Original post can be found at our DC “Citizen Energy” blog
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mjqSE1ouyM]
President Obama wants to triple the loan program for construction of new nuclear reactors, to $54 billion.
The nuclear loan guarantee program commits taxpayers to not only underwrite risky nuclear reactor projects, but also allows wealthy nuclear utilities to borrow the money from the government’s Federal Financing Bank- funds for this bank come directly from the U.S Treasury. You might want to read that again.
If you are struggling with the absurdity of a program that allows taxpayer dollars to both guarantee and provide direct loans for billion dollar projects that the Congressional Budget Office has found will default 50% of the time, you are not alone.
On February 25th, Public Citizen and several ally organizations are calling on their members to tell Congress to stop the tripling of the nuclear loan program. The proposal to expand this ill-conceived program is not a done deal. So, please join us to stop this boondoggle. You can reach all of your Congress members at 202-224-3121.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
Posted in Energy, Nuclear | Tagged bailout, call in day, congressional budget office, federal financing bank, Loan Guarantees, Nuclear, obama, Public Citizen, reactors, Texas |
Holy *%$&! its snowing in Austin, Texas! What do I do? Can I still drive? Do I have to go to work? Should I put on big boots and go buy as much bottled water and creamed corn as I can fit into a stolen borrowed shopping cart? Or just jump on the global warming denier train ASAP?
Terrified victims of SNOWMAGGEDON tremble in fear outside the Public Citizen office
That’s right folks, those fluffy flaky beauties may be lovely to our amazed southern eyes, but to climate deniers they are cold hard proof that global warming is fake. Because its cold outside, so how can the globe possibly be warming?!?! Hah! “Fact” your way out of that truthiness!
***Sigh*** Some folks have a lot of fun busting up climate deniers, but I just don’t have the stomach for it. Far from laughing in glee at those fools who can’t tell the difference between “weather” and “climate”, it just makes me sad. So I’ll let the president do my dirty work for me. Check out this video of Obama addressing the crowd at a town hall meeting in Nevada. He actually does a really good job of explaining the science of “global boiling”, as Brad Johnson at the Wonk Room notes:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPwHnU5ObPY]
…we just got five feet of snow in Washington and so everybody’s like-a lot of the people who are opponents of climate change, they say, “See, look at that. There’s all this snow on the ground, you know, this doesn’t mean anything.” I want to just be clear that the science of climate change doesn’t mean that every place is getting warmer. It means the planet as a whole is getting warmer. But what it may mean is, for example, Vancouver which supposed to be getting snow during the Olympics, suddenly is at 55 degrees and Dallas suddenly is getting seven inches of snow. The idea is that as the planet as a whole gets warmer, you start seeing changing weather patterns and that creates more violent storm systems, more unpredictable weather. So any single place might end up being warmer. Another place might end up being a little bit cooler. There might end up being more precipitation in the air…
So there you have it, folks. Global warming doesn’t mean it is simply getting hotter. It doesn’t mean there will never be snow again. It means that global temperatures overall are going up, and that’s going to make weather all over the place get a little wonky. Like stronger hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, extreme drought in south Texas, or even snow right here in Austin.
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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, climate change, climate deniers, creamed corn, dallas, drought, Global Warming, hurricanes, ice, obama, olympics, snow, snowmageddom, snowpocalypse, Texas, weather, wonk room |
Anybody catch this article last week in the Houston Chronicle? An important issue to think about: how coal plants will not only affect the surrounding air quality, but that of communities down wind. If the White Stallion coal plant is allowed to be built: Houston, we will have an even worse smog problem. Look for Ryan’s quote to close it out!
City’s smog concerns may choke power plant
Pollution near Matagorda could drift to Houston
By MATTHEW TRESAUGUE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
A proposed coal-fired power plant in mostly rural Matagorda County, 90 miles from the traffic-choked freeways and smokestacks of Houston, has moved to the center of the debate over the big city’s air.
Some federal regulators, Houston lawmakers, and environmentalists say the proposed White Stallion Energy Center would only exacerbate the city’s stubborn smog problem as tougher nationwide limits for the widespread pollutant come into play.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for one, wants Texas regulators to prove that pollution from the coal plant would not make Houston’s smog worse before issuing permits. Critics also want the state to require the power company to consider new technology that might slash emissions of smog-forming pollution.
The push comes amid a review of the proposal by the State Office of Administrative Hearings, which will soon recommend whether the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality should grant the plant’s air permit.
The plant would be built less than 20 miles from the boundary of the eight-county Houston region that was long in violation of federal limits for smog or ozone. Rules on industrial pollution — in particular, new sources — are tighter inside such areas than outside, even though smog ignores county lines. Continue Reading »
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged Air permit, air pollution, ana hernandez, asthma, bay city, Coal, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, harris county, houston, houston chronicle, jessica farrar, kristi thibaut, matagorda county, ozone, Public Citizen, ryan rittenhouse, smog, south texas, state office of administrative hearings, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, white stallion |
Agency Is Refusing to Adhere to an Order to Release Document That Would Help Determine Safety of New Nuclear Reactors
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should stop balking and provide a critical document that would reveal how the owners of a Texas nuclear plant expansion project plan to deal with a fire or explosion, three public interest groups told the commission late last week.
Three administrative judges of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board have ordered the agency to provide at least a redacted version, but NRC staffers have refused. The NRC’s lack of transparency could impact the ability to get adequate safety-related information not only about the South Texas Project (STP) but about other proposed reactors around the country as well.
Late Friday, the groups – the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition, Public Citizen and the South Texas Association for Responsible Energy – filed a brief with the NRC. It noted that the NRC staff’s refusal to provide the information violated President Barack Obama’s new transparency policy. The groups also said the NRC is acting arbitrarily and trying to shut the public out of NRC proceedings.
“After the Sept. 11 attacks, Congress required new fire and safety standards for all new plants and the NRC developed rules to reflect this. Now, the NRC is trying to do its work behind closed doors, and its staffers are literally making up how to handle information as they go along, keeping as much secret as possible,” said Karen Hadden, executive director of the SEED Coalition. “Without disclosure of this information, we can’t tell how well the NRC is doing in protecting the public.” Continue Reading »
Posted in Global Warming | Tagged atomic safety and licensi ng board, Barack Obama, CPS Energy, georgia, matagorda county, NRC, nrg energy, nuclear reactors, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Public Citizen, SEED Coalition, South Texas Project, sustainable energy economic development, Texas, toshiba, vogtle plant |
Tonight, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell will host a town hall meeting on an energy plan for Austin Energy that would establish our own carbon dioxide cap and reduction plan. The great news is that by 2020, Austin’s investments in solar, wind and energy efficiency would allow us to reduce our dependence on the Fayette coal plant by 30 percent! The town hall meeting is our opportunity to show widespread public support for the plan.
Please attend the mayor’s town hall meeting at 6 p.m. TONIGHT, Monday, Feb. 22, at the Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd.
Public Citizen will have a table outside the auditorium where we will gather signatures for the Clean Energy for Austin coalition. Working with other environmental organizations, we’ve gained the support of more than 70 businesses, 18 nonprofits and over 200 individuals, who are calling on the City Council to pass the clean energy plan. But we need you to come to this town hall and show your support.
This is your opportunity to ask questions, learn more and have your input heard by our mayor. In addition, city officials will be asking questions of the audience, so you can tell the mayor and City Council that you want a clean energy future for our town.
So please endorse Clean Energy for Austin, and come to the meeting Monday night. We hope to see you there!
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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, Renewables | Tagged Austin, Austin Energy, City Council, Clean Energy, clean energy for austin coalition, Efficiency, energy plan, fayette coal plant, Lee Leffingwell, mayor, palmer events center, Public Citizen, Renewables, solar, Texas, wind |
The Texas Progressive Alliance reminds you that early voting runs through this Friday at 7 PM for the primaries as it brings you this week’s blog highlights.
BossKitty at TruthHugger is amazed that anger is directed toward the Internal Revenue Service when Americans elect the very people who make the laws IRS enforces. Joe Stack targeted the wrong end of this chain. Taxpayers get end up owing money because they do not understand the laws their representatives make. Tax and Defiance – Short Sighted Protester, Joe Stack.
In times of depleting incomes, Republican Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack brags about his $2.3 Million tax funded soap box derby track.
Two Steps Forward One Step Back for Tainted Texas Air at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.
This week on Left of College Station, Teddy reflects on the next 40 days of protest that are taking place at Planned Parenthood, and reviews a performance of the Vagina Monologues at Texas A&M. Also, a look at the poll numbers in the campaign to be the next governor of Texas, and a review of the week in headlines.
The Conservative Politicians Against Compromise convention picked an old-school nutjob as the presidential nominee in 2012, notes PDiddie at Brains and Eggs.
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants to know why Republicans hate education so much? Why make community colleges unaffordable?
In Lewisville, the school district has revoked consent for a community organization use their parking lots to gather signatures for a petition drive on the weekend.
In what will come as a massive surprise, McBlogger endorses Hank Gilbert. Find out why here.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson shows that even without the severe decrease in sales tax receipts Texas would still be facing a budget crisis, Understanding the budget and Texas’ structural deficit.
Off the Kuff notes the humor of our Attorney General suing to protect the sanctity of divorce.
Libby shaw at TexasKaos does the accountability analysis on the GOP stimulus hypocrites. See her scorecard here; TX U.S. House Members Join Senators in GOP Hall of Hypocritical Shame.
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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 Attorney General, Barnett shale, bluedaze, bosskitty, Budget, deficit, divorce, drilling reform, eye on williamson, governor, hank gilbert, internal revenue service, irs, joe stack, lewisville, mcblogger, off the kuff, planned parenthood, sales tax, south texas chisme, steve radack, taxpayers, Texas, texas progressive alliance, Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round, texaskoas, truthhugger, vagina monologues, wcnews |
If I had a nickel every time we put out a statement saying something along the lines of “Governor Perry is blowing hot air about climate change”…I could probably only really buy a candy bar. Or a coke — a Mexican coke in a bottle, preferably, to be drunk as I eat a fried avocado taco on a Friday afternoon (mmm, thanks Perry).
But this week our dear Gov was at it again. Tuesday morning he joined Attorney General Greg Abbott and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples to announce a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency’s(EPA) endangerment finding for carbon dioxide. We had plenty to say about it, which has already been posted this week, but I think that I like the way Forrest Wilder over at the Texas Observer put it best:
Perry is up to his neck in pseudo-scientific gobbledygook and he’s bringing Attorney General Abbott and Ag Commissioner Todd Staples along with him. The (“frivolous“) lawsuit today is neither a legal nor scientific document. It is a political one: poorly-reasoned, poorly-sourced and containing enough tin-foil hat conspiracies to block a Mexican border blaster.
Check out his blog post for the nitty gritty on the legal brief (“filled with footnotes, giving the appearance that it’s been carefully researched. But on closer inspection many of the references are to rightwing blogs, “studies” by armchair climate analysts, and obscure anti-climate groups like the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition.”)
Luckily we heard about Perry’s press announcement with just enough time to sweep in and have the last word. Officing 3 blocks from the capitol does have its perks. Along with Sierra Club, we were able to stake out a good spot outside the Governor’s Press Room and hold an impromptu reaction press conference by the West Trashcan. With members of the press gathered around, Smitty (our director, of course!) and Eva Hernandez from Sierra Club gave statements crying foul on the Governor’s tomfoolery, and even issued a symbolic “citizen’s citation” to Perry for endangering the health of Texans and the climate. Perry didn’t come out to accept it himself, but did send a policy aide in his honor. Good thing too; we were worried we’d have to slip it under his locked and barred door (not exactly the climactic press moment we were looking for). Check out the video though, editing courtesy of our newest media intern Patrick! Don’t worry, you’ll get to meet him soon enough.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY50xHfOFTE]
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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, climate change, endangerment finding, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, forrest wilder, Global Warming, governor perry, greg abbott, lawsuit, Texas, texas observer, Todd Staples |
You may have seen the political bloviating earlier this week when Governor Perry announced he would sue the EPA over their endangerment finding on CO2. Or that Attorney General Greg Abbott signed on, as did Agricultural Commissioner Todd Staples, who all ended up calling the science behind climate change flawed, saying:
The state’s legal action indicates EPA’s Endangerment Finding is legally unsupported because the agency outsourced its scientific assessment to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which has been discredited by evidence of key scientists’ lack of objectivity, coordinated efforts to hide flaws in their research, attempts to keep contravening evidence out of IPCC reports and violation of freedom of information laws.
You may have also seen our response. If you’re a regular reader here, I hope so!
Perry, Abbott, and Staples claim that the science is flawed on climate change, citing recent controversy surrounding the IPCC (a-hem, that’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, gentlemen. Maybe the legal brief should be thrown out due to citation of a ficticious panel? We’ll call it INTERNATL-PANELGATE! We’ve really got ’em now!). Too bad the controversy hasn’t affected the main thrust of the underlying science, only some of the claims. Too bad the conclusions of the IPCC have also been independently adopted and verified by the US National Academy of Sciences and the collected opinions of 13 US Gov’t agencies (like those liberals at the CIA and the USDA), collectively put together in the US Global Change Research Program. Despite its problems, the main conclusions of the IPCC’s report, that temperatures were increasing and climate was changing due to greenhouse gas emissions, remains intact.
Too bad Perry, Abbott, and Staples (or maybe more accurately Larry, Moe, and Shemp?) didn’t seek the advice of…oh, actual scientists, like maybe the Texas state climatologist? Didn’t know we had a climatologist? (Maybe Governor Perry didn’t either?) Well, we do, and before you dismiss him as some granola-chewing-Austin-based-hippie-liberal, he’s actually anything but.
Meet Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, of the Texas A&M Department of Atmospheric Sciences, appointed to the position of State Climatologist by noted liberal and hater of greenhouse gases George W. Bush. (hope you caught the irony there).
In a sweeping interview with Brad Johnson’s Wonk Room blog, he fired back against Perry’s allegations that the endangerment finding is flawed: “Anthropogenic increases of greenhouse gas concentrations clearly present a danger to the public welfare, and I agree with the EPA’s findings in that sense.”
To be fair, Dr. N-G also specifically added a caveat to his comments, “Just to be clear, I do not “utterly dismiss” the Texas petition. I have contributed to pointing out errors in the IPCC reports in my own blog, and it is appropriate for the State of Texas to inquire how much of the IPCC findings will ultimately be called into question. Nor would my considered scientific opinion constitute adequate independent grounds for an EPA finding.”
Wow. A reasonable climatologist, but one who supports the broad scientific consensus. What scientific consensus is that, you ask? Well, as a result of this interview, Dr. Andy Dessler (who we have long been a fan of here at TexasVox) and the entire A&M Dept of Atmo Sciences released the following statement:
Dr. Andrew Dessler, a climatologist at Texas A&M University and author of The Science and Politics of Global Climate Change, tells the Wonk Room in an email interview that the entire Department of Atmospheric Sciences agrees with the IPCC:
“I, along with all of the other faculty in the department, agree with the main conclusions of the IPCC.”In 2007, the Texas A&M Department of Atmospheric Sciences issued a statement that global warming from emissions of greenhouse gases risks “serious adverse impacts on our environment and society” — the key basis for the EPA’s endangerment finding:
1. It is virtually certain that the climate is warming, and that it has warmed by about 0.7 deg. C over the last 100 years.
2. It is very likely that humans are responsible for most of the recent warming.
3. If we do nothing to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases, future warming will likely be at least two degrees Celsius over the next century.
4. Such a climate change brings with it a risk of serious adverse impacts on our environment and society.When asked if the latest attacks on the IPCC affect their stance, Dr. Dessler responded that “the Department stands by its statement. You can quote me on that.”
You can read the entire interview here. But, when it comes to this one right here, it’s Science 1 – Perry, Abbott and Staples 0.
Or maybe no one is keeping score, and we just chalk this up as more election year posturing?
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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 andy dessler, brad johnson, Carbon Dioxide, cia, climate change, co2, endangerment finding, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, George W. Bush, Global Warming, governor perry, greg abbott, ipcc, john nielsen-gammon, National Academy of Sciences, state climatologist, Texas, texas a&m, Todd Staples, USDA, wonk room |
Yesterday’s press conference announcing our broad-based Clean Energy for Austin coalition was a great success! Check out the video below. Special thanks to the other speakers, Sunshine Mathon of Foundation Communities, Pastor Lou Snead of the Interfaith Environmental Network, and Steve Taylor of Applied Materials! If you haven’t already, please sign today on as a member of the Clean Energy for Austin coalition.
[vimeo 9535528]
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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 Applied Materials, clean energy for austin, foundation communities, interfaith environmental network, lou snead, Public Citizen, steve taylor, Texas |
Statement of Tom “Smitty” Smith, Director, Public Citizen’s Texas Office
Today’s announcement that as a part of a settlement with NRG Energy, CPS Energy will withdraw its application for a federal loan guarantee for the South Texas (Nuclear) Project (STP) expansion and end further investment in the project demonstrates nuclear plants are too costly and too risky to build.
CPS Energy and the San Antonio City Council have signaled their desire to stop throwing good money after bad at STP, a message we hope will tell the U.S. Department of Energy that this plant is a poor candidate for federal loan guarantees. This debacle should show the federal government that nuclear loan guarantees are a fundamentally flawed and wasteful use of taxpayer money.
At $18.2 billion, the cost of STP has already tripled in just a year. When STP 1 and 2 were built, they ended up being six times over-budget and eight years behind schedule, and STP 3 and 4 look like they are on track to beat out that poor performance record.
Today’s announcement is a victory for the many citizens of San Antonio that have worked so hard in the last year to bring openness and accountability to the city’s participation in this project. We applaud CPS for wisely seeing the futility of wasting more time and energy on this flawed nuclear endeavor. We hope that they will be satisfied with the deal they’ve gotten and avoid the temptation to increase their ownership in the project. CPS has finally reached a settlement that shields San Antonio ratepayers from the financial risks of yet another nuclear deal gone wrong. Any future investment would throw that protection to the wind.
On Thursday, the City Council will vote on a proposed rate increase for CPS. The City Council should put a firewall in that proposal to ensure that no unauthorized money will be siphoned off to buy a bigger stake in STP. San Antonio can’t afford to let this rate increase become a back door to continued nuclear investment.
We also have to wonder how NRG will move forward, without another clearly delineated partner in the project. Less than a month ago, NRG announced that if CPS “does not meet future obligations representative of its ownership interest in the site”, they “will wind down the project as quickly and as economically as possible.” We certainly hope that NRG CEO David Crane will remain true to that expressed intent to protect his shareholders from the next financial failure in a long historic line of overly expensive, poorly executed nuclear projects.
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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 Nuclear | Tagged City Council, CPS Energy, Department of Energy, doe, Loan Guarantees, nrg energy, rate increase, San Antonio, south texas nuclear project, South Texas Project, STP, Texas, Tom "Smitty" Smith |
Photo Courtesy of Donna Hoffman at the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club. Thanks Donna!
Dozens of businesses and nonprofit organizations as well as more than 200 citizens have formed Clean Energy for Austin, a coalition whose purpose is to push Austin City Council to adopt a clean energy plan. Specifically, the coalition supports the passage of Austin Energy’s Resource and Climate Protection Plan and recommendations of a city task force created to examine the plan. Coalition members support the plan because of its emphasis on renewable energy and efficiency, green jobs creation and careful consideration of Austin’s low-income residents.
To date, more than 70 businesses, 18 non-profit organizations and more than 200 individuals have signed on in support of the energy plan through www.cleanenergyforaustin.org.
The energy plan is a road map for how Austin Energy, the city-owned electric utility, will meet the city’s energy needs over the next 10 years. It includes a substantial investment in energy efficiency and a variety of renewable energy resources like wind and solar, as well as new more efficient natural gas plants. In addition to diversifying its generation portfolio, Austin Energy wants to create a self-sustaining market for renewable technologies like solar rooftops and parking lots by 2020.
“A good business practice is to keep your options open when selecting suppliers,” said Steve Taylor of Applied Materials, a semiconductor manufacturer employing more than a thousand Austinites. “This plan allows for a diversity of different energy options, so it protects businesses – and residents – from long-term price spikes for any single power source because other energy supply options will be available and abundant. This plan also enhances Austin’s efforts to create green businesses and green jobs for years to come.”
The plan is the culmination of a nearly two-year public process of gathering input from multiple stakeholder groups, including businesses, environmental organizations, and groups serving low-income communities. Four representatives from the mayor’s Generation and Resource Planning Task Force, which analyzed more than a dozen scenarios of where Austin could get its power by 2020, are members of the coalition: Phillip Schmandt, chairman of Electric Utility Commission, Cary Ferchill, chair of Solar Austin, as well as non-profit members Public Citizen and Sierra Club.
“The great thing about the plan is its flexibility,” said Matthew Johnson, clean energy advocate with Public Citizen. “If costs for any resource type rise or fall dramatically over the next 10 years, Austin Energy would have the ability to change the plan, and do so with the help of community stakeholders. That’s the beauty of a diverse portfolio of resources. If Austin were locked into building a new coal or nuclear plant, our fate would be sealed.”
Energy efficiency, generally recognized as the cheapest energy resource, would be the main component of the plan. Austin Energy would take a more proactive and coordinated approach to reach low-income households with free weatherization to help lower their electric bills.
“Low-income communities need the most help with paying utility bills,” said Sunshine Mathon, design and development director of Foundation Communities, an Austin-based nonprofit affordable housing organization. “Austin has a long track record of having the lowest bills in Texas because of its commitment to conservation programs that help people lower their bills. My hope is that with the passage of this plan, those programs will not only expand but coordinate with other programs like bill assistance, neighborhood housing and community development.”
Coalition representatives also said that the plan reduces financial risk associated with overreliance on fossil fuels. The plan would enable Austin Energy to ramp down the Fayette coal plant more often, protecting the utility from pending carbon regulation.
“Whether or not you support greenhouse gas regulation, reducing the amount of carbon emissions that Austin is responsible for makes economic sense,” Johnson said. “That’s in addition to the improvements in air quality Austin and the surrounding region would experience. It’s a win-win.”
Austin’s City Council could vote on the plan in March, according to Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell. He has scheduled a Feb. 22 town hall meeting on Austin Energy’s Resource and Climate Protection Plan. Coalition members urge the public to visit www.cleanenergyforaustin.org and sign on as well as attend the town hall meeting to show their support.
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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 20/20, Air Quality, Applied Materials, austin city council, Austin Energy, cary ferchill, Clean Energy, clean energy for austin, coal plant, coalition, electric utility, electric utility commission, Energy Efficiency, flexibility, fossil fuel reliance, foundation communities, generation and resource planning task force, green businesses, health, Lee Leffingwell, low income residents, matthew johnson, mayor, natural gas, nonprofits, nuclear plant, phillip schmandt, Public Citizen, renewable energy, resource and climate protection plan, Sierra Club, solar, Solar Austin, steve taylor, sunshine mathon, Texas, town hall, Weatherization, wind |
UPDATE: Here it is. Great job KLRU, KUT and the Statesman for putting together a great show on an important topic!
http://www.klru.org/aai/
Unable to embed unfortunately.
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Public Citizen participated in developing an energy plan for Austin to cut carbon emissions, use more renewables, and promote energy efficiency. And because we did, I’m about to be famous!
Pay no attention to that girl trying to steal my spotlight
Recently, I was one of several energy experts interviewed about the plan for a special program called “Austin at Issue: Energy for the Future”—a joint project of KLRU-TV (Austin’s PBS), KUT, and the Austin American-Statesman.
Watch “Austin at Issue: Energy for the Future” this Thursday, February 18, at 7:30 p.m. on KLRU or listen at 8 p.m. on KUT 90.5 FM.
City Council should vote on the plan to brighten Austin’s energy future sometime in March. To educate Austinites about the plan, the mayor is holding a town hall meeting on Monday, February 22, from 6 – 8 p.m. at the Palmer Events Center.
We need to show support for investment in renewables and energy efficiency that will bring new green jobs to Austin, and move us away from old dirty energy sources.
So do your homework by watching or listening to Austin at Issue, or visit www.cleanenergyforaustin.org, and come on out to the Mayor’s town hall on Monday. Look for the Public Citizen crew and stand with us to support Austin’s clean 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 Global Warming | Tagged Austin, Austin American-Statesman, austin at issue, citizen sarah, City Council, clean energy for austin, Energy, Energy Efficiency, klru, kut, matthew johnson, palmer events center, Public Citizen, Renewables, Texas |
Perry Flaunts State, Federal Law in EPA Lawsuit
Statement from Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen’s Texas Office and Ken Kramer, director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club
This morning Governor Perry attempted to show Texas voters that he is bigger than both Texas and federal law by enacting a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency’s(EPA) endangerment finding for carbon dioxide, but instead just further highlighted his failure to protect Texans’ health and the safety and long term stability of our economy and climate.
Instead of suing the EPA, Perry should be taking proactive steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build up our clean energy economy. Our governor likes to brag about all he’s done to promote wind and energy efficiency and the emissions Texas has avoided as a result, but at the same time he is hammering through a second Texas coal rush that will negate all that hard work and add 77 million tons of CO2 to Texas’ already overheated air.
Perry’s blustering behavior has actually caused Public Citizen to file a lawsuit against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for its failure to regulate global warming gasses. Texas law clearly requires that “air contaminants” be regulated, and defines contaminants as follows:
“‘Air contaminant’ means particulate matter, radioactive material, dust, fumes, gas, mist, smoke, vapor, or odor, including any combination of those items, produced by processes other than natural.” Tex. Health & Safety Code § 382.003(2).
Perry has proudly demonstrated willful ignorance of this portion of Texas law time and time again, and has ordered state agencies such as the TCEQ to ignore it as well. For this reason and his actions today we are issuing our Governor a Citizens’ Citation to cease and desist endangering the health of breathers, the economy and the climate in Texas by continuing to permit coal plants and other large sources of CO2.
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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 air contaminant, Carbon Dioxide, climate, climate change, Coal, Coal Plants, coal rush, endangerment, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Global Warming, governor perry, greenhouse gas emissions, Public Citizen, public health, Sierra Club, TCEQ, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality |
The Austin American Statesman’s article this morning about Austin’s 2020 energy plan leaves a few things out that are crucial to understanding the costs and benefits of adding more energy efficiency and renewable power to Austin’s generation portfolio. Judging from the rather depressing comments section, many readers took away the unfortunate misconception that poor Austinites will have to sacrifice for green energy goals. I’d like to clear that up today.
Few things irk me more than when people fail to see the connection between improving social welfare and protecting the environment.
The notion that green power has to come at the expense of low-income households needs to be eradicated. Social welfare and protecting the environment are not conflicting or exclusive goals. By cleaning up the way we produce electric power and making homes more energy efficient, we can do much to improve the quality of life in Austin. And by making homes that can be heated and cooled with less energy, we can save low-income families money on one of their biggest monthly expenditures AND keep Austinites healthy and safe during bitter cold and dangerous summer heat.
There are a few key points that need to be part of the public discussion about the energy plan which have largely been absent from the public radar. I’d ask any Austinite doing their homework for the Mayor’s Town Hall on Monday to take these issues into consideration:
The Plan is Flexible
As part of the Generation Resource Planning Task Force, I voted with all other members of the Task Force to include a provision that Austin review the plan every two years in case any one resource option became too costly (recommendation 3a-b). That way, AE would have the ability to adapt its plan and go with something cheaper. This is a ratepayer protection and cost control mechanism that will protect all customer classes and should be included in the public discussion about the plan. As my friend Cyrus Reed at the Sierra Club puts it astutely: the plan is a roadmap, not a straightjacket.
That’s the beauty of a diverse energy portfolio. Austin would not have this ability if it were locked into building a new nuclear plant or coal plant (like CPS Energy is).
Energy Efficiency is part of the plan
Public discussion of this plan tends to focus on supply-side renewable resources, but the biggest component of the energy plan is energy efficiency. If it met its goals, Austin would achieve 800-1000 MW of energy savings by 2020. The next highest new resource addition would be wind (~562 additional MW when taking into account 203 MW worth of expiring wind contracts). 800 MW of efficiency represents 55% of all the resource additions that encompass the Resource & Climate Protection Plan (note that 100 MW of gas, 100 MW of biomass, and 30 MW of solar that are due to come online over the next three years are not part of the plan).
Efficiency achieves carbon reduction objectives and affordability objectives. Thus, the biggest component of the energy plan will help keep bills low. It’s also worth pointing out that if we do not achieve the efficiency goals, we will need new supply-side generation in order to keep the lights on–800 MW worth. Without efficiency, bills are sure to go up much higher because all supply-side options are more expensive than efficiency.
Comparisons give perspective
Let’s talk about bill impacts on the poor. Take a drive down I-35. San Antonio’s utility, CPS Energy predicts they will need to increase rates 40% by 2020 and that does not even include the future cost increase for natural gas or costs for investing in the proposed expansion of the South Texas Nuclear Plant, which has risen from ~$6 billion in 2007 to $18 billion today before license application are adjudicated or construction begins.
No one is advocating for environmental protection at the expense of the poor. That is flat-out a false choice. This plan won’t do that because of the protections that will be put in place, the overwhelming focus on energy efficiency and AE taking a more proactive and cooperative approach to services for those struggling to pay their utility bills. In order to make electricity more affordable for people, it is up to us as a community to adopt a pragmatic approach to realizing and achieving the complimentary goals of social welfare and environmental protection. After all, you can’t have one without the other.
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Posted in Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, Renewables, solar | Tagged Austin, Austin American-Statesman, Austin Energy, Clean Energy, climate change, Coal, Generation Task Force, Global Warming, renewable energy, Texas, wind |
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