24/7 Wall St.

Posted in Good Government | Tagged , |

Drought and coal-fired power plants don’t mix

November 29, 2011 by Citizen Carol

According to the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), at the end of summer 2011, Texas had suffered the driest 10 months since record keeping began in 1895.  Rivers, like the Brazos, actually dried up.

And if that wasn’t enough, the dry weather came with brutal heat.  So brutal, that seven cities recorded at least 80 days above 100°F (Austin logged 90 days and Wichita Falls had 100 days over 100°F, 12 of which were over 110°F).  This left air conditioners around the state straining to keep up, shattering records for the state’s electricity demand, topping 68,000 megawatts in early August. This combination of dry weather and excessive heat, and high electric demand suddenly made state planners begin to take notice of the water-intensive nature of coal plants.

Most electricity power plants require large amounts of water. Coal-fired plants alone account for 67 percent of freshwater withdrawals by the power sector and for 65 percent of the water completely consumed by it. Newer plants include air-cooling or “dry cooling” technologies, but so many plants rely on water-cooling that they accounted for 41 percent of the withdrawals of freshwater in the United States in 2005, according to the United States Geological Survey.

In Texas this summer, one plant had to curtail nighttime operations because the drought had reduced the amount of water available and that which was available was too hot to bring down the temperature of water discharged from the plant. In East Texas, other plant owners had to bring in water from other rivers so they could continue to operate and meet demand for electricity.

Proposed plants were also facing scrutiny around their water use.  The White Stallion coal plant, near Bay City south of Houston, was opposed by a wide variety of Colorado River water users and the LCRA ended up pulling the proposed plant’s 25,000 acre-feet/year water permit from its agenda indefinitely. Citizens of Sweetwater in west Texas were outraged upon hearing that the city was secretly negotiating sale of water rights for a so-called clean coal project.

If the drought persists into the following year (and the State Climatologist has predicted that it is likely much of the state will still be in severe drought through next August with even worse water shortages), the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT – the operators of the electricity grid) has warned that power cuts on the scale of thousands of megawatts are possible.

Texas Water Development Board warns that the state’s water shortage is structural. A structural water shortage is a permanent water shortage that can only be addressed through a structural change such as a reduction in agriculture, population or firm water users (such as traditional power plants) or, increasing water supplies by creating lakes (like we did after the 1950s multi-year drought), setting up desalination plants on the coast or piping water in from another state.  All of these options are dramatic and expensive.

As of this writing, the state needs 18 million acre-feet of water, and it has 17 million acre-feet available to it. By 2060, the state is expected to need 22 million acre-feet but only have 15.3 million acre-feet available to it. Because some dry areas simply can’t have water piped, the total shortfall is projected to be 8.3 million acre-feet. Roughly, Texans will have 2 gallons of water available for every 3 gallons they need.

Adding new coal plants or other intense water use generators to this mix is not part of a sane water policy for a state facing a structural water shortage.  Even ERCOT is taking a closer look at coastal wind generation and solar to provide power during peak energy periods (You know, that time of the day – from 3 to 6 or 7 pm – when the temperatures are the hottest and the air conditioners strain to keep us cool).  This current weather pattern may be the push the state needs to move toward a new energy future for the state.

Posted in Coal Plants, Utilities, Water | Tagged , , , |

Polluters complain to Congress about new EPA rules, but tell SEC their bottom line will be fine.

November 28, 2011 by Citizen Carol

According to the Associated Press, across the land, large and small polluters have regaled Republican-led congressional committees with dire predictions of plant closings and layoffs if the EPA succeeds with plans to further curb air and water pollution.

But their message to financial regulators and investors conveys less gloom and uncertainty.

The Associated Press compared the companies’ congressional testimony to company reports submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The reports to the SEC consistently said the impact of environmental proposals is unknown or would not cause serious financial harm to a firm’s finances.

Companies argue that their less gloomy SEC filings are correct, since most of the tougher anti-pollution proposals have not been finalized. And their officials’ testimony before congressional committees was sometimes on behalf of — and written by — trade associations, a perspective that can differ from an individual company’s view.

The disparity in the messages shows that in a politically divided environment, business has no misgivings about describing potential economic horror stories to lawmakers.

California Rep. Henry Waxman, the senior Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said the SEC filings “show that the anti-regulation rhetoric in Washington is political hot air with little or no connection to reality.”

The lesson here, is – every time a company threatens gloom and doom consequences from regulation, we should also take a look at what they are saying to the SEC and their stockholders.

Posted in Air Quality | Tagged , , |

Pipelines of Poison Sidestep Stalled State Department Signoff

November 21, 2011 by Citizen Carol

Foreign Pipeline Owners Find a Way to Get Around Federal Permit Process

TransCanada is attempting to outsmart the State Department and bypass federal blocks by using two existing pipelines of poison after the State Department and President Obama delayed approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline permit amidst concerns about bias, conflicts of interest, and environmental issues,  If implemented the pipeline of poison will pose serious threats to Texas water resources that supply 12 million in East Texas and the Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston metropolises, and our climate.  The groups are urging Texans to contact their local and state officials and ask them to stop the pipelines of poison.

“TransCanada is attempting to mislead the public and circumvent the regulatory mandates of Presidential approval, environmental review and public participation,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of the Texas office of Public Citizen.  “They are now proposing to connect their Gulf Coast Segment (from Cushing, OK to Port Arthur and Houston, TX) into the end of their existing Keystone 1 pipeline.  Make that foreign tar sands corporations – 1: the United States – 0.”

“We also believe that Enbridge also plans to do the same by connecting their proposed Wrangler pipeline that runs from Cushing, OK to Houston TX to their existing Spearhead pipeline system that runs from Canada to Cushing, OK. It would be a serious mistake to allow these pipelines to carry toxic tar sands across Texas land,” continued Smith.

Threats to Texas Water Sources

These two pipelines of poison – TransCanada’s Gulf Coast Segment and Enbridge’s Wrangler – would pose serious threats to Texas water resources, including aquifers, drinking and agricultural water resources for up to 12 million Texans in Dallas, Houston and East Texas.

Tar Sands Pipeline Affected Texas WaterwaysTransCanada’s pipeline would cross the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer, the Trinity Aquifer and the Gulf Coast Aquifer.  It would traverse 16 large rivers several of which are listed as sensitive and protected, and cross over more than 130 designated floodplain areas in Texas.  These rivers and drainages feed 21 lakes and municipal reservoirs, including Pat Mayse Lake, Lake Tyler and Lake Cypress Springs.

“TransCanada’s Keystone 1 pipeline has already leaked 14 times in its first year,” said Chris Wilson, a chemical engineering consultant for opponents of the pipeline.  “How can we trust them to build it better and not endanger the waterways in Texas?”

In 2011, one of Enbridge’s pipelines leaked over 1 million gallons of tar sands into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.  Clean-up efforts have cost over $700 million, it’s still not cleaned-up and people and animals are sick and communities are poisoned.

“Sadly, this is what happens when there are no federal pipeline safety regulations and effective cleanup procedure for toxic tar sands spills,” continued Ms. Wilson.  “Tar sands are not like crude oil which floats on water, they are heavier and they sink, making cleanup much more difficult if not impossible.  Congress should protect the public and put an immediate halt on all tar sands pipelines until studies are completed, safety regulations are enacted and effective spill remediation procedures are put in place.”

Other Threats to Texas

“Despite the fact that TransCanada and Enbridge imply that they might not have to undergo environmental review our analysis has identified several major environmental hazards and key red flags to the project that are cause for concern and require addressing,” said Karen Hadden, Executive Director of the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition.  “These include:

  • Toxic spills that would threaten drinking and agricultural water resources for up to 12 million Texans in Dallas, Houston and East Texas;
  • Exposure to benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAH’S) and heavy metals;
  • Increases in toxic refinery emissions, greenhouse gases, climate change and associated Environmental Justice issues in the end of market refinery communities in Texas;
  • Increases in refinery wastewater toxicity, toxic solid waste volume and spent catalyst toxicity ;
  • Lack of federal safety pipeline standards and spill remediation standards for tar sands pipelines;
  • Drought and wildfire in Texas;
  • Lack of Emergency Response Plans for volunteer fire departments to address pipeline fires; and
  • Eminent domain abuses, threats and bullying of TX landowners.”

Threats to the Health of Texans

The crude oil that would flow through the pipeline is known as diluted bitumen, or dilbit.  Federal safety officials don’t know precisely which chemicals TransCanada mixes with bitumen to create dilbit, including the levels of benzene used in the diluents. And even industry groups can’t say exactly how corrosive dilbit is.

“The U.S. EPA raised serious health risks over benzene in the diluents in a June 2011 letter to the U.S. State Department based on ambient air data at the Kalamazoo river spill”, stated Dr. Neil Carman, Clean Air Program Director of the Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter.  “In a tar sands pipeline spill Benzene easily volatilizes into the air at ambient temperatures allowing inhalation exposure to occur, its toxicity results in immediate health effects in the low parts per billion range.  Benzene also poses a water contamination risk at low concentrations.”

“These characteristics make benzene the most dangerous chemical to human health in a tar sands pipeline spill because it is a known human carcinogenic agent,” Carman emphasized.  “Short-term benzene exposures may cause a variety of health effects, including nausea, vomiting, dizziness, narcosis, reduction in blood pressure, and central nervous system depression as reported in Michigan from the Kalamazoo tar sands spill in July 2010 where high levels (15,000 parts per billion) were measured in the air.”

Finally, Carman noted that, “Tar sands bitumen contains 11X more sulfur and nickel, 5X more lead, and higher levels of other toxic substances (arsenic, chromium, vanadium, boron, and zinc) compared to conventional crude oil.”  Carman concluded, “The higher toxicity of tar sands bitumen will result in increased toxic emissions in refinery communities already overburdened with too much air pollution where environmental justice issues have been ignored by the state and the oil firms.”

Threats to Air Quality and Climate Change

NASA’s James Hansen, a leading climate scientist who rang the first alarm bells nearly 30 years ago, has called the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline “game over” for the climate.

According to a recent US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assessment, tar sands emissions are approximately twice those of conventional oil, making tar sands well-to-tank emissions approximately 82% higher than conventional oil.

“Tar sands oil is far dirtier than conventional crude oil,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen’s Texas office.  “This will significantly increase emissions from Houston and Beaumont refineries, which will further put the region beyond the ability to meet federal air quality standards.”

“The DFW area won’t fare much better as pumps are situated at 20- to 100-mile-intervals along the length of the pipeline to “push” the tar sands crude,” continued Smith. “Pipeline pumps may be powered by burning diesel or natural gas, or by using electricity (which may come from burning natural gas or coal at power plants that feed the area).  This will add to the emissions blowing into the DFW area.”

What Can Be Done If Foreign Corporations Circumvent U.S. Regulatory Process

Texans should contact their elected officials regarding their concerns about TransCanada’s Gulf Coast and Enbridge’s Wrangler proposed tar sands pipelines and they should ask their elected officials to join together to protect Texans from the dangers of toxic tar sands pipeline spills and impacts to end-of-market refinery communities.  The Texas Legislature needs to study tar sands, hold interim hearing about tar sands and work together with their constituents to assure that Texans water, air, land and health are not harmed by toxic tar sands.

Cites:

Posted in Air Quality, Global Warming, Tarsands | Tagged , , , , |

Federal Regulatory Accountability Act Puts the Public in Harm’s Way

November 19, 2011 by Citizen Carol

In a state where regulatory issues are driven by “crony capitalism” a  has proposed federal bill could give industry a blank check here in Texas.

The Regulatory Accountability Act (RAA) (S. 1606/H.R. 3010) is a radical measure that would severely weaken laws that protect our health, safety and the environment. A new paper from the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards, Impacts of the Regulatory Accountability Act: Overturning 65 Years of Law and Leaving Americans Less Protected, reveals how the proposed bill would cripple the federal regulatory process, placing the public in harm’s way.

“The striking examples in this paper show that the Regulatory Accountability Act is designed to undermine our regulatory system, not improve it,” said Katherine McFate, president of OMB Watch. “For decades, agencies have been working to make our air and water cleaner, to improve the safety of the products we buy for our homes and families, and to reduce our children’s exposure to highly toxic lead. This legislation would make their work harder, and everyday Americans would feel the consequences.”

The RAA not only would change procedural and evidentiary requirements, but also would add more delays and set an even higher bar than currently exists for issuing needed protections. In effect, the bill would hamstring all rulemaking agencies and squander their resources, hurting the American people in the process.

The RAA would negatively impact rulemaking in several key ways:

  • Making the “least costly” rule the default choice, instead of promoting the public good
  • Super-mandating cost-benefit analysis even when it would be misapplied
  • Shifting to formal rulemaking processes that thwart appropriate give and take
  • Eliminating hybrid rulemaking that is often the best approach
  • Allowing judicial review of all agency judgments, undermining scientific findings

Agencies have already had unconstructive experiences with similar formal rulemaking procedures and a “least costly” rule provision; industry has used them to interfere with and delay commonsense standards and safeguards.

A classic example of this is the Food and Drug Administration’s “peanut butter” rule, which was developed several decades ago. After a July 1959 press release revealed that the largest brands of peanut butter contained only 20 percent peanuts, the FDA began the rulemaking process according to the formal rulemaking procedures provided in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). The FDA’s proposed rule provided that peanut butter must contain at least 95 percent peanuts; however, after recognizing that consumers preferred peanut butter that spread more easily, the FDA reduced the standard to 90 percent in 1961. The industry petitioned the FDA for a formal hearing (in accordance with the formal rulemaking provisions in the FDCA) to argue for the standard to be set at 87 percent. The formal hearing alone added almost five months to the rulemaking process and resulted in a transcript of approximately 8,000 pages primarily discussing whether peanut butter should contain 87 percent or 90 percent peanuts.

Nine years later, in July 1968, the FDA finalized the standard at 90 percent. Yet, the battle continued for another two years as a result of the industry’s challenge of the rule in the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Ultimately, the court affirmed the agency’s finding, noting that, based on the formal record, even if 87 percent was a reasonable alternative, the FDA’s 90 percent standard was equally reasonable and thus should not be overturned.

The paper highlights many other examples of how the Regulatory Accountability Act would severely impede the federal government’s ability to protect its citizens.

Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen added, “The RAA aims to hamstring consumer, environmental and other regulating agencies and empower Big Business to stop agencies from issuing new rules. The bill delivers a clear message: Giant corporations should not be subject to law and order.”

Click here to read the full white paper – Impacts of the Regulatory Accountability Act: Overturning 65 Years of Law and Leaving Americans Less Protected – by the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards.

Posted in Good Government | Tagged , , , |

Does climate change influence extreme weather events?

November 18, 2011 by Citizen Carol

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) today released a special report on the influence of climate change on extreme weather events. In the United States, Americans have endured a record-setting series of extreme weather events in 2011, including the Mississippi floods, record high summer temperatures, and severe drought in Texas and Oklahoma.

In a November 2011 national survey, the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication found that a majority of Americans believe global warming made the following events worse:

What do you think?

[polldaddy poll=5682908]

Posted in Global Warming | Tagged , , , |

Political favors – how to stop it from ruining your community

November 18, 2011 by Citizen Carol

According to the Texas Energy Report, state environmental regulators appointed by Gov. Rick Perry issued a permit in January for a Houston-area industrial waste injection well to a company whose top investors include some of Perry’s close friends and campaign contributors.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) approved the permit over the objections of the Texas Railroad Commission (whose commissioners are elected) and every state and local official representing Montgomery County, and in spite of an administrative law judge’s recommendation to deny the permit because the well might pollute groundwater.

Perry’s presidential campaign opponents have criticized him for “crony capitalism,” the appearance of a pay-to-play culture that gets favorable state government treatment for his campaign donors. Perry also has been criticized for state environmental regulation that appears to put business ahead of environmental quality and safety.

All those issues are raised in the environmental commission’s actions on the permit sought by TexCom  Inc. of Houston and its investors with close ties to Perry.

Major investors in the injection well include Texas A&M University System Regent Phil Adams and Barry Switzer, a former football coach for the University of Oklahoma and the Dallas Cowboys.

Adams is a friend of Perry’s from their days as students at A&M. He has donated almost $300,000 to Perry’s state campaign fund, and at one time or another he has employed both of Perry’s children in his Bryan insurance agency. Another Adams investment became controversial in Perry’s gubernatorial re-election campaign last year when it was revealed that the company received a $2.75 million grant from the state’s Emerging Technology Fund.

Switzer raised more than $57,000 for Perry’s 2010 re-election and attended Perry’s primary election victory party. This August, Switzer hosted a fundraiser for Perry’s presidential campaign that took in $273,500.

Adams and Switzer are investors in a subsidiary of TexCom Inc. The company fought for five years to obtain the permit for a Montgomery County site for an injection well for industrial waste, mostly generated by the oil and gas industry. TexCom has reported that the site has the potential to generate $20 million a year in revenue.

Switzer became involved with TexCom in 2006 when he led investors to put $6 million into the company. Then in 2007, Switzer and two other Oklahoma investors founded Foxborough Energy Co. LLC and Montgomery County Environmental Solutions, which together bought at least a 60 percent share of the TexCom subsidiary that was seeking the Montgomery County well permit.

Adams’ state financial disclosure reports have shown him as an investor in the two Oklahoma companies since 2008.

Texas Ethics Commission undergoing Sunset Process

The Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) has responsibility for civilly enforcing our state’s campaign finance laws. In the agency’s Self-Evaluation, they reported that in in 2009 they received 274 complaints from the public and there were zero initiated by the agency.  In 2010, they received 374 complaints from the public and again, zero initiated by the agency.  If the TEC is to be an effective enforcement agency, it must be restructured so that it operates like all other civil state law enforcement agencies.

Those concerned about the appearance of pay-to-play politics should ask the Sunset Commission to recommend the legislature make changes to the Texas Ethics Commission that:

  • Prohibit any contributor of more than $100 from being appointed to any board commission or office or contracting with the state  for 2 years after the contribution is made
  • Prohibit state agencies from contracting or giving grants to contributors of the Governor, Lt Governor or Speaker of the House.

Any community could fall victim to “crony capitalism” and Texans have an opportunity to ask their representatives to make it stop!

Posted in Campaign Finance, Sunset | Tagged , , , |

What is the state of your air? Check out the American Lung Association’s “State of the Air 2011” Report

November 17, 2011 by Citizen Carol

The American Lung Association State of the Air 2011 report ranks the metropolitan areas based on ozone and particle pollution during 2007, 2008 and 2009. For particle pollution, they rank the areas separately with high year-round (annual average) levels and high short-term levels (24-hour) found in monitoring sites across the United States. They compile data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to get the rankings.

Most Polluted Cities
The cities are ranked by the air quality in the most polluted county in the metropolitan area. Click on the city name to open links to a chart of the trends for ozone and year-round particle levels, as well as more information about air pollution and the local Lung Association.  Note that some cities rank high on one list and don’t show up on other lists because of the differences in their pollution problems. Each city includes all the counties that form the economic and transportation network that makes up the metropolitan area as defined by the federal government.

Cleanest Cities
The cities on the cleanest cities lists for ozone and for short-term levels of particle pollution had no days with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution. These lists are not ranked because all the cities earned the same scores. The cities on the list of the cleanest for year-round particle pollution levels are ranked by their average levels of particles, as calculated by the EPA. Note that some cities are clean for one category, but not for others.

County rankings and cleanest county lists are also available in the full report.

Posted in Air Quality | Tagged , , , |

The Story of Broke and the supercommittee

November 16, 2011 by Citizen Carol

The deficit reduction supercommittee has a November 23 deadline to finish its work. One of the first places lawmakers should look for cuts is the dirty energy sector.

From 2008 through 2010, Big Energy industries were among the top recipients of government handouts, second only to the financial industry.

Big Oil alone racks up $4 billion a year, while the corporations that make up the Big Oil industry post obscene profits quarter after quarter. In the first quarter of 2011, the world’s six largest oil companies reported combined profits of $38.1 billion – up 42 percent from the same period in 2010.

Tell the supercommittee to eliminate subsidies for dirty energy industries.

Eliminating these subsidies would shave $122 billion off our deficit over the next 10 years – and would improve the environment and public health.

It’s a no-brainer. The vast majority of Americans of every party want these subsidies to end. Yet Congress is loath to push dirty energy away from the government trough.

Big Energy influence over our democracy certainly has played a role in previous attempts to eliminate these subsidies. This time, the 12 members that have the authority to make the cuts have received at least $4.2 million in campaign contributions from dirty energy interests.

Remind lawmakers on the supercommittee that their constituents’ voices should trump campaign contributions.

Beyond helping reduce our deficit, eliminating dirt energy subsidies is crucial to shifting us toward a clean energy future.

If we continue to prop up this old dirty energy economy, we can’t invest in something better. To learn how shifting government spending toward investments in clean, green solutions—renewable energy, safer chemicals and materials, zero waste and more—can deliver jobs AND a healthier environment, watch The Story of Broke, by Public Citizen board member, Annie Leonard. After you watch the short program, don’t forget to sign the petition to the supercommittee.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/G49q6uPcwY8]

And check out NPR’s story on energy subsidies by clicking here.

Posted in Energy | Tagged , , , , |

Canada lobbying hard after US delays approval of tar sands pipeline

November 16, 2011 by Citizen Carol

After the Obama administration delayed a decision on an oil pipeline, which has been garnering more and more opposition from environmentalists, landowners and downwind communities near refineries along the proposed pipeline route that slices through the heartland of America, there are some who believe that this project could die from a number of issues that could come up as a result of re-routing the path of the pipeline, or re-doing the environmental impact statement (which was originally done by a State Department contractor whose major client was the pipeline owner).

But never fear, industry is doing what it always does when thwarted – they are throwing money at the problem and now Canada is stepping up its lobbying efforts.

Canada’s prime minister said he made it clear in a weekend meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama that Canada will step up its efforts to sell oil to Asia since the Obama administration delayed a decision on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Alison Redford, the leader of the Canadian province that has the world’s third-largest reserves of oil, visited Washington on Monday and said she’ll meet with U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner and other officials to discuss the pipeline’s future.

Last week, the U.S. State Department ordered that the pipeline be rerouted and subject to further environmental review, delaying a decision until 2013.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who met Obama on the sidelines of the APEC summit, said Canada will continue to push the U.S. to approve TransCanada’s $7 billion Keystone XL project to the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The pipeline is critical to Canada which must have pipelines in place to export its growing oil sands production from northern Alberta, which has more than 170 billion barrels of proven reserves.

The Obama administration’s announcement to put off a decision went over badly in Canada which relies on the U.S. for 97 percent of their energy exports and the Harper government has said it is a strategic objective of the country to diversify its customer base. Canada, however, is expected to remain the biggest foreign supplier of oil to the U.S. even if the pipeline is not approved.

Harper said Obama told him the U.S. is continuing to examine the Keystone XL decision and that his government has not taken a final decision. The State Department wants the pipeline to avoid environmentally sensitive areas of Nebraska.

The prime minister previously characterized Obama’s approval of the project as a “no-brainer” but at least one oil analyst said the project now only has a 50 percent chance of being approved.

TransCanada wants to build the pipeline to carry crude oil extracted from the oil sands in Alberta to the refinery hubs in Texas. The pipeline would carry an estimated 700,000 barrels of oil a day, doubling the capacity of an existing pipeline from Canada.

TransCanada and its supporters have said the project would create U.S. construction jobs, help lower gas prices and reduce dependence on Middle East oil. Opponents say it would bring “dirty oil” that requires huge amounts of energy to extract and could cause an ecological disaster in case of a spill.

The heavily contested project became a political trap for Obama, who risked angering environmental supporters — and losing re-election contributions from some liberal donors — if he approved it. The State Department had previously said it would have a decision by the end of the year.  Now we will wait to see what happens after the 2012 elections.

Posted in Global Warming | Tagged , , |

EPA issues first Texas Greenhouse Gas Permit

November 15, 2011 by Citizen Carol

According to the Texas Energy Report, the EPA has issued its first greenhouse gas permit in Texas with the TCEQ refusing to issue permits to LCRA or others

The Lower Colorado River Authority received the first Texas Greenhouse Gas permit as it upgrades a 37-year-old generating unit in Llano County to a more efficient natural gas-powered unit, federal environmental regulators announced Thursday.

LCRA, which is making improvements to its Thomas C. Ferguson Power Plant, is the first company in Texas to complete a greenhouse gas permit application and obtain the final permit, a process that took about eight months, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“The LCRA plant will use improved environmental controls and install modern high efficiency equipment,” said EPA Regional Administrator Al Armendariz. “LCRA is leading the way by providing Texans an efficient and reliable source of clean power.”

EPA granted the first Texas greenhouse gas permit and is reviewing 10 others for Texas companies. Under EPA’s final national regulations, projects beginning on Jan. 2, 2011 that “increase greenhouse gas emissions substantially” require the air permits.

While the EPA said it thinks states are “best equipped” to oversee the permitting process, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has refused to do so.

In an Aug. 2, 2010 letter to the EPA, the Texas Attorney General and TCEQ explained, “The State of Texas does not believe that EPA’s suggested approach comports with the rule of law” and that would “preclude TCEQ from declaring itself ready to require permits for greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources as you request.”

Under the LCRA permit, the electric cooperative plans to replace an old 440-megawatt electric generating boiler with a new, 590-megwatt combined cycle gas-fired plant.

“We appreciate EPA’s work on our project,” said LCRA General Manager Becky Motal. “The region will benefit from the latest environmental controls and our customers will benefit from our ability to better manage costs with a plant that will use about 35 to 40 percent less fuel than traditional gas-fired plants.”

The TCEQ released a statement saying it is pleased LCRA’s project is morning forward, but “we see no need for – or any environmental benefit from – EPA’s greenhouse gas permit. The TCEQ authorized the project on Sept. 1, 2011 after careful review that determined the permit was protective of the environment and fully compliant with all state environmental regulations.”

TCEQ’s greenhouse gas letter to the EPA is here.

EPA’s letter to permit holders and the public is here.

Posted in Air Quality, Climate Change, Global Warming | Tagged , , , , |

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