Posted in Global Warming, tagged Fighting Goliath Screening, Nacogdoches, Public Citizen, ryan rittenhouse, Texas on May 7, 2009 |
Our readers in Nacogdoches are invited to join Coal Block activist and Public Citizen’s own Ryan Rittenhouse at a screening of Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars today.
When: Thursday, May 07 2009, 6:30pm – 8:00pm
Where: Cole Art Gallery in Nacogdoches,TX. Located at Main and Church St.
Contact: Denise McDonald dentim@suddenlink.net
Posted in Coal, Global Warming, Toxics, Uncategorized, tagged americana, Austin, Austin Energy, Brewster McCracken, camp ben mcculloch, city forum, climate change, coal block, coal wars, earth day weekend, environmental justice, fighting goliath, focus the nation, green apple festival, hundred acre3s, Lloyd Doggett, old settler's music festival, PODER, Public Citizen, robert redford, Roger Duncan, ryan rittenhouse, salt lick pavilion, St. Edward's University, susana almanza, Texas, texas union, town hall, urban planning, will wynn on April 15, 2009 |
There is too much fun going on in the next few days… I can’t handle it. I wish I could be multiple places at once… and influence climate change legislation by sheer will power.. and attach documents to e-mails telepathically. Ah well, if wishes were horses, I’d have gotten that pony when I was six.
Here’s a quick breakdown of all the good stuff going on over the next couple days:
Old Settler’s Music Festival, Thursday March 16 – Sunday March 20
Old Settler’s Music Festival is a nationally known music festival featuring the best in roots and Americana music. The festival is held in the gorgeous Texas hill country, at the height of the Bluebonnet and wildflower season. Old Settler’s Music Festival offers great music and activities for the whole family.
The Festival is held at Salt Lick Pavilion and Camp Ben McCulloch, just minutes from Austin, located 11 miles south of Highway 290 West on Farm Road 1826.
Public Citizen is an official sponsor of the event, so keep your eyes out for our table, banners, and slide-shows in between sets. We hope to live blog the festivities, so be on the lookout for artist interviews and sneak peaks of shows. And don’t forget your sunscreen, that hill country sun can be brutal!
Fighting Goliath screening, Thursday April 16
When: Thursday, April 16 at 7:00pm
Where: St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, 14311 Wellsport Drive (one block west of the Wells Branch exit off of I-40).
Narrated by Robert Redford and produced by The Redford Center at the Sundance Preserve and Alpheus Media, FIGHTING GOLIATH: TEXAS COAL WARS follows the story of Texans fighting a high-stakes battle for clean air. The film introduces the unlikely partners-mayors, ranchers, CEOs, community groups, legislators, lawyers, and citizens-that have come together to oppose the construction of 19 conventional coal-fired power plants that were slated to be built in Eastern and Central Texas and that were being fast-tracked by the Governor. (34 minutes)
Public Citizen’s Ryan Rittenhosue will do a short presentation on Texas’ current coal threat and have a Q&A session afterward.
Environmental Justice & the Multicultural City: The Transformative Role of Urban Planning City Forum, Friday, April 17
People of color and low-income communities have disproportionately suffered from the environmental burdens generated by consumption and production choices made by others. Responding to these injustices, neighborhood activists have been fighting for over 30 years for the right to live, work, and play in healthy environments. In this City Forum, the panelists will share their insights from research and activist work, and discuss the potential role of planning educators, students and practitioners in addressing environmental justice concerns. (more…)
Posted in Coal, tagged bay city, bay city convention center, coal block, colorado river, hunton igcc, no coal coalition, NRG, Public Citizen, robert malina, ryan rittenhouse, soah, state office of administrative hearings, Texas, Tom "Smitty" Smith, white stallion, white stallion energy center, white stallion power plant on April 14, 2009 |
Residents Who May Be Affected by Plant’s Pollutants Should Tell the Judge
AUSTIN – Next Monday marks the last chance to register as legal opponents to the White Stallion power plant proposed near Bay City, and Public Citizen is urging people to attend. Opponents have organized a group called the No Coal Coalition around concerns for air quality, water use, the health effects of increased pollution and the plant’s potential contribution to global warming.
The White Stallion Energy Center is slated for construction just 10 miles south of Bay City. The State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) will conduct a preliminary hearing on the White Stallion Energy Center at 10 a.m. Monday, April 20, at the Bay City Convention Center.
Anyone with concerns or who anticipates being affected by air contaminant emissions from the facility may attend Monday’s hearing and request to be a party to the case. A SOAH judge will decide who will be eligible to participate in the case; the actual contested case hearing, which will be in about six months, will be a legal proceeding similar to a civil trial in state district court.
“We are extremely concerned about the White Stallion plant,” said Robert M. Malina, Ph.D, a Bay City resident representing the No Coal Coalition and a professor emeritus with the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education at the University of Texas at Austin.” If built, White Stallion would emit thousands of tons of pollution, which could have serious health consequences for a large number of people and the environment. Emissions from coal plants can complicate asthma, cardiac pulmonary disease, and many other circulatory and respiratory conditions. Mercury and lead, both emitted in large quantities from coal and petroleum coke plants, accumulate in our bodies and the environment and are associated with serious developmental problems in children. Simply stated, the White Stallion plant should not be built.” (more…)
Posted in Coal, Uncategorized, tagged fighting goliath: texas coal wars, flow: for love of water, Houston area, Houston Area Environmental Film Screening, houston community college, Public Citizen, robert redford, ryan rittenhosue, ryan rittenhouse, sam houston parkway, Texas, the reel series, town and country center on April 6, 2009 |
Live in the Houston area? This Wednesday, April 8, at 11:00 am, Houston Community College will be showing both FIGHTING GOLIATH: TEXAS COAL WARS and FLOW: FOR LOVE OF WATER as a part “The Reel” Series, a culture film/speaker series of learning enrichments. Public Citizen’s own Ryan Rittenhouse will be on hand after the screening for a Q&A session and to give an update on the Texas coal fight.
The screening will be held at the Town & Country Center in the “Eagle” room at 1010 W. Sam Houston Parkway N. 77043. The event will be free and open to all HCC students, faculty, staff, and friends.
APRIL 8 Films & Speaker: “The Public Commons: Access to Water/Clean Air”
Posted in Coal, Global Warming, tagged american lung association, bay city, Coal, coal block, coal plant, gulf coast, matagorda county, Public Citizen, public meeting, ryan rittenhouse, Texas, white stallion on April 2, 2009 |
Original post found on the Coal Block blog.
This past Monday there was a public meeting to give the local community a chance to voice their opinion about the proposed White Stallion Power Plant near Bay City, Texas. The plant would be approximately a mile south of Bay City off of FM 2668, and construction is scheduled to begin next year.
At the meeting the people of the community took advantage of the opportunity to stand up in opposition to the plant.
“The vast majority of questions and comments were stressing concern about emissions from the plant and the effect it will have on the health of the people, the environment and the wildlife of Matagorda County,” said Public Citizen”s own Ryan Rittenhouse. “Many of the closest folks living near the proposed site were there and all were very concerned at the prospect of the plant.”
The health hazards resulting from burning coal are staggering.
“Old, coal-fired power plants are among the biggest industrial contributors to unhealthful air, especially particle pollution in the eastern United States,” said the American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2007 report. “The toll of death, disease and environmental destruction caused by coal-fired power plant pollution continues to mount.”
As of now, nothing will be addressed in regards to the CO2 emissions of the White Stallion plant, which was a top priority of all the opposition at the meeting. The plant would emit approximately 10 million tons of CO2, about 100 pounds of mercury, and about 5,000 tons of sulfur dioxide every year. This undoubtedly would move Matagorda County and Bay City closer to federal air quality non-attainment status, and contribute to the already high levels of mercury in the Gulf Coast region.
Unfortunately though, those concerns were not able to be addressed as thoroughly as we are accustomed to in these public meetings. The questioning was cut short before everyone in the meeting had a chance to have their questions answered. A number of people who gave comments during the official comment period remarked on this and expressed displeasure at not being allowed to ask all their questions.
A request was made by Public Citizen to have another public meeting so that everyone’s questions could be answered. There is no indication as to whether or not this request will be granted.
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