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Posts Tagged ‘public citizen texas’

Stop TransCanada From Bringing Dirty Oil to Your Backyard

Posted in Global Warming, Tarsands, tagged , , , , , , , on January 22, 2011 |

It’s been a while since a status update has been given on the Keystone XL pipeline project here at Public Citizen so the time has come!

The Keystone pipeline project is Canadian initiated undertaking involving both TransCanada and ConocoPhillips.  The pipeline is set out to be about 1380 miles long and the pipe itself is projected to be about 36 inches in diameter.  The Keystone pipeline will enter the United States from Alberta, Canada through Montana, cross through South Dakota and Nebraska to send its 700,000 barrels/day supply into stations in Oklahoma and East Texas.  In doing so, this means the pipeline would be crossing 554 acres of wetlands and 91 streams that support either recreational or commercial fisheries.

The Keystone pipeline will also run right through the Ogallala Aquifer, meaning potential damage to one of the country’s largest sources of water if a spill should occur.  Dirty Oil Picture And we all know how easy it can be for an oil spill to occur.  (see the recent WSJ article on the BP Alaskan pipeline leak)

In fact, TransCanada is supposed to construct the actual pipes to be made out of a thinner material, but the oil will be pumped at a higher pressure than normal, which increases the risks of spills even more.  The last thing we need is another BP disaster in the gulf or pipeline leak in Alaska.  But suppose you say, “So what, what’s another oil spill?”  Well, it just so happens that this pipeline will be transporting some of the dirtiest oil in the world.

This type of oil, known as tar sands oil, produces more global warming pollution than our normal conventional oil, 20% more to be exact.  It also makes conventional oil seem pretty darn clean.  Tar sands oil is full of toxic and harmful materials not only dangerous to the environment but the health of the communities surrounding the pipelines are endangered  as well.  Producing this oil for the Keystone XL will essentially result in the emittance of 11 million more tons of carbon dioxide. (more…)

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VOTE on Radioactive Waste – We Got Screwed

Posted in Global Warming, Radioactive Waste, tagged , , , , , , , on January 4, 2011 |

Well for those who have been waiting to hear how the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission (TLLRWDCC) voted on the new rule that would open Texas up to accepting radioactive waste from as many as 36 other states (and possibly beyond that), it is no surprise that the Compact Commission voted in favor of the rule.

Public Citizen‘s Texas director, Tom “Smitty” Smith and the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition’s executive director, Karen Hadden drove through the night to the edges of the state in order to attend the hearing this morning, and have spent the better part of the day listening to the public and the Commissioners debate issues around this rule.

Karen Hadden just texted us to say:

In an outrageous demonstration of ignoring public opposition, the unfunded Compact Commision, which has no office, no bylaws and only one staff person, still managed to vote to open Texas up to radioactive waste from around the country.  In Andrews County, a late afternoon vote followed public testimony, predominantly in opposition to the radioactive waste expansion, and heated debate between the Commissioners.

Legal challenges are likely.  The Commissioners rushed this crucial vote through during the holidays ahead of the swearing in of a new Governor in Vermont and the beginning of the 82nd Texas legislative session.  They rushed this vote through in spite of concerns being expressed by legislative members of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission during a December 15th Sunset Commission hearing. They rushed this vote through in spite of issues around citizens’ ability to submit their comments because of a incorrect email address listed in the Texas Register posting of the rules and instructions to the public about where to submit comments.  They rushed this through despite a motion by Commissioner Gregory to extend the comment period which they refused to do.   They rush this through and Texas got screwed.

We will post more on this vote tomorrow.

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NRC and Comanche Peak meeting on an inspection finding of concern is open to the public on January 13th

Posted in Nuclear, tagged , , , , , on January 3, 2011 |

According to a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission release, staff will hold a regulatory conference with Luminant Generation Co. officials on Jan. 13, to discuss the significance of an inspection finding at the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant located near Glen Rose, Texas, just an hour west of Fort Worth.

NRC and Comanche Peak will discuss the significance, cause and corrective actions associated with the “apparent failure by the company to incorporate into station procedures information necessary to ensure continued operability of a water tank that supplies safety-related equipment”. Specifically, an NRC inspection revealed, the company failed to take steps necessary to ensure that a rubberlike bladder inside the tank was properly maintained.

The meeting, which will be open to public observation, will begin at 1 p.m. in the NRC’s Region IV offices in Arlington, Texas located at Texas Health Resources Tower, 612 E. Lamar Blvd., Suite 400.

The public will have an opportunity to observe and ask questions of NRC staff after the business portion of the meeting. Members of the public can listen to the meeting via a special telephone line by calling 1-800-952-9677 and asking to be connected to the meeting.

The NRC evaluates regulatory performance at commercial nuclear power plants with a color coded process which classifies regulatory findings as either green, white, yellow or red, in increasing order of increasing safety significance. The NRC staff has preliminary determined that the significance of the violation is “white,” meaning it has a low to moderate safety significance.

No decision on the final significance, the apparent violations or any contemplated enforcement action will be made during the conference. Those decisions will be made by NRC officials at a later date.

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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.

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Correction and Update: VOTE on Radioactive Waste NOT Halted

Posted in Nuclear, Radioactive Waste, tagged , , , , , , , on January 3, 2011 |

 UPDATE:

Judge Sam Sparks of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas just dismissed the case to enjoin the Compact Commission meeting tomorrow, saying while he was concerned about the issue of citizen’s ability to participate fully, he did not have jurisdiction to enjoin the meeting, and threw the whole case out allowing the vote on the rule to go forward tomorrow.

So, the Compact Commission is still planning to meet in Andrews, Texas at 9 am tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 9 AM, at the James Roberts Center located at 855 Hwy 176 East, Andrews, TX 79714 . . .  Please join us if you can!

UPDATE:

The Compact Commission is still planning to meet in Andrews, Texas at 9 am tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 9 AM, at the James Roberts Center located at 855 Hwy 176 East, Andrews, TX 79714 . . .  Please join us if you can!

 

Legal Maneuvers Still Underway
The Commission could vote on the Import rule at this meeting. Passage would allow import of radioactive waste from all the states, and through a loophole, potentially the whole world. It would be disposed of through shallow burial at the Waste Control Specialists (WCS) site in Andrews County, Texas. The TCEQ does set license limits for the site, but the import rule sought by WCS and most members of the Compact Commission is a backhanded way to force license expansion.
Legal efforts by Public Citizen resulted in a Temporary Restraining Order for tomorrow’s meeting.  Now the AG is jumping in, although they should have nothing whatsoever to say about this, since they have made clear that they can’t represent the Commission, only individual members.
There is now a 3 pm hearing (today) with US District Judge Sam Sparks at the Federal Courthouse, 200 W. 8th Street in Austin.
Proceedings here could impact the Andrews meeting scheduled for tomorrow in Andrews, but we’re counting on the meeting still happening and heading out west after the hearing.

 UPDATE:

A hearing on the temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Texas Low-level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission’s (TLLRWDCC) hearing on their proposed rule to open Texas up to taking waste from states outside the current compact states of Texas and Vermont is scheduled for 3pm in Federal Court, Judge Sam Sparks presiding. The motion was filed by GNI Strategies.

No hearing has been set on the motion to dissolve TRO in state court.

ORIGINAL POST:

 

 
 
 

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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.

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New solar farm ground breaking in Pflugerville.

Posted in Energy, green jobs, Renewables, solar, tagged , , , , , , , on December 16, 2010 |

President of RRE Solar at groundbreaking

RRE Solar Austin held its groundbreaking ceremony in Pflugerville yesterday. This is the first utility scale solar farm, and one of the largest photovoltaic projects in the country, to be built by the company and the first to break ground in the Austin area. Planned to produce 60Mw of solar energy when completed it will use more than 400,000 solar panels in its construction.

The project is planned to start installing panels by March of 2011 and needs the construction of a local substation to be finished before it can begin sending energy to the grid. If everything goes according to plan, this project should start producing its energy and sending into the Texas grid by the end of 2011. They worked extensively with the local community, school districts, county and the City of Austin to get this project started and will be providing solar panels to the local school districts for their use as part of this effort.

RRE Solar has plans to start developing on a second 60Mw Project located in Big Spring Texas through its subsidiary RRE Big Spring Solar .

While attending the groundbreaking I had an interesting conversation with the construction crew, who were just watching the festivities, and asked them about the project. They were glad for the work and it hadn’t occurred to them that they were part of the “green jobs” that they had  heard about. The project should employ around 250 construction jobs and the crew wants to have lots more of these projects to work on in the future.

With the Texas Legislature starting its session soon lets hope our legislators take notice and put policies in place to encourage more of these projects to be built around our state.

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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.

RRE Solar groundbreaking first shovels

RRE Solar Austin ground breaking, green jobs

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Former Pedernales GM Bennie Fuelberg GUILTY on all counts

Posted in Co-op Reform, Energy, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 10, 2010 |

After only a day of deliberation, the jury has returned a guilty verdict on former Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) general manager Bennie Fuelberg on all counts of money laundering, theft, and misapplication of fiduciary property.

During the two weeks of trial, the prosecution showed how Bennie Fuelberg filtered money through Clark, Thomas & White, the co-op’s law firm, to his lobbyist brother, Curtis, and Bill Price, the son of a co-op board member.  Fuelberg also misdirected staff, removing oversight of the co-ops legal bills from other managers in an attempt to hide the money being passed through to his brother.

Prosecutor Harry White detailed this in his closing arguments Thursday: “The reason Bennie Fuelberg kept a secret was because he knew it was wrong. What he did was he took money that didn’t belong to him, that belonged to normal people, and gave it to his brother.”

As an aside, Clark, Thomas & White repaid over $4 million in fees to PEC in a separate lawsuit, showing just how much money Bennie siphoned away from the co-op over the years.

Several of us here at Public Citizen are current or former PEC members.  We were part of the original investigations and lawsuits that opened up the wretched hive of scum and villany that Fuelberg had turned the co-op into, and have worked for and are proud of the reforms that have taken place in the past few years.

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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.

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Don’t forget to pre-register for the 3rd Annual Austin Green Holiday Party

Posted in Consumers, Energy, Global Warming, green jobs, recycling, Renewables, solar, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2010 |

If you haven’t already pre-registered to celebrate the holidays at the 3rd Annual Austin Green Holiday Party, do so soon.  It is coming up soon and this year it is hosted by 10 great organizations.

Fiesta Gardens  (2100 Jesse E. Segovia St., Austin, TX 78702)
Thursday, December 16th, 2010 from 5:30pm-9:30pm

Registration:  Pre-Registration ONLY for this Event (No Cash Accepted at Door)

Network and learn about the hosting organizations and come together for a unified 2011.  Celebrate the holidays with us and enjoy music, great food, beer, wine and other beverages, as well as holiday cheer…

Live Music by: Austin Eco-Musicians (Reed Sternberg, Bill Oliver, Frank Meyer and More!) with Tribal Nation, the Austin reggae band later in the evening.

Food:  Barr Mansion (Please help support our event sponsor and friend to the environmental community, the Barr Mansion.  They are catering this event, even as their own facility is being rebuilt after the fire.)

  • Blue Cheese and Winter Squash Sandwich
  • Chicken and Pepperoni Sandwich
  • Sundried Tomato White Bean Dip with Crostini
  • Basil Hummus and Cracker Shards
  • Local Organic Farm Salad Station with assorted dressings

Beverages: Beer, Wine, Sodas, Teas and water will be provided by the following sponsors:

The Co-Hosts: Texas Green Network •Public Citizen • SEED Coalition • Sierra Club • Design Build Live • Austin EcoNetwork • Solar Austin • NetImpact •
Texas League of Conservation Voters • Austin Physicians for Social Responsibility

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Texas’ proposed rule to accept radioactive waste from many other states concerns Vermont

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Nuclear, Radiation, Radioactive Waste, TCEQ, Toxics, Transportation, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 3, 2010 |

The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant.

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant -by Wikipedia

In an article by the New York Times that focuses on Vermont‘s concerns about losing space to waste from generators in other states, Matthew Wald writes:

Waste disposal is so difficult, says the company, Waste Control Services, that power plants and other generating sources have reduced their volumes sharply. And Vermont and Texas together produce so little that, the company adds, it would have to charge huge amounts per cubic foot and per unit of radioactivity to get its investment back.

Yet, the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition’s research shows the Waste Control Specialists site is currently licensed for 2.3 million cubic feet of water and 3.89 million curies. Texas’ existing four reactors and Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor would require 6 million cubic feet of capacity.

Tom “Smitty” Smith, the director of the Texas office of Public Citizen tells the New York Times that he believes, “They’re trying to get it done before the new governor takes office.”

To read the New York Times article, click here.

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Happy Thanksgiving? Not if climate change has anything to say about it

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , , on November 25, 2010 |

Climate change could change Norman Rockwell's classic "Freedom from Want" into anything but

Freedom from Want? With climate change, Thanksgiving could be anything but

As families attempt to reunite for the holidays, we are awash in bad weather across the US.  And while we are enjoying wonderful weather down here in Texas at the moment, the rest of the country is not so fortunate.  My friends in the Pacific Northwest are dealing with snow and ice, and the same storm is causing blizzard conditions from Reno to Denver.  One of my friends in Utah referred to their blizzard as the “Snowpocalypse.”  Much of the Midwest is faring as badly, with delays at some of our biggest hub airports– Chicago, Denver, and Atlanta, etc– because of weather.

Wait, wait– I thought we were talking about “global warming”– you know? Shouldn’t that mean that that in Seattle and Portland they should be wearing shorts and sipping frozen beverages instead of battling frozen roads?  Au contraire, mon frere.  A warming Arctic has pushed colder air south to the US and Europe, and warmer oceans are putting more water vapor into the atmosphere, causing more extreme weather. (more…)

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Tom Delay GUILTY

Posted in Campaign Finance, tagged , , , , on November 24, 2010 |

Tom Delay has been convicted of money-laundering by a Travis County jury.

After three days of deliberation in  former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay‘s corruption trial the jury returned a verdict of guilty.

Tom DeLay‘s defense team, presented five witnesses over two days, resting its case last Thursday.

This was in stark contrast to the prosecution’s case, which included more than 30 witnesses in 10 days. The former Houston-area congressman did not testify. Closing arguments in the trial were delivered on Monday, and jurors began deliberation later that day.

Shortly after convening, jurors sent two notes to the judge, asking him about the charges. “Can it constitute money laundering if the money wasn’t procured by illegal means originally?” one note read.  A second note  questioned whether money laundering can involve funds that were not initially accepted for an illegal purpose.   Judge Priest expressed concern about how to answer the jury’s questions without commenting on evidence in the case.  In the end, he declined to answer the question telling the jury to figure it out for themselves.

Earlier today (the third day of deliberation), the jury asked for multiple copies of the transcript of Tom DeLay’s interview with prosecutors in 2005.  Then later during the day, a question from the jury elicited an instruction from the judge that could have been the final blow to DeLay’s defense.  The jury basically asked whether DeLay had to know about a conspiracy to commit money laundering before it began. Visiting District Judge Pat Priest told them no.

At 5 pm today, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on both charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Currently Delay is out on a previous bond, but his conviction means he faces five years to life in prison on the money laundering charge and two to 20 years on the conspiracy charge.  He also would be eligible for probation.

The sentencing phase of the trial is tentatively scheduled to begin December 20, 2010 and DeLay has chosen to have Senior Judge Pat Priest sentence him.

DeLay’s lawyers intend to appeal the felony criminal conviction.  One thing is clear, he will not be returning to politics anytime soon.

Earlier this year, DeLay tried to get his case moved out of Travis County.  He argued he could not get a fair trial in Austin because of the role he played in the 2003 Texas redistricting efforts.  Obviously the venue change request was denied, and from the outside it seems clear that this Travis County jury took its task to heart, and deliberated fairly and judiciously before bringing back a guilty verdict.

I expect this will be one of our Thanksgiving dinner topics tomorrow.   In the meantime, whether or not you and your loved ones make this a Thanksgiving topic to go along with your holiday turkey (tofurkey for you vegetarions among us) dinner. . . Public Citizen wishes each and every one of you a safe and happy holiday.

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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.

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A SIMMERING WATER WAR – special from Jim Hightower

Posted in Air Quality, Coal, Energy, green jobs, Nuclear, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 12, 2010 |

Originally posted at jimhightower.com

Here in my home state of Texas, we’re suffering from withdrawal pains.

This is not caused by our addiction to alcohol or drugs – but to plain water. And to make our pain worse, it’s not the people of Texas who are hooked on a destructive water habit – it’s the boneheaded executives and greedheaded investors in coal-fired and nuclear-powered plants that generate electricity. (more…)

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A Brave New Republican Energy Future?

Posted in Air Quality, Energy, Global Warming, Nuclear, tagged , , , , , , , , , on November 3, 2010 |

According to Bloomberg, electricity producers such as NRG Energy Inc. and Southern Co. will benefit as the new house Republican majority promotes nuclear power as part of clean-energy legislation.  They go on to point out that cap-and-trade was denounced in ads by candidates of both parties, and they expect a fight over plans by the Environmental Protection Agency to impose its own restrictions on carbon emissions.

They also anticipate that renewable-energy legislation next year would encourage construction of nuclear and “clean- coal” plants.

For those close to the Barnett Shale, House Republicans will probably resist efforts to limit hydraulic fracturing, a technique used in drilling for natural gas in which chemically treated water is pumped underground to loosen rock and let gas flow, and a process that has been of significant concern to Texans in the Dallas-Fort Worth air shed.  The EPA is currently conducting a study of potential environmental impacts of the practice.

The Republican takeover of the House also puts Representative Doc Hastings of Washington state, an opponent of new restrictions on offshore oil and gas drilling, in line to take over the Natural Resources Committee. Hastings denounced a measure, that would have removed a $75 million cap on liability for leaks, and would bar BP (the company responsible for the Gulf of Mexico deep water oil spill off the coast of Louisiana) from new U.S. leases.

I’m sure you can see where this could be taking U.S. energy and environmental policy.  If you are concerned, consider making a donation to Public Citizen as we head into a new political era.

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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.

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Public Citizen’s website or Tom Delay on trial yesterday?

Posted in Campaign Finance, Consumers, Good Government, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 2, 2010 |

As the Tom Delay trial got underway, the State’s first two witnesses were Craig McDonald, a former Public Citizen Texas director and now the executive director for Texans for Public Justice, and Austin attorney Fred Lewis, both of whom the defense characterized as being from the left end of the political spectrum which they attempted to capitalize upon.  Twice the defense moved for a mistrial, claiming there was an effort by prosecutors to push political opinions on the jury.  Both motions were ignored by Judge Priest.

Craig McDonald said he focused solely on campaign donations while with Public Citizen and that there were discrepancies between what Texas Republican Majority PAC (TRMPAC) reported to the Texas Ethics Commission in terms of its income and what Republican National State Election Committee (RNSEC) reported to the IRS.

The defense, in examining McDonald, reviewed 60 candidate names on Public Citizen’s website — only one of which was a Democrat (gubernatorial candidate, Bill White, and that was from a blog on yours truly, Texas Vox, which showed up on the site through an RSS feed).  DeLay, however, was mentioned 100 or more times on the site. But McDonald maintained political neutrality in his testimony, noting that DeLay’s appearance on the website did not mean he was the only subject of Public Citizen’s research. (more…)

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Public Citizen joins League of Women Voters, denounces voter intimidation in Texas at Moody Park, Houston, event

Posted in Campaign Finance, Good Government, Privacy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 25, 2010 |

Howdy folks.  We’re doing a press conference at 2pm with the League of Women Voters in Houston at the Moody Park Community Center (3725 Fulton, Houston, TX), one of the early voting locations with the most complaints of voter intimidation.  These activities must stop, and this highlights how Houston is ground zero for the creep of illegal, corporate money into our elections.  Here’s an early taste of our press statement we are making.  We hope to have some video available later this afternoon, possibly also video of other early voting activities.

I early voted on Friday at Buda City Hall, standing in a line that snaked around City Hall for 40 minutes.  Have you voted yet?  Get out!  Do it now!

Here’s our press release:

October 25, 2010

don't let voter intimidation sway the election

 

 

 

 

Last week as early voting for the Nov. 2 General Election got under way, there were complaints of poll watchers interfering with or intimidating voters and other potential election violations in Harris and Bexar Counties.  Our organizations–LWV-Texas, Public Citizen, and Common Cause–condemn any and all attempts to sway this election by controlling who gets to vote.

The right to vote is sacred. People have died for this right, both in our nation’s past and even in our recent history.   Registered citizens should never be turned away from being able to vote.  Our greatest patriots, such as Washington and Lincoln, waged war to insure that taxation without representation did not occur and to protect the notion of government for, of, and by the people. It was a Texan, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who pushed through Congress and then signed the Voting Rights Act which protects the rights of all citizens to register and to vote.

We want to encourage everyone, in Harris County, Bexar County, and across the state, to come out and vote, regardless of ideology, gender, race, income, whether your community is urban, suburban, or rural, and whether your preferred party is Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, Green, or Tea.  Do not let tales of intimidation frighten you away.  Instead, let these concerns be a call to action and a reminder of the importance of every citizen’s right to participate.
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Corpus Christi citizens meet to begin the process of fixing TCEQ

Posted in Air Quality, Global Warming, Sunset, TCEQ, tagged , , , , , , , on October 8, 2010 |

TCEQ is broken. It’s not working in the public’s interest, and there are direct costs that all of us in the state of Texas are paying as a result.  But there is an opportunity for us to fix some of the problems with this broken state agency by participating in the Texas Sunset process.

The Alliance for a Clean Texas kicked off a series of town hall meetings across the state on the sunset review of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on September 15 th.  Last night in Corpus Christi, residents criticized the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, saying it holds too much power and ignores public concerns in the interest of business. (more…)

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