Tar sands oil makes conventional oil look clean by comparison, as it produces 3.2-4.5 times more the carbon footprint than conventional fuel. If that weren’t bad enough cleaner fuels such as natural gas, which otherwise might be used to generate electricity, are wasted in the process of creating more dirty energy from tar sands. Tar sands oil is a type of bitumen deposited in a semi solid form whose extraction is an extremely energy intensive project. For every third barrel of oil extracted one has effectively been consumed by the process. The process of tar sands oil extraction has left vast tracts of land barren with little vegetation as it is strip mined; while only 10%, of what is excavated, is oil. While some water is recyclable, the remaining toxic water is diverted to the euphemistically named “tailing ponds”. There are 2.5-4 barrels of water dumped into these toxic lakes for every barrel of oil extracted. These toxic “ponds” are actually very large; some are even visible from space.
Needless to say these pools are quite harmful to surrounding ecosystems as well as ground water supplies. The land left behind from tar sands extraction is a barren wasteland lacking vegetation and dotted with these toxic waste pools. Not only is the devastation comprehensive, it is widespread. Tar sands extraction in Alberta, Canada is set to affect an area the size of Florida.
Pipelines bringing this dirty oil to the United States have already been built, but TransCanada, an extractor of tar sands oil, has proposed to expand the pipeline system. Part of the proposed expansion will link to a current pipeline in Oklahoma and extend it into East Texas and the Houston Bay Area so that it might be refined there. These refineries will require expensive additions to handle this heavy crude. The planned route crosses through Texas and Oklahoma over rivers, through national forests, and across private land. Landowners have been threatened with eminent domain if they do not comply with Keystone’s demands. Keystone XL clearly places finance over environmental safety as they applied for (then temporarily withdrew) an application for exemptions to the rules that would allow them to make the pipe thinner in rural areas and yet pump at above currently permissible levels. However, they may reapply for this “special permit” later as they seek lower costs at the expense of the public. We cannot allow this to happen. The social costs of tar sands oil production is far too high and the benefits far too small. The expansion of this extremely dirty energy undermines what progress has been made in cleaning America’s energy consumption. While we should be cultivating clean energy production, the dirtiest energy production is being expanded.
Keystone XL needs a presidential permit to build this international pipeline. This is a point of vulnerability. Throughout the summer Public Citizen has been organizing individuals and groups to attend various meetings, hearings, and conferences. The U.S. State Department has held public hearings on its Draft EIS and we have urged others to take the opportunity to raise their voice.
Our efforts at getting such groups together continue as we move further down the proposed pipeline into the Houston area, reactivating allies and making new ones as we work together to stop a pipeline that is proposed to travel near sensitive areas such as the Big Thicket National Preserve. This pipeline only adds to Texas’ clean air problems and by stopping it in Texas we can change the momentum on a rapidly growing dirty industry. Future infrastructure development should be dedicated to renewable, clean energy – not dirtier energy than what we already have.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Air Quality, Energy, Global Warming, green jobs, natural gas, Renewables, Tarsands, Toxics | Tagged canada, climate change, dirty, Energy, Global Warming, Keystone Pipeline, oil, Oil sands, Oklahoma, pipeline, Public Citizen, public citizen texas, Tar Sands, tarsands, Texas, transcanada |
Today, the US House Administration Committee voted the Fair Elections Now Act out of committee. San Antonio Representative Charlie Gonzalez cast a decisive vote in favor of the bill, putting a bill that would give optional public financing to all Congressional candidates for further than it has ever gone before.
Tell Charlie Gonzalez how you feel– thank him for his vote and leadership by calling his office at (202) 225-3236 (DC) or (210) 472-6195 (San Antonio).
Unfortunately, in the Senate, Republicans continued to filibuster the DISCLOSE Act. They did this a few months ago, too. At the time Public Citizen’s Craig Holman had this to say about it, and we think it’s still apt.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsCSjRslmm4]
Texas Senators Cornyn and Hutchison voted in favor of corporate special interests who want to hide how they’re pulling the strings in Washington, and I think you should tell them so.
And because no punchbowl for Fair Elections would be complete without some corporate tool laying a dookie in it, enter Texas Rep. Joe Barton, who you may remember apologized to BP, feeling the oil-spilling giant had been mistreated by Congress. Well, he’s still apologizing to corporations, now saying that his committee should hold hearings on Fair Elections Now, which he’s already made up his mind on (hint: he ain’t fer it.) This is nothing more than a massive delay tactic, just like the time he made a rule that all amendments to Waxman-Markey be read aloud in committee, so the committee hired a speed-reader.
In any case, we still have a lot to be happy about. There is some possibility we could get a full vote on Fair Elections Now before the end of the year in the House– if your member of Congress hasn’t publicly stated they will support it, they need to hear from you! And if they have stated their support, call them anyway and thank them for standing up to special interests.
By the by, I’ll be at the National Coffee Party Convention in Louisville the next few days, where I’ll be presenting on a couple of panels about these very issues. If you want to participate virtually, you can! From Coffee Party’s email:
The big news today is that we are LIVE STREAMING the convention from Louisville starting at 8:30 AM ET tomorrow (Friday). Convention participants, both in person and via webcast can interact via Twitter (#CoffeeParty), Facebook, on our convention website, main website and on our newly created Ustream channel.
CLICK HERE for today’s press release about added speaker John Avlon, and HERE for Monday’s release about Lt. Dan Choi and Fair Elections Now.
We are especially excited about livestreaming the Mock Constitutional Convention on Saturday from 10:30am-4:30pm co-chaired by Lawrence Lessig and Mark McKinnon.
To read about the speakers, CLICK HERE. To review the schedule of events, CLICK HERE. To read about the break-out sessions, CLICK HERE.
You can still REGISTER online. You can also register in person at the registration desk when you arrive at the Galt House.
We are currently raising funds for the following purposes: $5,000 for Audio/Visual expenses, including production and live-streaming costs that are allowing us to document as many workshops and panel discussions as we can, which will become on-line educational tools available to the public.
It would be tremendously helpful if you could donate for this. $5, $10, $20, any amount would help.
DONATE
The convention and the web cast will wrap up Sunday night with a viewing party of MTV Networks’ television world premiere of “9500 Liberty.” This is the film that Eric Byler and I co-directed that documents how the extremists dominated the debate over immigration in Prince William County, VA in 2007 & 2008 and how the silent majority organized and restored balance to the government. On Sunday, the film will be broadcast to 100 milion homes across America.
This video explains how the lessons of 9500 Liberty inspired the creation of the Coffee Party. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8sQUYarTig
See you in Louisville, or, we’ll see you online! And, thank you so much for being part of the Coffee Party community.
Good night, good luck, and see you around the coffee pot.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Campaign Finance, Good Government | Tagged charlie gonzalez, Coffee Party, Coffee Party livestream convention, Congress, DISCLOSE Act, Eric Byler, facebook, Fair Elections, Fair Elections Now Act, Joe Barton, john cornyn, kay bailey hutchinson, Lawrence Lessig, Mark McKinnon, politics, Texas, United States |
September 23, 2010 by Citizen Carol
In an article by Concierge.com, a travel focused online publication, they selected seven beach destinations around the world in danger of disappearing forever due to forces such as erosion, pollution, rising sea levels, reckless overdevelopment, and sand mining, with a caution that there are hundreds more. If we don’t curb global warming, insist on sustainable development, and protect the world’s beaches against pollution and mismanagement, the idyllic shorelines we cherish will be preserved only in memory.
Of the seven, the beaches of the Maldives are the most imminently threatened by rising sea levels as a result of global warming.
The Maldives
With postcard-ready beaches, unblemished coral reefs, and some of the world’s most luxurious resorts, the Maldives are for many a once-in-a-lifetime destination. But the island nation’s own lifetime may itself be cut drastically short: Rising sea levels all but doom this string of 26 low-lying atolls in the Indian Ocean, unless the rest of the world acts — quickly — to curb global warming.
With an average elevation of just four feet, the Maldives may, according to some scientists’ models, be submerged before the end of the century. Other coastal geologists believe that the islands, which are composed principally of coral, can regenerate more quickly than the water level rises, and that wave action can build up the islands. But rising ocean temperatures — another symptom of global warming — inhibit coral growth, and few Maldivians seem prepared to sit back and take that chance. President Mohamed Nasheed has committed the Maldives to becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral nation by 2020, by building a wind farm to meet 40 percent of the electricity demand; installing 5 million square feet of solar panels; recycling agricultural waste as fertilizer; and asking foreign visitors to buy carbon credits. Valiant as these efforts may be, they are unlikely to stem the (literal) tide, so Nasheed is also searching for a new homeland in case the entire population is forced to relocate.
If you go: The Marine Lab at the Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru resort does serious scientific research on marine ecology, coral recovery, and endangered species. Guests can visit the lab and join biologists on dives.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged climate change, Current sea level rise, Global Warming, indian ocean, Maldives, sea level rise, Texas |
It has been about half a year since the battles started between the EPA and TCEQ over the Texas’s flexible air-permitting program. Unfortunately, the Governor has taken advantage of this issue to use to attack the Federal Government in his bid for the Governor post. Many have us have forgotten that the EPA started questioning the state’s permitting program during the Bush administration, long before Obama took office, but since this is an election year, Perry will do anything within his reach to cling on that chair.
The EPA finds the 16 year permitting program incompliant with the Clean Air Act. The program makes it difficult to monitor the pollution and reduce emission from Texas facilities because, rather than having to disclose pollution for each individual smokestack at a facility, they aggregate them all together. The Governor and the Attorney general have already sued the EPA protesting the latter’s “overstepping its authority.” The TCEQ says the program is just fine and gives permits to Texas at a cheaper cost.
But we and most other environmental groups, find flex permits severely lacking. All we (and the feds) are asking for is some basic transparency. If flex permits do work, simply tell us what your emissions are, and let’s have a debate about the efficacy of the program. Buit we can’t do that while industry and TCEQ hide the data from the public.
After the many twists and turns this battle has taken, the EPA has set in place a new rule to start a voluntary Audit Program under which refineries and other facilities in Texas can hire a third party auditor. If businesses fail to meet the standards after being audited, the EPA promises not to penalize them but to work with them to acquire a federal air permit.
TX facilities should find this program reasonable. According to the EPA’s website, “The Audit Program is available for 90 days after publication in the Federal Register. Participants who sign up in the first 45 days can take advantage of a reduced penalty incentive for potential violations.”
The TCEQ has protested the new rule, “he state of Texas vigorously defends its flexible permits program and expects to prevail in court. Flexible permits are legal and effective,” said Terry Clawson, the Spokesman for the TCEQ.
Well, if that’s so– show us the data. They won’t, because they know that it won’t stand up to scrutiny.
Finally, Texas facilities will follow the Clean Air Act, just like facilities in every other state.
Meanwhile, tax dollars Texans pay are being wasted on a state agency that refuses to do its job of protecting the state’s environment, and are being wasted by our governor and attorney general on meaningless lawsuits. The EPA is not out to get Texas and just like Al Armedariz said, “Our objective is to get good permits.”
That’s our goal, too. TCEQ is undergoing Sunset Review by the Texas Legislature. Let’s hope we get an agency that follows the law.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Air Quality, TCEQ | Tagged Air Quality, clean air act, Federal Government, federal register, TCEQ, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, United States, United States Environmental Protection Agency |
Statement of Tom “Smitty” Smith:
We are shocked to hear the news that former Austin Energy and Pedernales Electric Cooperative General Manager Juan Garza has taken a job promoting nuclear power with New Jersey-based NRG Energy. While Garza rightfully acknowledges the danger climate change poses to Texas, nuclear power’s life cycle carbon footprint, exorbitant cost and extreme construction time belie the claim that nuclear is a solution to the climate crisis.
Numerous independent analyses warn that new nuclear reactors are too expensive, including consultants to the City of Austin who twice recommended the city pass on investment in the proposed South Texas Project units 3 and 4 due to high risk and cost. San Antonio’s CPS Energy has cut off investment in the project. Municipal utilities and electric cooperatives should take heed of the nuclear industry’s poor track record of delivering new reactors on time and on budget. The cost of these reactors has more than trebled in three years and when we built the first two units they were 6 times over budget and 8 years late. There are cheaper, cleaner, faster ways to meet new power needs in a carbon-constrained world.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Co-op Reform, Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, Nuclear, Renewables | Tagged Austin Energy, Juan Garza, nrg energy, South Texas Project, Texas, Tom "Smitty" Smith |
Image via Wikipedia
We’ve got an Action Alert! This week, hundreds of people from Corpus Christi and across Texas will be calling the Environmental Protection Agency to ask them to ensure that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is complying with the Federal Clean Air Act. To protect our air, our water, our earth, and our health, we are going to make our voices heard!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbWcTuvHwS8]
Under the federal Clean Air Act, the EPA has the power to intervene in any permitting process to make sure that polluters are complying with the law.
In the case of the Las Brisas Energy Center, the situation is critical and we need the EPA to step in. Pollution will increase by 82%, they’ll dump 220 pounds of mercury a year, the plant will use 3 million gallons of water a day, and Nueces and San Patricio Counties will almost certainly reach ozone non-attainment levels, which means pricey smog-checks for everybody and a rollback of production for local industries.
So, we’ve decided to call the EPA’s enforcement offices. We have two sample scripts for you to help you out, and remember: don’t be nervous! They are nice people, so don’t forget to smile (even though they can’t see you) and say thanks!
Call Gina McCarthy, head of enforcement at the EPA at 202-564-7404. If she’s not there, leave a message!
Script:
Concerned citizen (that’s you): “Hello Ms. McCarthy, my name is ___, and I’d like to bring an important issue to your attention.”
EPA: “Sure, go right ahead.”
Concerned Citizen:
1) “I am really concerned with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s permitting process on the Las Brisas Energy Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. I am worried about pollution in our air, our water, and our soil. I am calling to ask that the EPA intervene and ensure that the the permit complies with the Federal Clean Air Act. Thank you for your time.”
OR
2) “I have a real problem with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s permitting process as it considers whether to grant the Las Brisas Energy Center an air permit for its proposed petroleum coke plant in Corpus Christi, Texas. TCEQ officials have expressly stated that a case by case MACT analysis is not needed for this plant. I know that means that TCEQ is letting Las Brisas pollute at greater quantities into my area and with less oversight. I am calling to ask that the EPA intervene and ensure that the permit complies with the Federal Clean Air Act. Thank you for your time.”
You just did a good deed! Pat yourself on the back, email this to your friends, and stay tuned by checking out Public Citizen on Facebook, www.TexasGreenReport.org, Texas Sierra Club on Facebook, and @TexasSierraClub on Twitter.
By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Coal, Energy, Global Warming, Toxics | Tagged Action alert, Air Quality, coal plant, Federal Clean Air Act, public citizen texas, Sierra Club, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, United States Environmental Protection Agency |
For those in Austin who don’t know, the EGRSO (the Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office… I had to look it up too) gets a substantial portion of its funding from the municipally-owned utility Austin Energy. What does this office do? From its city website:
[The EGRSO] implements the City of Austin Economic Development Policy as directed by the Austin City Council.
Essentially, the office provides grants and loans of city funds or services in order to promote economic development. Among its awardees are Facebook, LegalZoom, Heliovolt, Friday Night Lights, and the Home Depot Austin Technology Center.
Recently, the Electric Utility Commission voted unanimously to cut AE’s funding of the EGRSO, citing the fact that AE faces tough budget choices inside its own walls. Commissioner Shudde Fath wrote in the Business Journal that AE can no longer be the city’s cash cow.
EUC Chairman Phillip Schmandt released a statement on the matter yesterday:
I applaud EGRSO and its programs. There are many great ideas in EGROS’ $10 Million budget.
But not every great idea should be funded with government money.
And more to the point, not every great idea should be funded from utility bills paid by our hard working customers who are struggling to make ends meet every month. Continue Reading »
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Good Government | Tagged austin city council, Austin Energy, EGRSO, electric utility commission, facebook, Friday Night Lights, heliovolt, Home Depot, LegalZoom, phillip schmandt, Texas |
Republicans keep rejecting the success of the stimulus package but that is nothing new, being opposed is just a Republican thing to do nowadays. President Obama said yesterday that even if he said the sky is blue, Republicans would disagree. Despite all that, in Texas, the stimulus seems to serve its purpose just fine, especially in the field of energy. Unlike what Republicans claim, it has provided incentives for small businesses with incentives to grow, save money, and it has also helped create jobs.
The Austin American Statesman shared a couple of stories about small businesses that have benefited from the stimulus. First is the Dog Ranch in Pflugerville. The owners wanted to install solar panels atop the ranch roof, a move they figured would save them some money on energy bills. The panel cost $87,000. With the stimulus funds(Grants from the Department of Energy) the owners received and Austin Energy’s rebate program, they only had to pay $10,000. For the Ranch owners, this deal saved them a lot of money since they only pay one third of the energy bill they used to pay before installing the panels in addition to the tax credit they get from installing the panels, “We just expanded in December, and we wouldn’t otherwise have had capitol to do it,” Said the Dog Ranch owner.
Longhorn Solar is the installation company that set up the Dog Ranch solar panels. The company too has taken advantage of the stimulus money and now it has 10 employees and many more installation projects. Louis Petrik, the CEO of Longhorn Solar said “It (the Stimulus) allows us to put a lot of jobs in the pipeline and go out and actively hire,”
A part of the stimulus money was given to states to have at their disposal to run their own programs (And they say the Feds want to take over local governments). To track the federal stimulus funds, the Texas Legislature appointed the Select Committee on Federal Economic Stabilization Funding. According to its website, The Committee “monitor[s] actions of the federal government, including legislation and regulations, related to efforts to promote economic recovery by providing federal funds to the states.”
On September 1st, the Subcommittee on Energy held a hearing in Corpus Christi where major stimulus fund recipients such as Centerpoint Energy and Iberdrola Renewables presented in what project they are using the stimulus money and how they are going about meeting their goals. Documents from the hearing are provided on the Texas Stimulus Funds website or you can access them by clicking here.
Posted in Efficiency, Energy, green jobs, Renewables, solar | Tagged doe, economy, green economy, green jobs, jobs, Select Committee on Federal Economic Stabilization Funding, solar energy, SOLAR PANEL, stimulus, Texas, TEXAS STIMULUS FUNDS |
September 2, 2010 by Citizen Carol
The following blog was posted on Public Citizen’s energy blog by Tyson Slocum
Another Rig Explosion in the Gulf of Mexico
Here’s what we know: On the morning of Thursday, Sept. 2, an oil and gas rig owned by Mariner Energy, Inc., operating in about 340 feet of water on the continental shelf experienced an explosion and subsequently caught fire, resulting in all 13 workers on board to flee into the water.
This incident is different from BP’s Mancondo disaster because BP’s fiasco occurred on a floating rig operating an exploration well in ultra-deepwater a mile deep, whereas this Mariner Energy operation was in shallow water (340 ft) on a rig that is permanently fixed to the ocean floor below (and not a floating rig).
While we wait for details, here are two things to think about:
1. In June the Obama administration unveiled new, tougher rules for shallow drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The question is: Have federal inspectors personally reviewed this Mariner Energy facility, and what were the results of all certifications and tests of this particular facility?
2. Here’s what we know about Mariner Energy: In January 2004, the private equity funds Carlyle/Riverstone and Texas Pacific Group purchased Mariner Energy from Enron for $271 million and took the company public in March 2005. Carlyle/Riverstone then exited as an investor, but Texas Pacific Group, through its ACON Investments subsidiary, still has significant interests, with ACON’s Bernard Aronson and Jonathan Ginns both serving on Mariner’s board.
Mariner’s Enron legacy continues, as the company’s Chairman, CEO and President is Scott D. Josey, who served as VP of Enron North America from 2000-02. At the time, Enron was engaged in one of the biggest corporate rip-offs in history, stealing billions of dollars from West Coast energy consumers. Jesus G. Melendrez is Mariner’s CFO and he served as a VP with Enron North America from 2000-03. Mariner’s General Counsel, Teresa G. Bushman, worked as a lawyer with Enron from 1996-2003.
Public Citizen revealed that Mariner Energy has escaped paying more than $44 million in royalties because it has legally been producing oil and gas from Gulf of Mexico leases royalty-free.
On Aug. 11, 2007, the federal government fined Mariner Energy $30,000 after an employee “fell 11 feet.”
Earlier reports claimed the platform was not in production, but this AP report indicates that, according to a homeland security operational update, the platform is a fixed petroleum platform that was in production at the time of the fire, and that the platform was producing about 58,800 gallons of oil and 900,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The platform can store 4,200 gallons of oil.
Posted in Energy | Tagged bp, Energy, Enron, gulf of mexico, Mariner, Mariner Energy, oil platform explosion, Texas |
Recently, I learned about a good website that tracks the flow of corporate energy money in Congress. The website is a great tool for someone who is interested in knowing who gets what from who and if you are a Texan you will get to see your state initials in many places in the website. The website ranks Congressmen according to how much money they receive from dirty energy corporations but unlike Texas’ football rankings, these rankings don’t make me proud.
There are many key findings in the website and the numbers are staggering. Besides listing the “dirtiest politicians,” Dirty Energy Money lists “Dirtiest Congresses,” and “Big-Spending Companies.” So far, this 111th Congress has only collected about 14 million dollars in contributions from dirty energy companies which are much less than the 22 million contributed to the 110th Congress but 2010 is not over yet.
Dirty Energy Money also compares the funds received by both parties from the different energy industries. It also compares votes on major energy legislation while showing how much money the Yeas received verses the Nay’s.
Visit the website, you will find many revealing facts about the two parties, Congress, companies, and the politicians involved. It is definitely a good resource for you to look at before you cast you vote in November.
By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Campaign Finance, Coal, Energy, Global Warming, Good Government | Tagged 111th congress, bp, campaign contributions, Campaign Finance, campaign finance reform, Congress, dirty energy, dirty energy money, dirty oil, Joe Barton, john cornyn, kay bailey hutchinson, oil companies, Texas |
Some great points from the director of Environmental Defense Fund‘s Texas Regional Office (and Energy Program), Jim Marston.
If you’re concerned about government spending, consolidating existing efficiency programs and oversight into one agency has the potential to reduce overlap and redundancy in government and create more opportunities for consumers and businesses to save money. Continue Reading »
Posted in Consumers, Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, Good Government | Tagged efficiency agency, Energy Efficiency, environmental defense fund, Jim Marston, PUCT, state energy conservation office, Texas, texas comptroller, texas department of housing and community affairs |
August 28, 2010 by Adrian Shelley
Long thought to be the last commodity that can’t be saved for later use, large scale electrical energy storage is finally looking like a technology who’s time might have come.
Recently introduced the “Storage Technology of Renewable and Green Energy Act of 2010” Act (S. 3617) introduced by U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) stands to finally get things moving in the energy storage development space.
To go along with that, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality announced that they are taking applications for a Texas Emissions Reduction Program (TERP) new technology implementation grant (NTIG) on energy storage based on a bill that got passed last session (yes they did pass a few bills last session). Anyone that needs a cool 3 mil to get a project off the ground should consider applying as applications are due by September 17 and, if congress can get their act together, there might be a 20% tax credit to sweeten the pot.
Energy storage has been called the holy grail of renewable’s by members of the Leg and could potentially solve a bunch of technical issues on the Texas electrical grid depending on the technology implemented. Compressed air storage, fast acting flywheels, super conducting magnetic loops and all sort of different batteries each provide a different solution to various problems.
Grid stabilization is one that needs to be looked at in the near future. Using solid state electronics these storage solutions can react in fractions of a second (and less then one of the 60 cycles per second our electrical system runs on) to smooth the flow of electrons from the generator to your home and business and reducing the speed that a gas generator needs to react to an increase or decrease in load on the electrical grid.
Large scale storage will allow wind (which blows mostly at night in Texas) and solar to be stored and used when the energy is most needed (all though solar produces most of its energy at peak load already). Batteries, suitably placed like the one EET built in Presidio can reduce the need to build new transmission lines and substations. Lets hope our Legislators (both in Texas and at the federal level) can do something to move this new technology along. It can support the increasing amount of renewable’s we need to build, stabilize our electrical system and reduce emissions by making renewable energy available when we need it, and providing fast acting response when the grid needs a little extra juice, rather than firing up another gas turbine, or help us, a coal plant.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Efficiency, Energy, natural gas, Renewables | Tagged compressed air energy storage, Energy, Energy Efficiency, energy storage, flywheel energy storage, public citizen texas, renewable energy, Renewables, solar power, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality |
August 27, 2010 by Citizen Carol
South Texas Project
Human error appears to have caused a partial shutdown last Friday at the South Texas Project, one of the state’s two nuclear plants.
Last week, prices spiked in the wholesale electricity market. On Monday the 16th, wholesale electricity, which had been selling for less than $30 per megawatt-hour spiked to more than $2,000. That’s an increase of more than 7,000 percent. Prices also spiked several times to the $1,000 level. A price spike of $2,200 is especially startling, given that the regulatory cap is set at $2,250. That is, the wholesale prices legally could not have gone much higher. At the same time, according to the Electric Reliabiilty Council of Texas (ERCOT), who manages the Texas electricity grid, a new record for statewide power use was set.
Then, to top off the week, Unit 1 of the South Texas Project apparently tripped off (also known in the industry as a SCRAM – an acronym for safety control rod axe man but which is essentially an emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor).
The event, first reported in a trade journal SNL Power Daily, was apparently caused by human error. “The NRC said in its Aug. 23 event report that the unit experienced an automatic reactor trip that was caused by an inadvertent turbine signal initiated during testing,” reported SNL’s Jay Hodgkins, citing the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The publication reported that power was restored by Monday. It’s unclear whether the outage contributed to the price spikes, although that seems likely.
I guess I’ll take a contribution to a price spike over a meltdown any day, but still kind of scarey!
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Energy, Nuclear | Tagged Electicity price spike, Energy, Human error, Nuclear, Nuclear Power, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, SCRAM, South Texas Nuclear Generating Station, South Texas Project, Texas |
August 27, 2010 by Citizen Carol
Live downwind from the Barnett Shale ?
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality posted an interactive map of the Barnett Shale on its website that allows you to see the latest data from the various air quality monitoring sites near natural gas drilling and pipeline facilities.
Barnett Shale Air Sampling Map Viewer
Be forwarned however that the information contained on this website is not for the faint of heart or the casual internet surfer. Those who venture through the maze that is the TCEQ website, without much beyond a basic familiarity of the terms associated with measuring the sundry compounds that can escape from gas operation facilities, might find themselves challenged to understand what the map offers.
TCEQ has been under pressure from North Texas lawmakers and from various interest groups to provide the public with as much information as possible about how gas operations in the urbanized Barnett Shale might be affecting air quality. And the introduction of the map comes just four days after the chairmen of the House and Senate committees that oversee environmental regulations prompted the agency to more than double the number of air monitoring sites in the Barnett Shale.
TCEQ also announced today that it plans to hold an open house in the Barnett Shale area in October that will feature interactive displays and presentations where residents can learn about specific regulatory activities in the area. Details about when and where the open house will take place are not yet available but we will let you know as soon as we know.
TCEQ has said that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency evaluated its monitoring operations in the tiny town of Dish and found no reason to doubt the validity of the test results.
Feeling adventurous? Want to to spend part of your weekend wandering around virtually through the new interactive map? Click here.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Air Quality, Energy, natural gas | Tagged Air Quality, Barnett shale, dallas, dfw, environment, environmental quality, fort worth, natural gas, TCEQ, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality |
In Winter of 2008 a coal ash slurry pond in Tennessee broke its damn, contaminating miles of downstream waterways and people’s homes with deadly carcinogens and other toxic substances. At the time it was called the worst environmental disaster since the Exxon Valdez and brought a wake up call to the EPA that this waste product was entirely under-regulated. EPA now stands poised to set new regulations on coal ash waste, but the coal industry is lobbying strenuously against it, advocating for a much weaker standard that will do little to change the status quo.
The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) has just released a report called In Harm’s Way which takes a look at groundwater contamination surrounding coal ash waste sites throughout the country. The report showed that contaminants at 39 coal-waste sites across 21 states have leached into the groundwater. Many coal ash sites did not have enough data available to show any meaningful results, particularly here in Texas, but the Fayette coal plant (which Austin is a partial owner in) showed considerable contamination beneath their site. Adam Engelman, Environmental Analyst with EIP, stated that:
At every one of the coal ash dump sites equipped with groundwater monitoring wells — concentrations of heavy metals such as arsenic or lead exceed federal health-based standards for drinking water, with concentrations at LCRA’s Fayette Power Project reaching as high as 4 times the state standard for selenium and twice the state standard for arsenic.
The report shows that coal ash itself is a disaster simply by existing, regardless of catastrophic events like what happened in Tennessee almost two years ago. EPA must not give into industry lobbyists and pass weak regulations that will fail public health and the environment. Visit Sierra Club’s Coal Ash website for information on an EPA hearing near you, and to sign up to speak at the hearings. If you cannot make the hearings you can also submit online comments here – be sure to ask EPA to adopt the strictest regulations possible.
In order to make a profit, coal companies rely on making the public pay for the damage they cause. We should no longer have to bear the cost of their mistakes and irresponsibility.
You can see the EIP report here and you can see the press conference that was held Thursday in Austin here:
or by going to the Texas House of Representatives video archive and clicking on the link dated 8/26/10 with the same title.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Coal, Energy, Global Warming, Toxics | Tagged ash, Austin, climate change, Coal, coal ash waste, EIP, environmental integrity project, EPA, Global Warming, Public Citizen, public citizen texas, report, study, Texas, waste |
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