Come join us tomorrow, Saturday morning, for a satellite rally of John Stewart’s “Rally to Restore Sanity” which is happening in Washington D.C. The festivities start at 11am and go till 2pm (a march against the death penalty starts at 3). Continue Reading »
Posted in Global Warming, Good Government, Renewables | Tagged Austin, capitol, john stewart, Public Citizen, rally, restore, sanity, Texas |
The No Coal Coalition brings their mascot, Pancho the Donkey, to the TCEQ hearing, but he is turned away. Photo by Susan Dancer
On Thursday, the TCEQ (Texas Commission of Environmental Quality) held a public meeting for the White Stallion Energy Center at the Bay City Civic Center to hear feedback on the plant’s application for a wastewater permit. Continue Reading »
Posted in Air Quality, Coal, Global Warming, Toxics | Tagged bay city, Coal, colorado river, Donkey, lower colorado river authority, Matagorda County Texas, Pancho the Donkey, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, TCEQ, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, waste water, water, white stallion |
With states scrambling to align their own rules with U.S. EPA‘s new regulations, which are set to take effect on Jan. 2, 2011 and require regulators to start issuing Clean Air Act permits next year for large stationary sources of greenhouse gas emissions, Texas is now the lone holdout, according to an analysis by the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA). Click here to see a copy of the analysis. Continue Reading »
Posted in Air Quality, Coal, Energy, Global Warming, natural gas, Renewables, TCEQ | Tagged clean air act, EPA, flex permits, fort worth star telegram, George W. Bush, greenhouse gas, greenhouse gases, Major stationary source, TCEQ, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, United States Environmental Protection Agency |
Not your average swimming hole
From the New York Times:
Syncrude, the largest operator of oil sands projects in Canada, was ordered to pay $2.92 million on Friday for causing the deaths of 1,603 ducks.
The company was convicted in June by an Alberta court for failing to deploy scarecrows and loud cannons in April 2008 to prevent the migratory birds from landing on a tailings pond containing oily residue from one of its operations.
…
Mike Hudema, a climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace, said the fine was “no more than a slap on the wrist” considering the size of Syncrude, which produces about 110 million barrels of oil a year. He acknowledged, however, that Syncrude had now been forced to improve its bird deterrence and monitoring.
This is just one of many incidents involving wildlife mistaking tar sands oil tailing ponds as safe natural places. Many of these lakes are enormous and pose great risk to wildlife as clearly shown in this massive bird kill. The most disturbing thing about this incident is Synacrude’s neglect. Tar sands operators aren’t taking care of their basic responsibilities and doubtless they are cutting corners elsewhere in order to maximize their profit at others expense. These fines will go to environmental charities, but Mike at Greenpeace has a point; $3 million doesn’t mean anything to a multi-billion dollar company and safety lapses will continue. While conditions have improved here, where else are bad deeds taking place that haven’t been corrected? Tailing ponds are one of hundred reasons why tar sands oil is the dirtiest massive energy project on the planet and why it can’t continue.
Posted in Global Warming, Tarsands, Toxics | Tagged greenpeace, Oil sands, Synacrude, tailing ponds, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality |
Image via Wikipedia
Austin Energy hired a consultant to help determine how its rates compare to those of other utilities in preparation for its plan to substantially raise electricity rates in 2012. The work is ongoing, but an eye-opening statistic has already emerged. Estimates indicate that the average US household’s energy costs are equal to 7% of household income, but the study shows that on average, the poorest 5 percent of Travis County households spend about 45% of their incomes on electricity.
That is a staggering statistic and points out the need to provide more energy efficiency funding for low-income families. The short and long term benefits are economic relief and cost-effective home improvements. While assistance relieves pressure on individual households, the benefits also ripple into the community. With less money spent on energy, more money is available for other goods and services. If this money is spent locally, Austin captures this revenue, with further benefits rippling out from there.
Keep in mind, most low-income households are renters. There should be incentives put in place to encourage landlords to increase the energy efficiency of their properties. And don’t forget, there are environmental benefits to reducing our energy usage. This seems like a win win for our city.
Posted in Efficiency, Energy | Tagged Austin, Austin Energy, conservation, Efficient energy use, electricity, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Household, poverty, Technology, Texas |
From the Statesman:
A Travis County jury today found South Texas lawmaker Kino Flores guilty of multiple counts of tampering with a governmental record and perjury in connection with omissions Flores made on financial disclosure forms required to be filed by state elected officials.
Flores, a 14-year state representative, was convicted of five counts of misdemeanor tampering with a governmental record, four counts of felony tampering with a governmental record and two counts of misdemeanor perjury.
***“This verdict represents the public saying to public officials that they expect elected officials to maintain the highest ethical standards,” Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said. “That accurate and full public disclosure is an important part of public service and that the public will not accept excuses like ‘I was too busy’ or ‘I just didn’t know.’”
Flores was found guilty of two counts of tampering with government records with the intent to harm or defraud the state for failing to report on the forms income that he was accused of receiving from a list of businesses in 2002 and 2003. He was also found guilty of the felony tampering for failing to report his son’s job with the Capitol lobby firm HillCo Partners.
The jury found that he did not intend to harm or defraud by failing to report a list of properties he owned on financial disclosure firms, including a Guadalupe Street condominium. Because of that lack of intent, the jury found the tampering with a governmental record counts related to those charges are misdemeanors.
Flores’ lawyers argued that he did not intend to omit the properties on the forms and dismissed some of the omissions as clerical errors. They argued that he was not obligated under the law to report the income because he was working as a consultant.
What’s important here is not what he was convicted for, but what he was NOT convicted for. As the article says, this case basically amounted to “clerical errors” but this still stinks to high heaven. Unfortunately, (and probably by design) we have a State Ethics Commission which is relatively toothless and whose only major enforcement actions are for paperwork violations. Kind of like this:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtWBlDC2-ss]
When lawmakers are given gifts or even campaign donations, there are obvious strings attached. We ought to ban all gift-giving from lobbyists, etc and move to a system of full public financing of elections so the public can be absolutely certain no favors are being traded.
Otherwise, we just have a system where as long as they’re telling us they’re taking bribes and fill out the proper paperwork, it’s ok.
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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 Campaign Finance, District attorney, Jury, Kino Flores, Texas, Texas Ethics Commission, travis county, Travis County Texas |
Cross-posted from our mother blog at CitizenVox. We don’t normally cross-post much because we’d prefer you to read their blog just as much as ours, but if you’re not, please add them to your rss feed now!
Of the $176.1 million spent by outside groups using large, often undisclosed contributions to influence the current elections, just 10 groups are responsible for the bulk of the spending, according to a new analysis released today by Public Citizen.
What’s more, 59.9 percent of the money comes from undisclosed sources. Of those contributions that have been disclosed, nearly two-thirds has come from just 0.12 percent of the contributors. The analysis of data from Public Citizen’s Stealth PACs database shows that:
- At least 149 independent groups have spent money to influence this year’s elections (according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports through Oct. 25) in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which permitted corporations, unions and organizations they fund to spend unlimited money to influence elections.
- Those groups have spent $176.1 million. Of that, $114.6 million, or 65 percent, was spent by only 10 groups.
- From the 10 groups, money spent on behalf of Republicans has outpaced money spent on behalf of Democrats $79.4 million to $28.5 million.
- Five groups have spent money on more than 35 races each. Eleven groups have spent money on more than 20 races each.
- Eighty groups have not disclosed any information about the sources of their money. These groups have spent $105.4 million of the $176.1 million total. Only $70.7 million of the spending – just 40.1 percent – has come from disclosed sources.
- Thirty groups have entered the fray for the first time in 2010 in the past two weeks.
“Outside group funding is shaking the foundations of our electoral democracy, but the situation is far worse than it seems at first blush,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen. “A tiny number of organizations, relying on a tiny number of corporate and fat cat contributors, are spending most of the money on the vicious attack ads dominating the airwaves. The vast majority of donors remain hidden behind a veil of secrecy, in many cases of doubtful legality. The biggest surge in funding will come in the next week. And this election cycle’s spending is merely a prelude to something far worse in 2012. The trigger for all this was the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United; the key to repairing our democracy is a constitutional amendment to undo the decision.”
The analysis includes charts identifying the groups spending the most to influence this year’s elections, the groups engaged in the most contests, the races that have been the subject of the most outside spending and the contests focused on by the independent groups that have sprung up in the past two weeks.
The Stealth PACs site allows users to search the expenditures and limited contribution data of independent groups that are intervening in this year’s elections using contributions of more than $5,000 or undisclosed contributions.
The site also enumerates the outside groups’ expenditures on each race, discloses the vendors and other recipients of expenditures of $1,000 or more, and provides links to the FEC filings on expenditure data.
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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 citizens united, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Democratic Party (United States), federal election commission, Public Citizen, republicans, Supreme Court of the United States, Texas, United States |
We were right when we said the Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case was going to have a negative impact on the political system in this country. The ruling has paved the way to make mid-term election campaigns the only growing industry in this economic crisis. The ruling has turned candidates’ focus from the policy to their pockets.
One of the issues that has fallen victim to the mid-term elections is the legislation to address climate change and regulate the energy industry. It was one of Obama’s main objectives on the campaign to cut emissions and provide incentives to renewable energy. But as election approached, Congress backed out of its commitment to this issue.
A European-based organization, Climate Action Network (CANE) released a report that shows European energy companies are paying contributions to Tea Party Candidates and other Congressional candidates who have denied climate-change is even occuring and have been outspoken against regulating the energy industry.
Remember Oklahoma’s Senator James Inhofe? He thinks Environmentalists are out there to scare people and proclaims that “Global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people,” and because of this “special” remark, he qualified to be one of the recipients of campaign funds from Europe’s biggest emitters. Inhofe is not the only one, many others in Congress have made some similar funny comments that got them some money. Montana’s Roy Blunt is another skeptic. made a blunt comment discrediting science on climate change, “There isn’t any real science to say we are altering the climate path of the earth.” this is more ridiculous than Montana’s law which makes it illegal to “have a sheep in the cab of your truck without a chaperone” but despite that, Blunts comments has put him as one of the top ten recipients from two of these companies.
Those companies, Such as BP(who is responsible for the US worst Environmental disaster), BASF (which spent $50,500 to block cap-and-trade), and others generally have two objectives: one is to stall and block climate change/energy reform legislation in the United States, second is to use that as an excuse to tell the European countries not to introduce such legislation. The companies who are funding those climate-skeptic candidates are based in countries such as Germany, France, UK, and Belgium (so much for those candidates’ being anti-socialist).
In a time when the president has gone all the way to teaming up with Mythbusters to encourage American kids about math and science, our representatives are doing their best at discrediting them. Climate Change is one issue that should cross partisan lines. I think every human being can agree that we need continue our existence on this planet and maintain it for the next generations. Al Gore says that in order for clean-energy advocates to achieve climate-friendly and renewable energy legislation, they need to get into the lobbying business just as the dirty energy lobbyist.
I disagree.
I think we need to reform the relationship between lobbyist and Congress. We shouldn’t need to write serious checks in order to get things done in this country.
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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, Energy, Global Warming, Good Government, green jobs | Tagged bp, campaign donations, cap and trade, carbon policy, Carbon Policy Politics, energy bill, Koch Industries, midterm elections, politics, tea party, Texas |
Supporters of a California law designed to battle climate change are pushing back against money from Texas oil and gas interests that’s helping to fund an initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot in the Golden State that would roll back some of the law’s provisions
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/Wo1wNpza2rM?fs=1&hl=en_US”]
Starring David Arquette – Written & Directed by Matthew Cooke – Produced by Gabe Cowen – Executive Produced by Peter Glatzer and Adrian Grenier.
Posted in Campaign Finance, Energy, Global Warming, Good Government, green jobs, Renewables, solar | Tagged Adrian Grenier, California, California law, climate change, David Arquette, environment, Matthew Cooke, Texas |
In spite of its many problems, California is leaving Texas in the dust in solar energy production.
The Obama administration has approved the sixth solar venture authorized on federal lands within the last month for a project in the Mojave Desert near Blythe, Calif. All of the projects are on federally owned desert in the Southwest that the land management bureau opened in 2005 to solar development. Even with these six projects and a 7th expected in the next few weeks, solar energy will remain a tiny fraction of overall energy production on U.S. lands compared to the 74,000 oil and gas permits issued in the past two decades
This project will be the world’s largest concentrated solar power plant which will use a “parabolic trough” system where parabolic mirrors focus the sun’s energy onto collector tubes. The fluid in the tubes is then heated and sent to a boiler, which sends live steam to a turbine to produce electricity, producing enough electricity to more than double the U.S. solar output, power at least 300,000 homes, and generate 1,066 construction jobs and 295 permanent jobs.
Construction on the $6 billion plant is expected to start by the end of 2010, with production starting in 2013. Solar plants that begin construction before Dec. 31 qualify for a Treasury Department grant totaling 30 percent of a project’s cost, as part of last year’s economic stimulus package.
The project had run into opposition by some environmentalists due to wildlife concerns, but the project will now be required to “provide funding for more than 8,000 acres of desert tortoise, western burrowing owl, bighorn sheep and Mojave fringe-toed lizard habitat to mitigate the project’s impacts.”
The solar industry is touting the efforts made by the Obama administration and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to promote solar power, which are clearly beginning to pay off. Take a hint, Texas.
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, green jobs, Renewables, solar | Tagged Arnold Schwarzenegger, California, concentrating solar power, Mojave Desert, Mojave fringe-toed lizard, Obama administration, solar power, Texas |
The House Committee on Redistricting, as a function of it’s procedural jurisdiction and as part of the 81st legislature’s interim charges, is conducting public hearings around the state regarding redistricting that will occur during the 82nd Legislature, which begins January 11, 2011.
The committee will be taking public testimony at these hearings and we would encourage you to attend a hearing in your area as the committee’s recommendations will help shape the districts for both the house and senate of the Texas legislature, Texas congressional districts, and districts for the election of judicial officers or of governing bodies or representatives of political subdivisions or state agencies as required by law, including state board of education districts for the next ten years.
Upcoming hearings include:
- ABILENE REDISTRICTING
October 27, 2010 at 12:00 P.M. at One AISD Center Board Room, 241 Pine Street, Abilene, TX 79601 - AUSTIN REDISTRICTING
November 17, 2010 at 10:00 A.M. at the Texas State Capitol, Underground Extension, Hearing Room E1.030, in Austin, TX - HOUSTON REDISTRICTING
November 20, 2010 at 10:00 A.M. at University of Houston, Athletic/Alumni Center, O’Quinn Great Hall, 3100 Cullen Boulevard, Houston, TX, 77004
If you missed the hearing in your community, you can watch archived broadcasts of the hearing, just click on the link below.
| Date | Time & Link | Redistricting Hearing |
| 07/21/10 | 10:00 a.m. | Corpus Christi Redistricting (part 1) |
| 07/21/10 | 1:25 p.m. | Corpus Christi Redistricting (part 2) |
| 09/22/10 | 10:00 a.m. | Dallas Redistricting |
| 09/20/10 | 12:00 p.m. | Dallas Redistricting |
| 08/16/10 | 10:00 a.m. | El Paso Redistricting |
| 06/02/10 | 11:07 a.m. | Joint Hearing with the Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence |
| 07/20/10 | 10:10 a.m. | Laredo Redistricting |
| 08/18/10 | 12:00 p.m. | Lubbock Redistricting |
| 10/20/10 | 11:00a.m. | Marshall Redistricting |
| 07/19/10 | 12:06 p.m. | McAllen Redistricting |
| 06/21/10 | 10:00 a.m. | San Antonio Redistricting |
| 06/21/10 | 10:00 a.m. | San Antonio Redistricting |
| 09/21/10 | 10:00 a.m. | Tarrant County Redistricting |
Posted in Good Government | Tagged census, congressional districts, redistricting, state board of education district, Texas, texas legislative districts |
Jury selection begins today in former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay‘s felony conspiracy trial. In 2005, A Travis County Grand Jury indicted the former U.S. Congressman on charges he helped funnel $190,000 in illegal corporate donations into statewide elections in 2002. State law prohibits corporations from contributing to political campaigns.
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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, Global Warming, Good Government | Tagged Dick DeGuerin, election fraud, Grand jury, Jack Abramoff, jury selection, social justice, Texas, Tom Delay, Travis County Texas, United States House of Representatives |
Howdy folks. We’re doing a press conference at 2pm with the League of Women Voters in Houston at the Moody Park Community Center (3725 Fulton, Houston, TX), one of the early voting locations with the most complaints of voter intimidation. These activities must stop, and this highlights how Houston is ground zero for the creep of illegal, corporate money into our elections. Here’s an early taste of our press statement we are making. We hope to have some video available later this afternoon, possibly also video of other early voting activities.
I early voted on Friday at Buda City Hall, standing in a line that snaked around City Hall for 40 minutes. Have you voted yet? Get out! Do it now!
Here’s our press release:
October 25, 2010
Last week as early voting for the Nov. 2 General Election got under way, there were complaints of poll watchers interfering with or intimidating voters and other potential election violations in Harris and Bexar Counties. Our organizations–LWV-Texas, Public Citizen, and Common Cause–condemn any and all attempts to sway this election by controlling who gets to vote.
The right to vote is sacred. People have died for this right, both in our nation’s past and even in our recent history. Registered citizens should never be turned away from being able to vote. Our greatest patriots, such as Washington and Lincoln, waged war to insure that taxation without representation did not occur and to protect the notion of government for, of, and by the people. It was a Texan, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who pushed through Congress and then signed the Voting Rights Act which protects the rights of all citizens to register and to vote.
We want to encourage everyone, in Harris County, Bexar County, and across the state, to come out and vote, regardless of ideology, gender, race, income, whether your community is urban, suburban, or rural, and whether your preferred party is Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, Green, or Tea. Do not let tales of intimidation frighten you away. Instead, let these concerns be a call to action and a reminder of the importance of every citizen’s right to participate.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Campaign Finance, Good Government, Privacy | Tagged Electoral fraud, Harris County Texas, houston, Jim Crow, League of Women Voters, Public Citizen, public citizen texas, Texas, Texas Attorney General, voter intimidation, voter suppression, Voting, Voting Rights Act |
Dean Kamen is known for his many inventions, some of which have transformed the world, from the insulin pump and an all-terrain wheelchair to portable water purification systems and robotic prosthetic limbs. Of course, others, like his Segway self-balancing electric scooter (which visitors to the Texas capitol will see whizzing past with curious sightseers holding on for dear life), became more of a pop-culture phenomenon than a major boost to his pocketbook.
His love for science, technology, engineering and innovating has made him wealthy and in 1986, Kamen bought a tiny, 2-acre private island off the coast of Connecticut in Long Island Sound, where he began bumping heads with the local authorities from the town of Southold, N.Y., which has jurisdiction over the island, when he wanted to put up a wind turbine. Like our Governor Perry, he made noises about seceding, but eventually did receive his variance to build his personal wind turbine. That turbine, coupled with the use of solar panels, provides the island with all its power. He replaced all the island’s lighting with LEDs, which cut down his in-house energy consumption by 70 percent, thus creating the most carbon-neutral kingdom (his pseudo island nation kingdom) on the planet — “carbon-negative,” in fact.
Kamen’s methods may sometimes seem childish and self-serving, but he claims to use mirth to attract attention to what he considers his most important work: inspiring others to think outside the box in developing new ways to live better lives and he hopes to inspire young people to follow his lead in seeking out innovation so that they, too, can become island rulers — or at least the masters of their fates.
Let’s hope that he does inspire people in this country to innovate and they can lead us into a new energy future.
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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, Renewables | Tagged LED lights, renewable energy, Renewables, solar, Texas, wind power |
The Obama Administration released a notice of intent on Friday, October 15 to opened up a public comment session on fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, specifically setting a goal of an average of 60 mpg by the year 2025.
Comments on this first proposal should be sent by October 31, 2010. There will be another opportunity to comment after the issuance of the proposed rules due by September 30, 2011. Comments can be e-mailed to a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov with the docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-0799 in the subject line.
Below is an example of a possible comment:
Dear President Obama,
We can use American ingenuity to end our dependence on oil, keeping billions of dollars in our economy, cutting pollution and protecting our coasts from devastating oil spills. The best way for you to help put America on this path is by making our cars and trucks cleaner and more efficient.
I urge you to strengthen pollution and fuel economy standards for new cars and trucks, that ensure we reduce our dependence on oil by at least 45 billion gallons per year by 2030- beyond what is expected from current vehicle standards. Thats nearly three times as much oil as we currently import from Saudi Arabia. You can do this by:–Setting new standards requiring cars and light trucks to achieve at least 60 miles per gallon and emit no more than 143 grams of global warming pollution per mile by 2025, with accurate accounting for fuels including electricity for plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles; and–Setting standards that reduce fuel consumption from long-haul tractor-trailers at least 35 percent by 2017 and require all other medium- and heavy-duty trucks to increase fuel economy to the maximum technically feasible level.
We need your leadership to set strong pollution and fuel economy standards that will unleash American technology and ingenuity to help break our countrys dependence on oil.
Sincerely,
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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, Transportation | Tagged CAFE Standards, fuel efficiency, mpg, Texas |
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