The Texas Progressive Alliance would like to thank the Academy by presenting it with this week’s roundup.
TXsharon went undercover this week to Map Methane plumes in the Barnett Shale: “Stealth” measurements contradict Shale Gas industry safe air claims, new technology shows. Big Gas is so BUSTED! And it’s all reported on Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.
This week on Left of College Station, Teddy covers all of the results of the primary elections including the surprising defeat of Don McLeroy in the State Board of Education District 9 Republican primary. Left of College Station also covers the week in headlines, and this week will begin coverage of the local municipal elections. Continue Reading »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged asian american action fund, Barnett shale, bay area houston, big gas, bluedaze, democrats, denton county, eye on williamson, flower mound, gas drilling, harris country, left of college station, methane plumes, perry, primary elections, republican, senator bunning, Senator Cornyn, state board of education, Texas, texas cloverleaf, texas liberal, texas progressive alliance, Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round, texaskaos, txsharon, white |
Welcome to the debut of the Public Citizen Texas Week in Review. Every day our advocacy staff works to organize citizens and politicians in order to realize our progressive vision of a healthy environment, a sustainable economy, and a government of, by, and for the people.
This advocacy requires patience and discipline, resilience and fortitude, as our energy initiatives develop and progress across the weeks and months. You, our online readers, see this work culminate in blog posts, newspaper articles, press releases, protests, law suits, and policy proposals. What you don’t see is the day-to-day operations as our advocates set priorities, develop concrete goals, implement strategies, form coalitions, read, compile, and compose reports, and collaborate with other progressive energy activists. Continue Reading »
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged advocacy, Andrew Sauls, austin climate protection plan, calendar committee, coal block, conference committee, Global Warming, matt johnson, mona avalos, patrick reck, public citizen texas, ryan rittenhouse, smitty, Texas, think green, think green fund, Tom "Smitty" Smith, trevor lovell, water-energy nexus, week in review, white stallion |
Longhorns and Aggies to create “green funds” that may soon be emulated statewide
Austin, TX – Progressives in America have been stunned over the last year as President Obama’s agenda has repeatedly faltered and the far-right Tea Party has emerged as a dominant force in public policy discussions. Given the failure to make progress on major national issues, perhaps it should come as no surprise that some progressives have turned to local solutions.
A shining example comes from the Lone Star State which may soon become the leading state when it comes to “green funds” on college campuses. Last week Texas’s two biggest rival colleges, Texas A&M and UT Austin, both passed student referendums in favor of raising fees to pay for environmental services on campus.
On Wednesday Longhorn students approved a $5 per semester fee hike, and on Thursday Aggie students followed suit with a $3 fee of their own. Continue Reading »
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged aggies, California, earth day, elliot naishtat, fred brown, green fee, hb 3353, local solutions, longhorns, obama, public policy, sustainability, tea party, Tennessee, Texas, texas a&m, Texas Legislature, texas state, University of Houston, University of North Texas, University of Texas, ut austin, ut el paso, UT Pan American, UT San Antonio |
Austin Community College is having a free information session on their Women In Solar class, a women-focused solar installation course being offered this spring and summer. Check it out, but register today — its the deadline for Saturday’s session!
Learn more:
“Women in Green Jobs” Solar Training Information Session
The registration deadline for this event is 3/5/2010
Start Date: 3/6/2010 Start Time: 10:00 AM
End Date: 3/6/2010 End Time: 12:00 PM
Event Description
Attend this free 2-hour information session and learn why the jobs of the future will be in “green technology” and why women will play a key role in this future. This session will provide specific information on upcoming women-focused solar installation course sections as well as provide insight into all of the “green” related course offerings that ACC has to offer from a women’s perspective.
Location Information:
Riverside Campus – Riverside Campus (View Map)
1020 Grove Blvd.
Austin, TX 78741
Phone: 512.223.6201
Contact Information:
Name: Women in Green Jobs Hotline
Phone: 512-223-7520
Email: eardizon@austincc.edu
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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, solar | Tagged acc, Austin, austin community college, green jobs, installation, pv, riverside campus, solar, Texas, women |
Meet Mona Avalos.
Mona is our charming, diligent global warming intern. She’s finishing up a master’s degree at Sam Houston State while working with Andy Wilson to educate the public about the strategies for and the benefits of energy conservation.
Don’t be fooled by her studious demeanor; she is a fun-loving dork at heart. Plus… (she has superpowers!) Shhhh, don’t tell anyone though
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p64gZbaJFHI]
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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 andy wilson, Colbert dimension, energy conservation, inspiration, internship, mona avalos, Sam Houston State, Stewart dimension, superpower, Texas |
Or, rather, how do you believe?
Though I’ve always thought this was fairly obvious, a recent story from Christopher Joyce at NPR has addressed how a person’s stance on global warming and climate change (or any issue really) tends to rely far more on one’s “World View” rather than on science or facts. This is based on research done by the The Cultural Cognition Project – a group of scholars who study how cultural values shape public perceptions and policy beliefs.
Regardless of the information provided, a person is more likely to credit whatever information best supports their mindset, and simply reject that which doesn’t.
It doesn’t matter whether you show them negative or positive information, they reject the information that is contrary to what they would like to believe, and they glom onto the positive information, says Don Braman, a faculty member at George Washington University and part of the Cultural Cognition Project.
It seems the pre established perspective an individual has when confronting facts and information has a far greater effect on how the person will react than the information itself. Having had many fruitless “conversations” with anthropogenic global warming (AGW) deniers I don’t find this very shocking at all. And that’s not to say that AGW deniers are the only ones who do it – everyone does it to at least some extent. The question people should always ask themselves is “Am I at least attempting to be objective in my understanding and comprehension of this information?”
Basically the reason that people react in a close-minded way to information is that the implications of it threaten their values, says Dan Kahan, a law professor at Yale University and a member of The Cultural Cognition Project.
This is why it is not shocking to me at all that anti-evolutionists are not also frequently AGW deniers, but that they are now trying to further their anti-science crusades by linking the two, and allowing anti-evolution messaging to piggy back off of anti-global warming messaging.
There is a lesson here for all of us however, while this further illuminates the true reasons behind AGW denialism, those who are fighting the propaganda and misinformation must relentlessly ensure that our information is factual, correct, and not tarnished by our own personal feelings or motives. This is probably impossible to do completely, but mindfulness alone should help a great deal.
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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 AGW, anthropogenic global warming, belief, believe, climate change, cutural cognition project, don braman, Global Warming, hinges, Texas, world view |
Last Thursday, three years after Mayor Will Wynn stated, “We’re going to lead by example“1 referring to adoption of the City’s Climate Protection Plan, Jake Stewart, former manager of Austin’s Climate Protection Program who left the program in dissatisfaction, stood before City Council to present a successful citizen petition drive.
The ongoing petition’s objective is to let Austin’s leaders know there are numerous citizens who appreciate and support the City’s hard work on climate issues, and who believe in working together to achieve as much as possible.
Jake was complimentary to those present, thanking 2007’s council for its initiative and challenging today’s council to recognize climate leadership can be leveraged to create economic stimulus for the whole community. Jake urged today’s leaders to renew council’s 2007 commitment to being “the leading the city in the nation” in climate protection and continue moving forward.
See the petition (and sign!)
1. Austin’s city council adopted its climate protection plan March 2007
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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 Austin, Austin's Climate Protection Program, City Council, City Council for Renewed Climate Leadership, City's Climate Protection Plan, climate protection plan, commitment, jake stewart, petition, Texas, will wynn |
This Thursday, March 4 the Center for the Study of Environment and Society, in partnership with the Baker Institute Science and Technology Policy Program and the U.K. Science and Innovation Team, British Consulate-Houston cordially invite you to their upcoming discussion:
The Challenges of Communicating Climate Change
with
Tim Reeder, Regional Climate Change Programme Manager, U.K. Environment Agency
Mark Maslin, Director of the Environment Institute, University College of London
David Vaughan, Science Leader, British Antarctic Survey
Moderated by
André W. Droxler, Director of the Center of the Study of Environment and Society, Rice University
Thursday, March 4, 2010
4:00 pm
Reception to Follow
Kelly International Conference Facility, Baker Institute. Rice University
To attend, please RSVP online, by fax to
713-348-5993 or by email to bipprsvp@rice.edu by *Monday, March 1*.
Please feel free to forward this email to any parties interested.
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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 baker institute, british consolate-houston, center for the study of environment and society, climate change, communicating, houston, rice, Texas, u.k. science and innovation team |
For those of you following our work organizing citizens in the Bay City area against the proposed White Stallion coal plant, there is a new chapter to add to the saga. You may remember that we were down there recently speaking with rice farmers concerned about the plant’s potential (huge!) water use. Turns out not everyone in the county was happy with this turn of events, especially Judge Nate McDonald, who thinks the project will be “great” for the county and the state of Texas.
Clearly, we’re going to have to part ways on that one. Judge McDonald fired the first shot with an op-ed in the Bay City Tribune, but the paper gave us a forum to respond. You’ll find our answer below, and can find the rice farmer’s response here.
No such thing as ‘clean coal’
by Tom “Smitty” Smith
Recently, County Judge Nate McDonald expressed his concerns that rice famers met with Public Citizen, a national consumer and environmental group, to discuss the negative impacts of the proposed White Stallion coal plant, particularly the amount of water the plant will use. Unfortunately, he got his facts wrong about both the plant and our organization.
The judge says he welcomes development and that his requirement for White Stallion is “that it be the cleanest coal plant there is and do no harm to our environment and air quality,” but the facts show that this plant is not the “cleanest coal plant there is” and will do substantial harm.
There is no such thing as “clean coal.” Even if there were, White Stallion would certainly not qualify.
This coal plant would be, by far, the largest source of pollution in Matagorda County. Continue Reading »
Posted in Coal, Energy | Tagged bay city, bay city tribune, clean coal, Clean Energy, Coal, coal plant, coleto creek, Environmental Protection Agency, judge mcdonald, lcra, lower colorado river authority, matargorda county, nrg limestone, Public Citizen, Renewables, rice farmers, solar, spruce, tenaska, Texas, water use, white stallion, wind |
It’s primary day! If you forgot/didn’t get a chance to go vote early(like me, grr), better not miss your chance today!
Not sure where your polling location is? Visit the Secretary of State’s website and ask Hope (Andrade, she’s the sec’ o’ state, duh)!
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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 election, Hope Andrade, primary day, secretary of state, Texas, vote |
Posted by Trevor Lovell
Having passed House Bill 3353 (known as the “green fee bill,” it was one of the few green bills passed this session and made into law) in the 2009 Texas Legislative Session, the student leaders that comprise the ReEnergize Texas coalition knew they had much work ahead of them. The legislation gave campuses administrators legislative approval to implement “environmental service fees” of up to $5 per semester if the student body voted for such a fee on that campus. But campaigns on individual campuses still had to be waged.
And so it is that ReEnergize Texas finds itself running or assisting green fee campaigns at 7 Texas colleges. And of all the green fund campaigns we’re involved with this semester, Texas A&M’s has proven the most challenging so far. The group has amassed over 1,600 members on its Facebook group and has the blessing of administrators, but still faces a serious challenge organized by a group know as Texas Aggie Conservatives (might be more relevant to visit the Facebook page).
In response to the sometimes vitriolic and often misleading criticisms leveled at the Aggie Green Fund, pro-green-fund group members put together this video to explain why the fund is needed and how it will benefit the campus:
[vimeo 9709786]
So make sure you visit their Facebook group and leave them a friendly comment. These students are keeping it positive and moving forward with their vision against an outspoken minority that is willfully misleading the student body about both its motives and the impacts of the green fund. They deserve a great deal of gratitude for defending sustainability on the front-lines.
In a related story, students at Rice University recently passed their own green fee of $9 per year without the help of the statewide coalition (in fact, we only heard about it a couple days before the vote). It was a huge and early victory for the green fund movement and serves as an inspiration to the 7 Texas campuses still pursuing a fee, and to the campaigns taking root in Florida this year.
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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 2009 texas legislative session, 81st legislative session, aggies, campaigns, colleges, environmental service fees, facebook, florida, green fee, hb 3353, house bill 3353, reenergize texas, rice university, Texas, texas a&m, video, vimeo |
The Texas Progressive Alliance is ready for Primary Day and reminds all of you to vote if you haven’t already. Here is your Primary Day roundup.
From the Barnett Shale, TXsharon announces a new “Watchdog” for drillers and her SOS to EPA about benzene and other dangerous toxins in the Denton Creek Watershed was heard. The EPA has responded! Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS
After the latest prevarication on her date of departure from the Senate, PDiddie at Brains and Eggs opines: “Kay Bailey, won’t you please GO HOME?!”
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme shows the Texas Supreme Court flipping the finger to Texans, yet again.
Bay Area Houston highlights yet more hypocrisy from Rick Perry with his I Came and Took it! teabagging campaign.
At WhosPlayin the recent discussion has centered around equity in the Lewisville ISD. It looks like the district may be taking a big step by considering a tear-down and rebuild of the district’s oldest high school after costs for asbestos remediation and fire sprinkler installation in the old building went too high. Construction is not equity, though, and there are still issues to be addressed.
Over at McBlogger, Mayor McSleaze takes a look at the Republican HD 47 primary fight and finds it almost as entertaining as an old-fashioned pie fight.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison changes her story again about when she might leave the Senate. Off the Kuff has lost count of how many times this has happened.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson has a round up of the campaign cash and who’s giving in Williamson County, Bob Perry looms large in Williamson County GOP House races.
The Texas Cloverleaf looks at the early voting turnout in Denton County and the GOP surge.
This week on Left of College Station, Teddy makes the case for Brazos County Democrats to vote in the Republican primary, and releases the Left of College Station Democratic primary candidate endorsements. Left of College Station also covers the debate in the Texas A&M Student Senate over the anti-discrimination policy.
Pollchecker , over at TexasKaos calls out McCain on using Texas health care as an example of “success”. And he wonders why he is not president?
Neil at Texas Liberal offered up his 2010 Democratic Primary slate. Neil also noted that Texas Liberal passed one million page views. Thanks to everybody who has read the blog.
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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 asbestos, Barnett shale, bay area houston, benzene, bluedaze, bob perry, brazos county, democrats, denton creek watershed, drilling reform, EPA, eye on williamson, health care, kay bailey hutchison, left of college station, lewisville isd, mccain, off the kuff, poll, primary day, republicans, Rick Perry, south texas chisme, teabaggers, Texas, texas a&m, texas cloverleaf, texas liberal, texas progressive alliance, Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round, texas supreme court, williamson county |
This editorial from the Dallas Morning News is a little bit old news, responding to Governor Perry’s lawsuit against the EPA’s endangerment finding about carbon dioxide, BUT I really like the message that clean air vs. jobs is a false choice. Because everything we would have to do to create a new clean economy, is a JOB. Windmills don’t manufacture themselves, solar panels aren’t going to get up on the roof unless someone bolts them there, and weatherstripping isn’t going to take it off without an audience protect your house from air conditioning leaks unless someone gets in there and give you an energy audit. So, better late than never: read on!
Editorial: Clean air vs. jobs is a false choice
Sure, it buttresses his campaign theme, casting him as the protector of Texas jobs against employment-crippling federal environmental mandates. And Perry is right when he says Texas has a lot a stake.
But his approach is troublingly shortsighted. The lawsuit relies on thinking about the state’s past, not its future, and it falsely pits jobs against clean air. Instead of opposing the tougher air quality rules, Austin would be wise to focus instead on how best to be a leader in a less carbon-dependent economy.
Our state emits up to 35 percent of all greenhouse gases released by industrial sources in the United States, and the state’s energy sector remains a prominent generator of jobs. So it’s vital that Texas work on two tracks simultaneously – clean air and clean jobs.
Efforts to buck the shift won’t save jobs, but rather will tether Texas to 20th-century jobs in the 21st century and, thus, have considerable negative consequences on the state’s long-term economic health. Dirty air endangers health and also kills jobs, as California learned the hard way.
Texas’ legal gymnastics also are odd because the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases has already been decided. Continue Reading »
Posted in Energy, Global Warming | Tagged Carbon Dioxide, clean air, Dallas Morning News, Energy Efficiency, EPA, governor perry, green jobs, lawsuit, solar panels, Texas, weatherstripping, windmills |
This is the launch of our Get to Know an Activist Series. Everyday the staff of Public Citizen Texas works to protect and enhance the rights of Texas citizens. We scrutinize, work to reform, and disseminate the details of local policy and energy issues to ensure that our government is of, for, and by the people. But who are the people behind the protests and press releases?
That’s why we’re introducing the Get to Know an Activist Series. Across the coming weeks, our new communications intern Patrick Reck will interview the staff at our Austin office to show the community who is defending it.
To begin, Citizen Sarah turned the camera on our burgeoning blogger Patrick to see what makes him type…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I8xaPxzmkA]
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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 activist, austin activist, environmental activism, get to know an activist, internship, patrick reck, public citizen texas, Texas |
Barry Smitherman, chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUC), made this statement regarding the “progress” Texas has been making in regards to green energy and “responsible” leadership:
Texas is the nation’s reddest state on the political map. But it produces more green energy than any blue state. The state’s top political leaders are fiercely fighting federal cap-and-trade legislation, but the state is No. 2 behind only New York when it comes to reducing the production of carbon dioxide emissions. (From the Texas Energy Report)
This is true, IF you completely ignore the plethora of new coal plants being proposed and built in Texas. Texas already has 17 coal plants (more than any other state), and there are 12 or 13 more being proposed or built (also more than any other state – by far). Current reductions in greenhouse gases include improved building codes, energy efficiency programs, replacement of pilot lights, air conditioning retrofitting, and wind farms. 
The reduction of greenhouse gases from all these amounts to about 16 million tons a year. If you add in the wind farms that still need transmission lines built to access their power you get around 43 million tons a year. This sounds great until you realize that the recent coal plant proposals would add 77 million tons of CO2 to our atmosphere every year – far more than offsetting these reductions.
While reductions in greenhouse gasses should, of course, be applauded, it is misleading for Chairman Smitherman to take credit for Texas reducing greenhouse gas emissions when he knows there are so many coal plants looming on the horizon that will completely overwhelm these significant reductions. If Texas were really serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions we would not allow anymore unnecessary coal plants to be built, and start replacing the old ones we have with renewable forms of power generation. This would do far more than anything to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and the public health and environmental health benefits from getting off a fossil-fuel based electric system would far outweigh the cost.
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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, Global Warming | Tagged Barry Smitherman, carbon, co2, Coal, coal plant, Global Warming, greenhouse gas, Public Utilities Comissoin, PUC, renewable, Smitherman, Texas, Texas Energy Report |
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The Texas Progressive Alliance would like to thank the Academy by presenting it with this week’s roundup.
