Posted in Coal, Consumers, Efficiency, Energy, Global Warming, Good Government, green jobs, Nuclear, Renewables, solar, tagged matt johnson, mona avalos, Public Citizen, ryan rittenhouse, Texas, texas vox, week in review on May 21, 2010 |
Busy, busy, busy. Public Citizen staff have been making the rounds this week, traveling all over Texas in order to educate, empower, and organize citizens. From Beaumont to Dallas. From tar sands to the Public Utility Commission, we are working to protect the economic and environmental well-being of all Texans.
The Week in Review: (more…)
Posted in Global Warming, tagged public citizen texas, ryan rittenhouse, Texas on May 6, 2010 |
The latest activist in our series is Public Citizen Texas’ Ryan Rittenhouse. Ryan is our anti-coal advocate from Cleveland, Ohio and has a B.A. in Communications from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania (a liberal arts school!). He is a part of the No Coal Coalition and is currently organizing opposition to the Tenaska and White Stallion coal plant proposals.
Sometimes, if you’re quiet, you can catch him sneaking outside the office to hug a tree.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FHhWCbEfCs]
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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. (more…)
Posted in Global Warming, tagged advanced metering infrastructure task force, Andrew Sauls, david power, get to know an activist, patrick reck, Public Citizen, ryan rittenhouse, smart meter texas portal, smitty love, Texas, Tom "Smitty" Smith, trevor lovell on April 9, 2010 |
This week’s string of fossil fuel disasters–a Chinese coal carrier striking the Great Barrier Reef and dumping tons of oil into the Pacific Ocean, an oil pipeline spilling into the Louisiana Delta National Wildlife Refuge at the same time an Exxon Mobil barge was dredging off coast for oil exploration, and the tragic coal mine explosion in Montcoal, West Virginia–has left all of us saddened and wondering if the finger-wagging backlash will help spur the changes we work towards every day.
These events affirm the facts that environmental and human destruction are part of the costs of fossil fuel energy. If you cannot accept the resulting ecosystem destruction and loss of life, then you cannot accept fossil fuels as the dominant source of your energy.
I know: its frustrating, and changing our energy portfolio feels like its beyond our control. But, we can all make little changes in our own lives. And we won’t realize until years down the road how much those little energy conservation choices matter.
So, channel that sadness into resolve. Be the change you want to see.
At Public Citizen Texas, we hope that this little blog is a light. A light that shows you the good of the people of Texas. The strength of people working together to change energy policy and consumption habits.
We want to lead by example and empower you to do the same.
The week in review… (more…)
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Activism, Andrew Sauls, carol geiger, david power, get to know an activist, health reform bill, las brisas energy center, Melissa Sanchez, mona avalos, patrick reck, Public Citizen, reengerize texas, ryan rittenhouse, sarah mcdonald, Tar Sands, Texas, trevor lovell, week in review, white stallion on April 2, 2010 |
The staff at Public Citizen Texas would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter and a pleasant weekend with family and friends.
Thanks for taking time during the holiday to read about our energy advocacy progress.
The week in review… (more…)
Posted in Coal, Global Warming, tagged CEC, clean economy coalition, Coal, corpus christi, decision, edf, energy center, james marston, judge, las brisas, Petcoke, plant, Public Citizen, ryan rittenhouse, soah, state office of administrative hearings, TCEQ, Texas on March 30, 2010 |
This week the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality received a recommendation from two administrative judges denying the air permit for the proposed Las Brisas Energy Center in Corpus Christi. The decision is a ray of hope in the battle to prevent the petcoke plant from showering the citizens of Corpus Christi with harmful pollutants including nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and lead.
Set to be built in the Inner Harbor of Corpus Christi, the petroleum coke-fired power plant would cost nearly $3 billion.
Petcoke piles along the ship channel in Corpus Christi
The recommendation was issued following two weeks of testimony and nearly two months of private deliberation between the judges. Reasons for their decision against the permit were that the company:
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Andrew Sauls, andy wilson, carol geiger, matt johnson, mona avalos, patrick reck, Public Citizen, ryan rittenhouse, smitty, sunset commission, TCEQ, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, tom smith, trevor lovell, week in review on March 26, 2010 |
After Week in Review‘s SXSW hiatus, our weekly blog update is back in action, keeping you posted on Public Citizen’s energy advocacy work. (more…)
Posted in Global Warming, tagged Andrew Sauls, Andrews County waste dump, austin generation plan, clean energy for austin, coal plant, david power, energy advocacy, Energy Efficiency, environment texas, environmental defense fund, EPA hearing, ICLEI, Melissa Sanchez, mona avalos, ozone attainment standards, P.A.C.E., PACE, patrick reck, property assessed clean energy, reenergize texas, ryan rittenhouse, sarah mcdonald, Sierra Club, smitty, Tar Sands, Texas, think green, think green fund, Tom "Smitty" Smith, trevor lovell, univision dallas, week in review on March 12, 2010 |
“Tomorrow, when I wake, or think I do, what shall I say of today?” — Vladimir, Waiting for Godot
The Public Citizen Texas Week in Review (more…)
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 on March 5, 2010 |
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. (more…)
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 on February 22, 2010 |
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. (more…)
Posted in Global Warming, tagged Air Quality, al armendariz, ana hernandez, asthma, bay city, beaumont, clean air act, coal plant, colorado river, compliance, environment, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, galveston, health, houston, jessica farrar, kristi thibaut, matagorda county, nox, ozone, ozone standards, parish coal plant, Public Citizen, ryan rittenhouse, smog, state office of administrative hearings, sunset review, TCEQ, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Texas Legislature, Tom "Smitty" Smith, ttc, white stallion on February 10, 2010 |
Public Citizen and Area Legislators Urge State to Deny Air Pollution Permit
HOUSTON – Area legislators joined Public Citizen this week in urging environmental agencies to deny the White Stallion coal plant its air permit because if built, the facility would degrade air quality in Houston. The emissions from this proposed power plant would exacerbate the problem of smog in the Houston-Galveston-Beaumont region, which already is in violation, or “non-attainment,” of federal ozone standards and may soon have to meet higher standards as the result of a new proposal to strengthen the federal ozone rule
“The proposed White Stallion coal plant would harm the health of the people of Matagorda County, degrade the environment, and stifle economic development and tourism throughout the region,” said Ryan Rittenhouse, coal energy analyst with Public Citizen’s Texas office. “We are pleased to see Texas legislators step up to protect our citizens, the environment and Texas’ economic future.”
White Stallion’s air permit hearing before the State Office of Administrative Hearings begins today and will last through Feb. 19. That office will make a recommendation to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
The air pollution permit is the first step; the project still will need a wastewater permit from the TCEQ and an additional permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.
If granted an air permit, White Stallion will increase emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx), the principle component of ozone, by more than a third in Matagorda County, where the plant will be located. That translates to more than 4,000 tons per year of NOx that would blow into the Houston area, dramatically increasing ozone levels in the non-attainment region.
“The proposed White Stallion coal plant will be less than 17 miles from the Houston/Galveston non-attainment region. Coal plants such as this one are one of the largest, individual sources of smog-forming pollutants,” said State Rep. Ana E. Hernandez (D-Houston). “Particularly in light of new EPA ozone standards, why should we allow a coal plant to be built on our doorstep? It will only make it that much harder for us to clean up Houston’s air pollution.”
Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruled that the TCEQ has not been adhering to the Clean Air Act in its issuance of new air permits, but the TCEQ has failed to change its permitting process.
For this reason, Texas legislators, including Reps. Hernandez, Jessica Farrar (D-Houston) and Kristi Thibaut (D-Houston), sent appeal letters this week to Dr. Al Armendariz, regional administrator of the EPA, urging the agency to step in and provide much needed guidance and oversight to the TCEQ. Their letters asked that the White Stallion power plant not be given an air permit to begin construction until the EPA ensures that constituents will receive the full public health protections of the federal Clean Air Act.
“I urge TCEQ and the EPA to deny the permit authorizing the White Stallion coal plant to be built in Matagorda County. Texas’ air quality must be improved for the good health of every Texan. The goal of clean air and clean water can be obtained by a commitment to reducing air contaminants,” Farrar said.
Despite the fact that a new coal plant could hinder Houston’s ability to meet federal regulations, the TCEQ refuses to predict or consider air impacts that are outside the non-attainment region. In fact, the TCEQ executive director filed legal briefs arguing that evidence showing White Stallion would contribute to ozone problems in the Houston area is irrelevant to the decision of whether to grant the White Stallion air permit. The TCEQ similarly refuses to consider cumulative impacts when granting an air permit, such as the fact that the 30-year-old Parish coal plant is only 50 miles northeast of the White Stallion site and also within the Houston/Galveston non-attainment region.
White Stallion would also pull 36,000 acre-feet of water from the Colorado River every year. Increased activity from the two barges required to deliver coal every day would contaminate the water with toxic runoff and erode the embankments.
The proposed plant would be located along a 100-year floodplain and would store coal ash waste on site. In the event of extreme weather, that toxic waste could easily wash into public waterways.
“The proposed White Stallion coal plant would dump thousands of tons of toxic pollutants into our air and water every year, when this region is already in non-attainment for clean air,” Thibaut said. “Furthermore, construction of this plant would remove 36,000 acre-feet of water each year from the Colorado River, which serves many drought-stricken areas of our state. As the elected representative for thousands of my constituents who would be affected, and as the mother of a small child, I cannot stand by as our air and water quality are further eroded.”
If the project is granted its air permit, advocates still have a chance to challenge the permit in state court and to reform the TCEQ through the sunset review process.
“The TCEQ is one of a number of state agencies that are about to undergo sunset review at the Texas Legislature. The sunset commission has the power to reform this agency and insist that any permits issued in the future adhere to the Clean Air Act,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen’s Texas office. “With this process, Texas has the opportunity to ensure that the health of Texans and their environment are protected more than the profits of energy corporations.”
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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 Toxics, tagged aaron smith, Air Quality, american lung association, asthma, Bob Malina, clean air, clean air texas, dr neil carman, dr. bonnie new, environmental defense fund, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, galveston-houston alliance for smog prevention, ghasp, Health Professionals for Clean Air, houston, janice nolen, Kids for Clean Air, matagorda county, matthew tejada, mothers for clean air, no coal coalition, ozone, Public Citizen, public citizen texas, public health, public hearing, republican party, respiratory disease, ryan rittenhouse, SEED Coalition, Sierra Club, Texas, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Wendi Hammond, white stallion on February 5, 2010 |
Earlier this week the Environmental Protection Agency held a public hearing on a newly proposed rule to strengthen federal ozone standards. A coalition of environmental and public health advocates called Clean Air Texas rallied in support of the new rule, which would improve air quality across the state and make our communities healthier. Over a hundred citizens presented their comments to the EPA in support of the new, stronger rule — more than the EPA has seen at a public hearing in years. Public Citizen was on hand to give comments and capture the stories of concerned citizens that came to the hearing, check out the videos below to hear what folks had to say!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfiNk_19tgk]
Also check out this video of the press conference to hear what matters most about the ozone rule from activists with Kids for Clean Air, Public Citizen, the American Lung Association, Health Professionals for Clean Air, Sierra Club, and the Galveston-Houston Alliance for Smog Prevention. The lead image is acting a little funny, but the video will still show up, I promise
[vimeo 9206598]
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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, tagged abilene, Austin, bay city, clean air act, clean economy coalition, coal block, coal plant, college station, corpus christi, dallas, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, federal climate change legislation, flex permits, grandfathering, grassroots, H.R. 2454, houston, john cornyn, kay bailey hutchison, lone star chapter, Multi-County Coalition, no coal coalition, public citizen texas, roll beyond coal, ryan rittenhouse, Sierra Club, sweetwater, T.P.O.W.E.R., TCEQ, Texans Protecting Our Water Environment and Resources, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Waco on December 28, 2009 |
The November/December edition of Public Citizen News, a bi-monthly newsletter distributed to Public Citizen members, featured this article on our statewide “Roll Beyond Coal” Tour. Since not all of you out there get the newsletter, I thought I’d share:
By Geena Wardaki
It’s not often that you lug a 20-foot-tall inflatable “coal plant” around Texas to protest dirty coal-fueled power plants.
But that’s exactly what Public Citizen and the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club did in September.
The “coal plant” served as a powerful image that drove home the message to “clean up dirty power plants now,” which the groups delivered to Texas residents during the “Roll Beyond Coal” tour.
The groups visited Texas communities where proposed coal plants would be built and met with local grassroots and citizen organizations.
The two-week tour, which was part of Public Citizen’s Coal Block campaign, stopped in Waco, Dallas, Abilene, College Station, Corpus Christi, Bay City, Houston and Austin. Texas residents turned out in crowds of varying sizes to show their support and protest with the tour at each stop.
“The biggest cities actually had the smallest response,” said Ryan Rittenhouse, Coal Block campaign director for Public Citizen’s Texas office. “The largest turnouts were from grassroots movements where the issue is more local, smaller towns where proposed coal plants would be built and whose residents would be directly affected.”
Area demonstrators included members of T.P.O.W.E.R. (Texans Protecting Our Water Environment and Resources) from Waco, the No Coal Coalition from Bay City, the Multi-County Coalition from Sweetwater and the Clean Economy Coalition from Corpus Christi.
“Roll Beyond Coal” had two main objectives: one, to show support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent finding that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) rules for granting permits to new coal plants do not comply with the federal Clean Air Act; and two, to push the EPA to stop the TCEQ from granting any permits for or allowing the operation of any new coal-powered plants and from issuing any new air pollution permits. TCEQ currently issues “flex permits,” which allow coal plants to sometimes exceed emissions as long as they don’t go over their total emission caps for the year. Eleven coal plants are proposed or under construction in Texas, more than any other state in the country.
The “Roll Beyond Coal” tour also educated people about federal climate change legislation making its way through Congress (H.R. 2454). Concern exists that new climate change legislation will grandfather proposed or newly built plants, allowing the plants to avoid the proposed emissions standards. (Senate climate change legislation also would enable new plants to be evade emission control standards for a decade.)
Public Citizen told residents to call and write Texas Sens. John Cornyn (R) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R), and urge them to vote against the grandfathering of new coal plants in the climate change legislation. (Visit www.coalblock.org to see how you can e-mail these senators, too.)
“The ‘Roll Beyond Coal’ tour was an important and entertaining way to reach out to Texas residents and get them engaged and involved in blocking dirty coal power plants,” Rittenhouse said.
“Now, people need to let their lawmakers know that coal plants should not get special treatment in any climate change legislation.”
Geena Wardaki is a Public Citizen communications intern.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, cleaner cars, 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 pollution, Air Quality, army corps of engineers, Carbon Dioxide, citizen sarah, clean air act, climate change, co2, coal plant, copenhagen, denmark, environmental integrity project, eva hernandez, Global Warming, Karen Hadden, maximum achievable control technology, mercury, nox, NRG, nrg limestone, ozone, particulate matter, paul rolke, public citizen texas, robertson county our land our lives, robertson couny, ryan rittenhouse, SEED Coalition, Sierra Club, smog, soah, sox, state office of administrative hearings, sunset commission, sunset review, TCEQ, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Tom "Smitty" Smith on December 9, 2009 |
The dramatic irony of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) decision this morning to grant the NRG Limestone Coal Plant an air permit (and therefore permission to begin construction on a third smokestack) is painful. At the very moment that leaders from around the world are meeting to come to an international agreement to save the world from catastrophic global warming, at the very moment that residents of developing nations are begging for the continued existence of their land and way of life, Texas gives the green light to build another mercury-spewing, asthma-inducing, planet choking coal plant.
Not exactly what I was hoping to wake up to this morning.
This decision also comes just days after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) came out with its engangerment finding, which says that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases represent a significant threat to public health and welfare. Earlier this year, the EPA also ruled that TCEQ has not been adhering to the Clean Air Act in its issuance of new air permits. This is the first coal plant permit that TCEQ has issued since that warning (which TCEQ doesn’t seem to have taken to heart). AND, according to Karen Hadden, executive director of SEED Coalition,
The TCEQ is not following federal law (Maximum Achievable Control Technology or MACT) in issuing this permit and a result, mercury emissions will be higher.
So many hearts to break, so little time. But of course there’s always a silver lining. Next legislative session, the TCEQ (and a whole host of other commissions) will undergo the Sunset Review process — and as Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen’s Texas Office mentions, that gives Texas a chance to reform the TCEQ permitting process:
This is just another example of why the Sunset Commission should take a good hard look at how TCEQ rubber stamps permits for coal plants in Texas.
In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed for progress in Copenhagen, and stay tuned at Texas Vox for more information on how you can help fight global warming and a 2nd Texas coal rush.
Full breakdown of the good (NRG has agreed to offset 50% of their emissions, though there’s nothing in their permit to hold them to that), the bad, and the ugly after the jump:
Posted in Coal, Toxics, tagged abilene texas, city of abilene, Coal, criteria pollutnats, jeff haseltine, mercury, mulit county coalition, neil carman, Public Citizen, public citizen texas, ryan rittenhouse, Sierra Club, sweetwater, TCEQ, tenaska, tenaska coal plant, Texas, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, water availability, Water Quality, west texas on December 3, 2009 |
Citizens aware of extreme drought conditions point to potential serious conflict over water if coal plant were built
(Abilene) – The Multi-County Coalition, Sierra Club, Public Citizen, and individuals from the West Texas areas of Sweetwater and Abilene raised questions about how a proposed Tenaska coal plant would affect water availability and water quantity in the region.
Water Availability
The Tenaska coal plant project, still in the early permitting stages, would obligate between one million to ten million gallons of water per day for a cooling process.
“Particularly in West Texas, we are aware of how any period of drought puts great stress on our basic water resources,” said Professor Jeff Haseltine. “The city of Abilene is taking extraordinary steps to ensure a safe and reliable water supply far into the future, and it simply makes no sense to tie up massive amounts of water to cool a coal plant. We need to continue to find ways to use all of our water resources for the direct benefit of our own community, not for the profit of an out-of-state corporation.”
Next to municipalities, power plants – both coal and nuclear use the largest volumes of water in the state.
Water Quality
The groups at Thursday’s Abilene City Council hearing spoke about mercury that the proposed Tenaska coal plant would emit if built.
“The Tenaska plant would pump 124 pounds of mercury per year into the atmosphere and that mercury from Tenaska would fall onto the rivers, streams, and lakes in the region,” said Ryan Rittenhouse of Public Citizen. “West Texans do not want to stand by and allow that fate for their vital water resources and wildlife.”
According to chemist Neil Carman with Sierra Club, (more…)
Posted in Coal, tagged austin city council, austin has a dirty secret, austin texas, city hall, Coal, facebook, fayette coal plant, health impacts of coal, quit coal, ryan rittenhouse, Texas on October 23, 2009 |
Many thanks to everyone that made it to the Austin City Council meeting yesterday for an anti-coal demonstration! Twenty five to thirty concerned citizens stood up in City Council chambers, dressed in black to represent the yearly moralities from our Fayette Coal Plant, as Ryan Rittenhouse addressed the Council. Check out the video below for more, and join the facebook group Austin has a Dirty Secret to stay in the loop on future coal actions and demonstrations:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGyzeybQjSw]
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