Have you ever wondered, “who is that citizensarah who writes so many engaging and informative articles on Texas Vox?”
Well, today is your lucky day because I had a chance to temporarily slow down our queen blogging bee to ask her a few questions and learn about all the other things she does at Public Citizen. Take a spring break and enjoy this web of honey-comb goodness.
(Watch out: we may have another super hero on our hands.)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_A26g8bCYA]
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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 Activism, activist, Austin, citizen sarah, get to know an activist, Public Citizen, sarah mcdonald, Texas |
Why not enjoy these posts from the Texas Progressive Alliance along with the beautiful spring weather?
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme sees vast differences between Perry, his bud David Dewhurst and Democrat Bill White. Democrats are for a robust public education while Republicans are doing their darnedest to kill it.
Are you playing the Barnett Shale economic shell game? Learn the rules at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS before you play.
The Texas Cloverleaf commentary on Congressional GOP members behaving like grown ups, if grown ups were 4 years old
Off the Kuff took a look at voting trends in Texas’ fastest-growing counties. Hint: They getting bluer.
The week at Left of College Station, Teddy reports on the Coalition for Life possibly being in conflict with itself 501(c) 3 status by appearing connected to the Rob Curnock for Congress campaign. Left of College Station also takes a first look at the candidates for College Station mayor, and this week will take a first look at the candidates for Bryan mayor.
Libby Shaw updates us on GoodHair and companies reaction to HCR. It is not pretty. Perry and Abbott On Crusade to Block Health Care Benefits for Texans
Neil at Texas Liberal visited a Walgreen’s in suburban Chicago in the week just past. While there he took a picture of chocolate praying hands and of a chocolate cross that are on sale for easter. Maybe these items are for people who adhere to the Chocolate God Theory.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson chronicles the fact that after the Democrats passed a historic health care bill the GOP went Crazy over health care.
Randy Noogie-Booger, the West Texas Congress critter who yelled “Baby killer!” during the debate on healthcare reform last week, was profiled by PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.
Bay Area Houston writes about When Teabaggers Become Terrorist
WhosPlayin, like a lot of other progressive bloggers this week, had thoughts on the historic passage of health care insurance reform.
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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 Uncategorized | Tagged abbott, Barnett shale, bill white, bryan, coalition for life, college station, david dewhurst, Democrat Bill White, democrats, drilling reform, health care, perry, republicans, rob curnock, south texas chisme, Texas, texas cloverleaf, texas progressive alliance, Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round |
After Week in Review‘s SXSW hiatus, our weekly blog update is back in action, keeping you posted on Public Citizen’s energy advocacy work. Continue Reading »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Andrew Sauls, andy wilson, carol geiger, matt johnson, mona avalos, patrick reck, Public Citizen, ryan rittenhouse, smitty, sunset commission, TCEQ, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, tom smith, trevor lovell, week in review |
Worried about your environmental impact? This Saturday, March 27th at 8:30pm is your chance to participate with millions of people around the world during Earth Hour.
“What do I have to do?” Simply turn off the lights for one hour.
During this hour we can universally flip the switch on dirty air, foreign oil, and the impact that we have on climate change. This is a chance where we can all work together and have a positive impact while protecting not only our future but the future of the Earth.
“What am I going to do in the dark for an hour?” I am glad you asked. Here are some simple ideas:
- Invite your friends over for an Earth Hour Party
- Have a candlelight dinner with your family
- Set up camp in your home and share scary stories
- Meditate – the calmness is the perfect environment for meditation
- Take a walk under the moonlight
- Gaze at the stars
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5WYlqD8mR0&feature=player_embedded]
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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, dirty air, Earth, foreign oil, Public Citizen, public citizen texas, Texas |
An eye opening story from KHOU earlier this week gave more insight into what’s the matter at TCEQ. It’s worth your 5 minutes to watch the entire thing but here are the highlights:
Valero installed a pollution scrubber to create lower sulphur fuels in one of their Houston refineries. The problem? According to TCEQ staff, the scrubbers actually create MORE local pollution, and to add insult to injury, the vast majority of the lower polluting fuel gets sold in California and New Jersey.
But Valero still wants a tax break specially designed for technology that lowers LOCAL pollution for installing this scrubber. Because the tax cut would be retroactive, this would mean Houston area taxpayers would be on the hook to make up the deficit. That means either a tax hike or layoffs for teachers, firefighters, and police. Continue Reading »
Posted in Campaign Finance, Energy, Good Government, Toxics | Tagged houston, oil refineries, sunset review, taxes, TCEQ, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Valero |
March 26, 2010 by Citizen Carol
An Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) panel will hear oral argument regarding a hearing in the South Texas Project Combined License (COL) proceeding on April 7 in Bay City, Texas. The ASLB is the independent body within the NRC that presides over hearings where the public can challenge proposed licensing and enforcement actions. Continue Reading »
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged Nuclear, public citizen texas, SEED Coalition, Texas |
March 26, 2010 by Citizen Carol
According to the Wall Street Journal, Citigroup has downgraded shares of NRG Energy (NRG) to “Hold” from “Buy” and cut price targets to $25 from $27 on the stocks. Shares of NRG today are off 34 cents, or 1.6%, at $20.83.
Citigroup analyst Brian Chin warns that NRG’s investment in the South Texas Plant (STP) nuclear power plant expansion continues to consume resources without a clear indication from the U.S. Department of Energy that they will receive a loan guarantee for the plant, impacting investor enthusiasm.
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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 Nuclear, public citizen texas, Texas |
The Public Utility Commission has launched a new website called www.SmartMeterTexas.com that allows customers to track their energy usage in 15-minute increments to better understand their usage patterns and potentially decrease their electricity consumption and costs. After several years of behind the scenes work, this is the first step in smart grid, or advanced meter technology that’s being rolled out.
The website is only available to customers that have had digital smart meters installed, of course. Have your most recent electric bill on hand when you log in to establish proper identification. As of Tuesday, 1 million customers in the Oncor and Centerpoint territories can use the site — and eventually more than 6.3 million Texans will be able to manage their energy use through the site.
This is the first step towards an exciting energy future where you’ll be able to view your electricity use through a browser on your smart phone and turn off or on the electricity flow to various devices. In the future you will be able to work with energy management partners (such as Google) and your retail electric provider to help better manage your use and reduce your energy consumption. In this not-so-distant frame, you’ll be able to tell if Junior left the TV on and turn it off from afar (and send him a nagging text message of course). Or maybe you realize you’re getting off work early; you’ll be able to go ahead and set your thermostat so the house will be nice and cool by the time you get home. The technological possibilities of smart meters will eventually offer us radically more control of our energy use, which will decrease overall pollution from power plants, the need for new power plants to be built, and of course our energy costs. Continue Reading »
Posted in Efficiency, Energy | Tagged centerpoint, electricity consumption, energy usage, oncor, public utility commission, smart meters, smartmetertexas.com, Texas, website |
Ya’ll have heard of the “climategate” and other recent, escalating attacks against global warming science, and the scientists behind it. Though these attacks are getting more frequent and belligerent in nature some people are fighting back with cool heads and cold hard facts. Deniers rely on misinformation and cherry picking so much that they have made it into a new art form, but the truth is a hard thing to ultimately dodge.
Here’s the latest “Climate Crock of the Week” from Peter Sinclair. His video series is fantastic and probably one of the best resources out there for getting the down-low on the latest nonsense being spouted by FOX news or their affiliated denier zealots. He breaks down the denier myths and even uses their own references against them – showing everyone what the real science says.
Check it out, and check out his YouTube Channel for the rest of his videos. His blog can be seen here. He has also just started a video series called “Renewable Energy Solution of the Month” as a partner series to his “Climate Crocks” for some alternative, solutions-oriented messaging. Check them all out!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp-iB6jwjUc&feature=digest]
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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 global warming science, Peter Sinclair, Texas |
March 22, 2010 by Citizen Carol
Exelon Nuclear plans to file a 6,000-plus-page document that would give it as many as 40 years to begin work on a power plant in Victoria.
Exelon has looked at building a plant in this area of Texas since 2007. It plans to file an early site permit application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on March 25, 2010. This will allow them to keep their options open as the permit, if approved by the NRC, would give Exelon three to 20 years to decide whether to build a plant in Victoria County. It can be extended for another 20 years, giving the company up to 40 years to begin construction from the time that the NRC approves the permit.
Once the early site permit application is submitted, it undergoes a three- to four-year review process by the NRC in which it will evaluate the project’s environmental impact and safety preparedness.
The NRC will conduct a public meeting April 15 at the Victoria Community Center to explain what the review process entails.
Water use figures prominently into the concerns of many. The Guadalupe River is the designated water source for the possible power plant, and Exelon has a water reservation agreement with the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) that expires in 2013.
In the agreement with the GBRA, Exelon reserved 75,000 acre-feet of water every year. The plant’s water use supercedes that of other water users, including the city of Victoria and farmers in the region.
We strongly urge the public to attend this meeting.
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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 Exelon, Nuclear, public hearing, Texas, tx, Victoria, water |
The Texas Progressive Alliance’s weekly blog roundup will reach 32 million more Americans regardless of their pre-existing conditions.
Last week, TXsharon made a video statement at the EPA Public Hearing on the proposed ozone standards.
Who Needs a Proctologist when you have former State Representative Rick Green running for the Texas Supreme Court?
This week on Left of College Station, Continue Reading »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bill white, brains and eggs, bryan, burnt orange report, chamber of commerce, college station, dallas, democrats, EPA, eye on williamson, health care, homeowners insurance, lakeisha rogers, left of college station, lewisville, louis gohmert, march madness, off the kuff, phillip martin, proposed ozone standards, public hearing, republicans, rick green, Rick Perry, school districts, school finance, south texas chisme, tax dodging, tea bagger, Teddy, Texas, texas progressive alliance, Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round, texas supreme court, texas-mexico border, texaskaos, txsharon |
March 19, 2010 by Citizen Carol
NRC SEEKS PUBLIC INPUT ON DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT NEW REACTORS
MEETINGS SCHEDULED – May 6 from 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. and 7 – 10 p.m.
at the Bay City Civic Center, 201 7th St. in Bay City
Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is seeking public comments on its preliminary finding that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude issuing Combined Licenses (COL) for two new reactors at the South Texas Project site near Bay City, Texas. Continue Reading »
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged Nuclear Environment Texas STP, Texas |
Humans are not the only ones feeling the change of the climate, according to a new study released by U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called The State of the Birds: 2010 Report on Climate Change. Collaborating with experts from the nation’s leading conservation organizations, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported that climate change has and will continue to have a devastating effect on bird species in all habitats.
“For well over a century, migratory birds have faced stresses such as commercial hunting, loss of forests, the use of DDT and other pesticides, a loss of wetlands and other key habitat, the introduction of invasive species, and other impacts of human development,” Salazar said. “Now they are facing a new threat–climate change–that could dramatically alter their habitat and food supply and push many species towards extinction.”
The State of the Birds reports on oceanic, coastal, wetlands, islands, aridlands, grasslands and forest birds. These findings include observations and predictions, their vulnerability and potential impacts. Continue Reading »
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged american bird conservancy, birds, climate change, david pashley, DDT, ecosystem loss, fish and wildlife service, golden cheeked warbler, ken salazar, state of the birds, Texas, usfws |
Environment Texas is throwing a SXSW party tomorrow called: A Solar Affair: Beats and Beers for Solar Power.
Check out the flyer and blog below by Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas — hope to see you there!
In Texas, we have enough sun to power the entire state, and enough beats and beer to power Environment Texas’ unofficial SXSW party A Solar Affair: Beats and Beers for Solar Power. Friday’s party – which features music by Daedelus and a short talk by state Representative Mark Strama – comes amidst a major push for Texas to go solar. Continue Reading »
Posted in solar | Tagged beats and beers, daedalus, dj fundamental, environment texas, luke metzger, solar affair, Solar Power Environment Texas, sxsw, Texas |
Activists are risking arrest by demonstrating outside EPA national headquarters in make-shift tripod stands. They say they won’t go away until EPA administrator Lisa Jackson promises to make a fly-over of the Appalachian Mountain Top Removal coal mines to see first hand the destruction it is causing.
Despite the Obama administration making claims they would crack down on MTR mining, the EPA has been slow to act and has actually granted some new MTR mining permits. It is only through continued pressure and media exposure that this horribly destructive practice can finally be stopped.
Civil disobedience and direct action are one of the most effective means of fighting injustice and tyranny. These activists are putting their freedom and their safety on the line to non-violently oppose one of the most irreversibly and violently destructive industries in history. Please help support their actions by posting at RAN and by contacting Lisa Jackson and asking her to go to Appalachia and take action against MTR.
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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 action, Coal, EPA, Global Warming, Lisa Jackson, Mining, mountain top removal, mountaintop, mtr, obama, protest, RAN, Texas |
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