Did YOUR Legislator win 2nd prize in any beauty contests? Find out in their personal financial disclosures.
Texas Tribune has just published their list of Texas Personal Financial Statements: 2009, in which you can search for the personal financial statements of over 3,000 Texas officials and political candidates. Why not look up your representative or senator, your favorite TCEQ commissioner, the governor, perhaps? You will be able to see the source of the paychecks they are bringing home and what investments or gifts they might have which create any impropriety.
All of this is thanks to the Texas Public Information Act, under which they bravely requested all of these disclosures and then went through the arduous task of scanning and uploading them.
EDITOR’S NOTE: What? You thought Texas might provide these types of records in an electronic format to begin with? Or that legislators and candidates would be able to file electronically? Almost makes you wonder why they want this information trapped on paper instead of an easily parse-able format, eh? Cut to scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark with giant warehouse where Indiana Jones is promised “top men” will be looking into the ark… ~~AW
Texas Tribune, Burnt Orange Report and the Hank Gilbert campaign are all already making issues out of information in personal financial statements of former Houston Mayor and Dem gubernatorial nominee Bill White, Governor Perry and Ag Commissioner Todd Staples, respectively.
Texas Tribune doesn’t have the time to sift through all of these, so they’re asking their readers to help them out– check out what you can and if you see something, let us know and let them know.
To save you the trouble, here is the link for Rick Perry’s: http://www.texastribune.org/library/data/texas-personal-financial-statements-2009/?appSession=532163143824315
###
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 Good Government | Tagged bill white, personal financial disclosures, Rick Perry, Texas, texas tribune, Todd Staples |
In a breaking story from the AP, we learn that the air pollution rules first proposed under George W. Bush’s EPA are 
moving forward.
The Environmental Protection Agency said the new rules would cut sulfur dioxide emissions by 71 percent from 2005 levels by 2014 and nitrogen oxide emissions by 52 percent in the same time frame.
The regulation, known as the Clean Air Interstate Rule, requires 31 states from Massachusetts to Texas to reduce emissions that contribute to smog and soot and can travel long distances in the wind. The agency predicted the rule would prevent about 14,000 to 36,000 premature deaths a year.
The rule would overturn and toughen rules issued during the administration of former President George W. Bush.
What happened was the Bush Administration took a look at the scientific reviews for where the levels of these pollutants should be to protect health. When they published their new air quality standards, they were actually less strong than the science required.
And while legal wrangling is fun, the real story here is the impact on human health.
“We’re working to limit pollution at its source, rather than waiting for it to move across the country,” Jackson said in a statement.
The proposed reductions should save billions of dollars in avoided health costs and sick days and save thousands of lives each year, Jackson said. Those benefits would far outweigh the estimated $2.8 annual cost of compliance, she said.
Reducing pollution from power plants means fewer sick kids who have to miss school, it means fewer people who have to be rushed to the ER for an asthma treatment, and even means fewer deaths. And, of course, reducing these emissions most likely also means a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, another added benefit we can all be happy about.
###
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, Coal, Energy | Tagged Air Quality, climate change, Coal, coal fired power plant, EPA, NAAQS, Texas |
July 2, 2010 by Citizen Carol
About 20 of the roughly 100 contractor personnel working on the proposed addition of two new 1,350-MW nuclear units at the South Texas nuclear station have been let go.
Nuclear Innovation North America (NINA), an 88/12 joint venture of NRG Energy and Toshiba, currently owns 92.35% of the planned expansion, and CPS Energy, the municipal utility in San Antonio owns the remaining 7.65%. In May, NINA announced Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to eventually take up to a 20% stake in NINA’s share, beginning with a 10% stake in that share–or a 9.235% stake in the project itself–if a $7 billion federal loan guarantee is secured.
NINA has recently said it expects the project to cost about $13 billion, including $10 billion in “overnight” costs and $3 billion in financing costs. Although earlier cost projections have put the project coming in at $18 billion.
At this time, there is spectulation that the remaining loan guarantees will go to Calvert Cliffs in Maryland. NINA has said they would not go forward with the expansion without the loan guarantees. Could this be the beginning of the end for the STP expansion? Stay tuned.
###
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 Nuclear | Tagged NINA, Nuclear, South Texas Project, STP, Texas |
Here is the most recent footage from the additional State Department meeting that was held in Houston for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. See this post for the footage from the 4 original meetings in East Texas. For more info on the tar sands pipeline visit citizen.org/texas and dirtyoilsands.org.
[vimeo 13016943]
[vimeo 13020142]
###
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 Coal, coal tar sands, Global Warming, Texas |
After a several hour closed-door meeting between the two remaining candidates for Austin Energy’s General Manager position and some of Austin’s best environmental, energy, and consumer advocates, all of the groups represented came to the same conclusion: neither of these candidates was a right fit for Austin.
In fact, former City Councilwoman Brigid Shea told reporters that “Mr. Wright is wrong for Austin” and that they had hoped our nationwide search would produce “major league” candidates to fit with Austin’s leadership on energy and community issues. “No offense, but these guys are more minor league.”
You can see the entire video here of their press conference, led by Public Citizen representative Cary Ferchill:
YouTube:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcXDk-fXEYk]
Vimeo:
[vimeo 13016093]
###
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, Good Government | Tagged Austin Energy, climate change, coal plant, Energy Efficiency, Global Warming, Texas |
Yesterday the TCEQ remanded the air permit for the proposed Las Brisas petroleum-coke plant back to the State Office of Administrative Hearings. What they didn’t do is require the facility to do what’s called a case-by-case analysis of MACT (Maximum Achievable Control Technology) for Hazardous Air Pollutants. In effect, TCEQ (the agency tasked with protecting people and the environment from pollution) is not going to require Las Brisas to do a proper analysis of their pollution control!
This is outrageous. A permit which should have been denied outright, or at the least sent back to the beginning of the process, is instead being temporarily remanded on a number of less significant issues. Below is the proceeding in its entirety. The first video covers the first part of the process when the applicant and the opposition’s representation were allowed time to make comments to the commissioners. The second video shows the commissioners’ decision which is then followed by a press conference which includes responses from local residents in Corpus Christi who would be directly affected by the pollution TCEQ is failing to properly address.
For more information contact Public Citizen’s office at 512-477-1155.
[vimeo 13008393]
[vimeo 13011768]
###
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, Global Warming, Good Government, TCEQ, Toxics | Tagged Air Quality, Carbon Dioxide, climate change, Environmental Protection Agency, Global Warming, public citizen texas, solar power, Texas |
The TCEQ ruled today on the air permit for the proposed Las Brisas pet-coke plant in Corpus Christi. The good news is they didn’t grant the permit (yet), instead they remanded the permit back to the State Office of Administrative Hearings on a number of issues. However, they refused to acknowledge some of the most important aspects and requirements of the process (like a case-by-case analysis of the hazardous air pollutants) and practically ignored the recommendations of the administrative law judges and even their own staff – who have all recommended that this permit be denied.
TCEQ should have sent Las Brisas packing – they should have outright denied this joke of a permit, or at the least made them restart the permitting process from square one. Instead we have the same old story from TCEQ. They have shown once more that their primary interest is to allow industries to pollute irresponsibly and not, as it should be, to protect the people and environment of Texas from unnecessary pollution.
The video below is of the press conference held yesterday, which also talked about revisions to water quality standards – another mistake TCEQ is in the process of making. Visit Sierra Club’s website for more on that. Stay tuned to Texas Vox for more info on the Las Brisas case – the video footage of today’s proceedings will be up by tomorrow and will include responses from the protestants in the case including locals from Corpus Christi.
[vimeo 12988286]
###
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, TCEQ | Tagged Coal, corpus christi, fail, hearing, judge, judges, las brisas, meeting, pet-coke, Petcoke, petroleum, pollution, Public Citizen, remand, soah, state office of administrative hearings, TCEQ, Texas |
June 30, 2010 by Citizen Carol
Requests for a public meeting should be submitted to EPA’s Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery by July 21, 2010. For a sample request letter and where to send it, click here.
Posted in Coal | Tagged coal ash, EPA, public hearing, Texas |
The EPA announced today that Texas’s much-discussed and derided flex permitting program does not follow the federal Clean Air Act (big surprise </sarcasm>). This was an action that began when the EPA under George W. Bush called into question the transparency and efficacy of the program which allows big polluters to skirt the federal Clean Air Act. From their press release:
EPA is disapproving the permit program after determining that it allows companies to avoid certain federal clean air requirements by lumping emissions from multiple units under a single “cap” rather than setting specific emission limits for individual pollution sources at their plants.
“Today’s action improves our ability to provide the citizens of Texas with the same healthy-air protections that are provided for citizens in all other states under the Clean Air Act.,” said Al Armendariz, Regional Administrator. “EPA will continue working closely with Texas, industry, environmental organizations, and community leaders to assure an effective and legal air permitting system.”
We’re chiming in on this, with a joint press release from the Alliance for Clean Texas (ACT), where you can go to read the full press release. Here’s the highlights: Continue Reading »
Posted in Energy, Good Government, TCEQ, Toxics | Tagged ACT, asthma, clean air act, Dr. Al Armendariz, EPA, flex permits, TCEQ, Texas, Texas Sunset Advisory Commission |
TransCanada, a pipeline company out of Canada, wants to build a pipeline to bring the dirtiest kind of oil in the world from tar sands mines in Alberta, Canada to refineries in Houston and Beaumont. This oil is many times dirtier than conventional crude and allowing Houston area refineries to process it would increase air pollution throughout the region. The tar sands mines in Alberta are devastating the Boreal forest ecosystem, laying waste to a region the size of Florida and poisoning the people who live downstream. The first permit this pipeline needs is the Presidential Permit, which goes through the State Department. The comment period on this project is open until July 2 – to submit comments online go here. For more information on tar sands oil visit dirtyoilsands.org and to stay updated on tar sands news in Texas keep coming back here to Texas Vox, and visit our main webpage on tar sands here. Continue Reading »
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Transportation | Tagged canada, deis, draft environmental impact statement, Global Warming, hearings, meeting, oil, pipeline, state department, Tar Sands, tarsands, Texas |
June 28, 2010 by Citizen Carol
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to set federal safeguards for millions of tons of dangerous coal ash waste currently being stored in dry dumps and waste ponds. You can help set EPA on a straight course towards the first ever strong, federally enforceable safeguards for coal ash. And judging from the current proposal, it seems like the EPA can use our help.
Texas leads the nation in coal ash waste production so final rules could have significant impact in keeping Texans safe from toxic waste, blighting our landscape and polluting our groundwater. According to the EPA, if the weaker coal ash option were put in place, coal ash dumps and waste ponds in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming will retain their status quo: poorly regulated, unprotected and unsafe. Even in Tennessee, where in December 2008 a coal ash pond in Kingston collapsed, spilling over 1 billion gallons of the toxic waste across 300 acres, will not have protections in place to prevent a similar disaster from happening again.
If you want EPA to hold a public hearing on the proposed coal ash waste rule in your area, you need to request one. Requests for a public meeting should be submitted to EPA’s Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery by July 21, 2010. Continue Reading »
Posted in Coal | Tagged coal ash waste, EPA, Public Hearings, Texas |
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtpSgqUZ3oA]
A few days ago, Larry King interviewed T. Boone Pickens and if you were watching it, you heard him condemn the spill and the US dependence on oil then he raved about natural gas and how safe it is to drill for it.
Pickens is not the first. Many have claimed that natural gas is better, safer, and cheaper. Simply, that is not the case. I have written about a couple of natural gas blow outs and pipe fractures in Texas this month alone but this documentary examines several other elements of natural gas impact than just rigs blowing up.
Yesterday, HBO aired a documentary that is both eye-opening and disturbing. It is called GasLand, in which Josh Fox, the director travels across the United States to explore the damage and contamination that has resulted from drilling for natural gas. In the documentary, Fox points out the different impacts of natural gas; on our drinking water, the air we breathe, and the nature that surrounds us. If the pictures of evaporating water mixed gas into the air to get rid of the waste (process done by gas-drilling facilities) won’t tell how bad natural gas is, then I am pretty sure watching people lighting their contaminated faucet water on fire will.
Fox collects water samples from homes with contaminated water and sends them to a lab for examination. I will leave it to you to watch his outrageous findings in the documentary.
In case you missed it, Josh Fox’s GasLand will be airing on HBO at the following (central) times:
Thursday, June 24: 12:00PM
Thursday, June 24: 11:30PM
Saturday, June 26: 11:00AM
Wednesday, June 30: 08:45AM
For more information, visit the HBO schedule page or the webpage for GasLand.
Posted in Energy, Global Warming, natural gas, Renewables, solar | Tagged air pollution, Air Quality, documentary, drinking water, faucet on fire, fracking, gasland, HBO, HBO Documentaries, josh fox, Larry King, Larry King Live, natural gas drilling, oil and gas wells, pipe explosion, rig explosion, T. Boone Pickens, Texas, water, water on fire, Water Pollution, Water Quality |
June 22, 2010 by Citizen Carol
EPA offers two options for coal ash: one good, one very, very bad Continue Reading »
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged EPA, Texas |
So he’s sorry he was sorry. Joe Barton, District 6 Congressman, apologized yesterday for his publicity stunt of an apology to BP where he equated the $20 billion aid fund to a shakedown. He claimed that his comments over being ashamed of the White House were misconstructed, as in constructed badly, kinda like that leaky oil well huh there Joey? *pause for laughter*
Republicans and Democrats immediately condemned Barton for his remarks and Representative Jeff Miller (R-Florida) called for Barton to resign as the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. When asked whether he planned to stay put on the committee, Barton responded:
“Damn straight.”
It’s clear that he was wrong in saying what he said, but what exactly inspired this self righteous act of disregard for the victims of the BP oil spill? Cash money you silly goose. Duh! Barton agrees that BP should be held responsible for their “bad accident” but only if it doesn’t involve funding aid to repair the lives and economy it has destroyed. Of the top 20 ranking industries contributing to Joe Barton’s campaign, oil and gas rank #2 at a grand total of $100,470.
As a matter of fact, October 15, 2010 marks the 7th Annual Barton Family Fishing Trip in beautiful Islamorada, Florida (that means purple island by the way). Current oil trajectory maps show that Islamorada will not be affected by the oil spill wait for it…YET. I guess we’ll just have to see if this party and the Gulf of Mexico’s tourist industry is still on in a few months.
For those of you who just won’t accept that Barton’s apology was fueled by campaign contributions there is another possibility. After all BP is a British based company with its headquarters located in London. Many wonderful things have hopped the pond and made life in the United States a little bit better. Maybe Joe Barton apologized to BP because he was afraid of incurring their wrath and in a vengeance driven rampage BP would snatch those wonderful things away. Because I don’t know about you but I love Harry Potter, and the Rolling Stones and The Office so we should listen carefully to how sorry BP actually is before we start holding them accountable for the safety and construction oversights that caused this tragedy:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAnsA96JK6Y]
###
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 and we’re not sorry about it.
Posted in Campaign Finance, Energy, Global Warming, Good Government | Tagged BP clean up, democratic primary, District 6, florida, foot in mouth, gulf of mexico oil spill, house committee on energy and commerice, isamorada, Jeff Miller, Joe Barton, Oil Industry, republican party, Texas |
From the Austin Business Journal:
The finalists include Ronald Davis, Larry Weis and David Wright.
- Ronald Davis (Burbank, Calif.) Davis has worked 30 years in the electric industry and has led Burbank Water and Power for the last 12 years. Burbank Water and Power is a municipal utility in urban Southern California with a 2009 budget of $410 million and a peak electrical load of 308 megawatts. The company adopted a 33 percent renewable energy portfolio standard in 2007.
- Larry Weis (Turlock, Calif.) Weis is the general manager and CEO for the Turlock Irrigation District, one of the 30 largest public power utilities in the U.S., which provides water and electricity to Central Valley California. He has 29 years of experience in the electric industry, including 20 years as a general manager. TID is currently supplying 28 percent of its annual energy requirements from renewable resources.
- David Wright (Riverside, Calif.) Wright is the general manager for the City of Riverside’s public utilities. He’s worked in the sector for more than 22 years. The Riverside Public Utilities group serves more than 300,000 residents with an annual budget of more than $500 million. He is a Certified Public Accountant and former finance director for San Diego County Water Authority. He was also city controller for Riverside before taking joining Riverside’s public utility.
As the energy industry changes rapidly, this hiring decision is critical. We will look forward to hearing more about these candidates in the coming days.
###
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, Global Warming, green jobs | Tagged Austin, Austin Energy, Energy Efficiency, green jobs, public citizen texas, Texas |
« Newer Posts - Older Posts »
