The State Department's public meeting in Austin tonight will give Texans a chance to weigh in on the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. This massive infrastructure project-stretching from Hardisty, Canada to Houston and Port Arthur-has the potential to really boost our economy and give us a big leg up in securing our future energy supply from a close, friendly ally. And while tonight's meeting at UT will likely showcase a wide range of views, I hope that in the end actual facts rather than inflated fears prevail.
What facts? Well, Keystone XL's economic benefits for Texas cannot be overstated, especially in this bad economy. According to the Perryman Group in Waco, construction and development of Keystone XL throughout the lifetime of the project will inject more than $2.3 billion in increased business activity into the state. Additionally, a $1.6 billion jump in personal income will result. And the pipeline will pump $7.7 million and $41 million into local and state government treasuries respectively.
Since the recession hit, Texas' unemployment rate has almost doubled-skyrocketing from 4.4 to 8.5 percent. Luckily, with Keystone XL expected to immediately create 20,000 jobs and another 118,000 indirect jobs nationwide, unemployed Texans along the 371 miles that the pipeline would stretch through the state will be dealt a good card.
Public meetings like these are a great part of our democracy. And pipelines like Keystone XL are a fantastic way to jump start our economy and get people back to work. Therefore, hopefully there won't be too many Robert Redford-types in the Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium tonight to smear this very important project. Texas deserves better, and America at-large sorely needs better.
This was originally written by Robin Rather & Mike Sloan SEP 24, 2010. and posted at http://powersmack.org/2010/09/... Reposted with permission.
Larry Weis, the new General Manager for Austin Energy, starts work on Monday.
What will he awake to find?
A) A utility that at the beginning of 2008 was widely recognized as the greenest, most innovative, and among the most affordable utilities in Texas.
B) A utility that owns many power plants, 99% of which are nukes, coal and natural gas.
C) A utility that is steering steadily toward the rocks with an obsolete business model based on growing use of its nukes, coal and natural gas.
D) All of the above.
Many in our community believe the answer is D) All of the above.
Austin residents, who own their own electric utility, should rightfully be concerned about who is behind the helm. For the last six months, city administrators rather than energy professionals have been steering. Now Weis arrives to take charge, but without knowledge of the local waters that are the Texas electric system and Austin's complex political dynamics. Will Weis and City Manager Marc Ott - who the GM will report to - navigate Austin Energy to its rightful place as a leader, or instead hold a course of peril? That is an open question and a serious one. It takes a long time to build an innovative market leader, but almost no time to wreck it.
Among the issues that voters are concerned about during the midterm elections, energy may not be a deciding factor in how they cast their votes. However, energy is often considered to be a component of the economy, and the economy will easily be the most important issue during the midterm elections. According to a recent Gallup poll, 30% of those survey said that the "economy in general" is the most important problem facing the country, and 28% said that "unemployment/jobs" are the most important problem. Where do each of the candidates for Congressional District 17 stand on the issue of energy?
According to his campaign web site, Flores believes that America should focus on fossil fuels and develop "more of our own oil, natural gas, oil shale, clean coal, and geothermal resources." Also, Flores argues that nuclear power should be developed and we should eliminate "barriers to create new nuclear power plants" because "it is proven to be safe, clean for our environment, and a cost effective energy source." However, Flores does endorse alternative energy and states that "expand incentives to allow more wind, next generation solar, and other energy technologies to emerge." While Flores states that he supports alternative energy he also is against Cap and Trade and argues that it would "stifle domestic energy development, kill our economy, and cause the export of American jobs."
Edwards makes the case on his campaign web site that there "is no one silver bullet to ensure more energy independence" and that it "includes more domestic production, research on renewable energy and clean coal technology, robust expansion of America's nuclear power and sensible conservation." Also, Edwards supports "tax incentives such as oil depletion and intangible drilling costs" as well as supporting "domestic gas producers to use hydraulic fracturing," and Edwards also supports "increasing nuclear loan guarantee programs."
Congress is heading back home for the August recess this week. Apparently our Senators need to rest after they failed to take up both a clean energy and climate bill and an oil spill bill.
Legislative inaction must be more tiring than I realized.
Still, I don't view this month as a cooling off period. If anything, it's time to turn up the heat.
Over the next few weeks, Senators will be holding "town hall meetings" in their states. Last year, these meetings came to define the health care debate. This year, they could help us reshape America's energy policy.
If you are like me and you are still stunned that the Senate refused to pass a bill that would have created nearly 2 million new American jobs, put our nation at the forefront of the clean energy market and helped end our addiction to oil, then go to a town hall meeting and tell your lawmakers what you think.
Tell them that it is in America's best interest to embrace clean energy now.
And while you are at it, please tell them to block attempts by some Senators to weaken the Clean Air Act-the 40-year-old law that has saved hundreds of thousands of lives-in an effort to further delay reductions in global warming pollution.
Some naysayers claim that voting on visionary legislation is a risky proposition when we are this close to an election. They are wrong, and history proves it.
As I wrote in a recent blog post, 13 of the most powerful environmental laws were passed during the fall of an election year or in the lame duck sessions following elections.
We can pass comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation this fall, but only if we demand it of our lawmakers.
Use this August to make your voices heard. You can find your Senators' schedules by checking their Senate websites, as well as their candidate websites - Republican or Democratic.
Yesterday, the NRDC Action Fund launched a campaign featuring a powerful new ad by renowned environmental activist and celebrated actor, Edward James Olmos. In the video, which you can view here, Olmos explains what makes people - himself included - "locos" when it comes to U.S. energy and environmental policy. Now, as the Senate moves towards a possible debate on energy and climate legislation, we need to let everyone hear Olmos' message.
Hi, I'm Edward James Olmos. They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. I guess that's what makes Americans "locos." We keep yelling "drill baby drill" and expecting things to turn out ok. But the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is nothing new. The oil industry has been poisoning our oceans and wilderness for decades. It's time to regain our sanity. America doesn't want more oil disasters. We need safe, clean and renewable energy now. Think about it.
Sadly, Olmos' definition of "insanity" is exactly what we've been doing for decades in this country -- maintaining policies that keep us "addicted" to fossil fuels instead of moving towards a clean, prosperous, and sustainable economy.
As we all know, dirty, outdated energy sources have caused serious harm to our economy, to our national security, and of course - as the horrible Gulf oil disaster illustrates - to our environment. In 2008 alone, the U.S. spent nearly $400 billion, about half the entire U.S. trade deficit, importing foreign oil. Even worse, much of that $400 billion went to countries (and non-state actors) that don't have our best interests at heart.
As if all that's not bad enough, our addiction to oil and other fossil fuels also has resulted in tremendous environmental devastation, ranging from melting polar ice caps to record heat waves to oil-covered pelicans and dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico.
As Edward James Olmos says, it's enough to drive us all "locos."
Fortunately, there's a better way.
If you believe, as we passionately do, that it's time to kick our addiction to the dirty fuels of the past, then please help us get that message out there. Help us air Edward James Olmos' ad on TV in states with U.S. Senators who we believe can be persuaded to vote for comprehensive, clean energy and climate legislation. If we can convince our politicians to do their jobs and to pass comprehensive, clean energy and climate legislation this year, we will be on a path to a brighter, healthier future.
While at Netroots Nation a few weeks back, I had the opportunity to listen in on a panel discussing climate change, Texas' energy future, and energy security featuring Houston Mayor Bill White (you might have also heard he is running for US Senate).
Mayor White gave very measured, political answers. Throughout the panel, never did the words "Cap and Trade" leave his lips, but he did remain skeptical of anyone who claimed to have it all figured out and that their answer would be easy and painless. He also showed legitimate concerns about the impacts of renewable energy mandates done wrong on low-income consumers. As a representative from a consumer advocacy organization, it is refreshing to hear White's commitment to protecting our most vulnerable even as we chart a new energy future.
Mayor White's stated goals are to become more energy independent for basic security reasons and to be in control of our energy future. To do so, he maintains that we must reduce our pollution based on sound science, and do so in a way which does not burden low-income households. He proposes three main mechanisms to meet these goals:
Cut the amount of fuel we use in vehicle travel without impinging on people's ability to travel freely-- specifically by increasing our efficiency per mile traveled.
Cut the amount of energy consumed in buildings. Why drive up the cost of business by paying for electricity?
Decrease the amount of power we get from coal and substitute that power with cleaner sources
Despite some skepticism, Mayor White certainly showed that our energy future could have our cake and eat it too, namely through increased efficiency in building codes, fuel efficiency standards for vehicles, and use of cost-effective renewables. See the edited video here:
Public Citizen does not and would never endorse candidates. Even if we could, it's hard to get an exact read on Mayor White and how he would act as the next Senator from Texas on the issue of federal climate policy -- so even so we could offer little endorsement other than a candid analysis of his words and his record.
When asked off-camera about how he would vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), the climate bill which passed in the House in June and due up for debate in the Senate over the next 2-3 months, he remained committed to energy efficiency but overall rather vague. White showed skepticism as to large long term goals rather than smaller but gradually increasing cuts in emissions. His version of the bill, he said, would have strong building code mandates, a renewable energy efficiency standard (which is it, Bill?) with a price cap on renewables to protect consumers, and change dispatch priorities to wean the nation off of coal fired power. He did not, however, indicate whether or not he would support implementing a federal cap on carbon dioxide emissions or the cap and trade mechanism.
This is a question likely to come up in the next few months when ACES comes to a Senate vote, and hopefully Mayor White will have a clearer answer prepared when that time comes. But if the final answer is no on ACES, would he have some specific policy solutions about how to improve the bill, or would he just cast the same "no way, never" vote that we'll likely get from John Cornyn or Kay Bailey Hutchison?
That being said, it is refreshing to hear a candidate speak so fluently about energy policy. Mayor White's record on energy as Deputy Secretary of Energy stands on its own, as does his impressive work on making Houston a national leader on energy efficiency. We may still be uncertain as to where he stands on ACES, but we certainly know his feelings on energy efficiency both in word and deed - which is nothing to sneeze at.
This past Wednesday marked Earth Day, a day meant to promote awareness and appreciation of our natural environment.
There's a great opportunity to do something for the environment this Saturday, April 25th, when volunteers all across the state join forces for Texas' annual Adopt-A-Beach cleanup. This is important not only for the environment, but for our state's economy. Clean, beautiful beaches are key to our tourism industry and our fishermen.
To locate and register for a Texas Adopt-A-Beach Cleanup in your area, visit:
www.TexasAdoptABeach.org
Taking care of Texas also means doing our part to reduce fossil fuel consumption and minimize emissions that can harm our air quality. One way to do this is to promote the use of renewable energy technology. Earlier this week, the House Committee on Energy Resources held a hearing on my bill that exempts small-scale renewable energy devices for homes and businesses from state sales tax, making them more affordable for consumers.
Johnny O'Neal, one of my constituents in Flour Bluff, made the news last year when he installed a small-scale wind generator in his back yard. At the hearing, the Texas Renewable Industries Association and Public Citizen spoke out in favor of HB 1823, recognizing the need to make renewable energy devices more affordable for consumers like Johnny.
Also moving through the state legislature is SB 545, a measure that implements a $500 million rebate program to encourage solar power projects. Bills like this have the potential to help make Texas, and the Coastal Bend in particular, a center for renewable energy jobs and development. The recent completion of the Peñascal wind project is further evidence that Texas and Coastal Bend can be a leader in the new green economy.
To learn about ways to save energy and find out other things you can do to help take care of Texas, visit www.TakeCareOfTexas.org.
A message to my fellow Common Security Club members:
I confess, besides catching up with work and such, I've been lost in space (cyberspace, that is), since our first meeting last weekend. It was just too much fun to be learning all the ins and outs of the twitterverse and following the "journos" (new word for me) at the teabagasm events around the nation. Oh, the tales I could tell, having heard all the quips and "personal" comments from behind the scenes! Lots of fun--almost like "being there".
Which brings me to the point I wanted to communicate today. About how we are all connected. It's a very simple thought, one that makes common sense when you think at a meta level about all life on earth being part of one large ecological system. But it has come more into focus these days in terms of the kind of social networking we do on the internet (Facebook, Linked-In, blogging websites, Twitter, texting, etc).
It seems to be important, though, to combine that e-socializing with the face-to-face in order to build the kind of personal connection needed for a relationship, whether that be a personal, a group, or a community kind of relationship. For example, while the recent political campaign of Barack Obama was successful in its use of the most advanced communication technology, use was also made of town halls and community organizing. In these venues, personal, face to face connections could be made--people could interact with each other and form a sense of kinship that encouraged them to trust each other and work together for their common good. The personal connection is a powerful component in what people can accomplish together because it goes back to the most primal instincts of human beings--that of forming close social groups. By living and working together in social groups, people were able to survive difficult primitive conditions.
The phrase, "Six Degrees of Separation" was coined by John Guare in a play he wrote in 1990. The play explored the existential premise that everyone in the world is connected to everyone else in the world by a chain of no more than six acquaintances, thus, "six degrees of separation."
In the play, one of the characters states:
"I read somewhere that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation between us and everyone else on this planet. The President of the United States, a gondolier in Venice, just fill in the names. I find it A) extremely comforting that we're so close, and B) like Chinese water torture that we're so close because you have to find the right six people to make the right connection... I am bound to everyone on this planet by a trail of six people."[16] (From Wikipedia).
I must say, I had a most striking experience of this phenomenon, this kind of six degrees of separation just today at lunch. I met a beautiful young African American woman at Kuff's (Charles Kuffner) Democratic lunch bunch. She is the "communications coordinator" for Anise Parker's Houston mayoral candidacy. In talking with her about how her boss, Anise, would be a good mayor, I told her about our meeting to explore how a local community group might provide mutual aid and support to each other in times of economic uncertainty. I told her how we'd talked both about forming a local currency for exchange of goods and talents that may not currently be valued in the mainstream economy.
I told her about how we talked about the possibility that foreclosed houses or apartment buildings inside the loop in Houston could be purchased and remodeled to LEEDS standards with some of the federal stimulus money, and how this could help many people who were struggling to find affordable housing. Moreover I told her how this conversation came about in brainstorming about how there are a rising number of aging single women (and others, of course) who would prefer living in the city where they could form relationships with others who shared their values (and she added, in affirmation, "whether they were brown, black, or white, right?"--to which I added, of course! --She had just told me how she struggled to find affordable housing as a single female when she moved to Houston from Chicago several years ago.) And I added that, in fact, there are several women in our group that fit that characterization I described.
I also told her how we talked about our visions for renewing the city's transportation infrastructure, using federal stimulus money for building a light rail system that would cut down on the fossil fuels being used for suburban-city commuting purposes. Of course, I told her one of Mayor White's reasons for suggesting the idea of making inner city homes desirable, affordable, and energy smart was to cut down on the number of people having to commute into the city, not only because we are using a declining supply of foreign oil, but also because we are polluting our city skies.
After she gave me the answers she thought her boss would support and initiate if elected, we continued to talk more and I found she was enthusiastic about the idea of urban intentional community. She told me the area of town in which she lived might be an excellent starting place for exploring such community building. She expanded upon the thought of a group buying an apartment building to buying up a whole block where everyone knew each other and "had each other's backs".
Before we said our goodbyes, she smiled really big and said she had just been smiling inside the whole time since she'd first heard my name in introductions, (Thurman), because that had been the name of some of her father's people in Illinois. Chicago, I asked, since she'd said she moved here from there? No, she said, her father's people came from southern Illinois. Oh, really, I said, because my grandfather Thurman and grandmother were from that area, and had, in fact, met, swimming where the Missouri and Mississippi rivers converge at Cairo, Illinois. She, looking surprised and kind of amazed, said her father's people only lived about 40 miles from there. We both looked at each other with that kind of "knowing" look, and it was hard to break contact with each other's eyes, because we were likely telepathing (or tel-empathizing) that we were "connected" (who knows, but that we are blood relatives?).
Six degrees of separation?
Back to the line in the play where the character says, "I find it A) extremely comforting that we're so close, and B) like Chinese water torture that we're so close because you have to find the right six people to make the right connection... I am bound to everyone on this planet by a trail of six people."
State requirements for the handling of coal ash vary widely. Some states, like Alabama, do not regulate it at all, except by means of federally required water discharge permits. In Texas, the vast majority of coal ash is not considered a solid waste, according to a review of state regulations by environmental groups. There are no groundwater monitoring or engineering requirements for utilities that dump the ash on site, as most utilities do, the analysis says.
Texas ranks Number One for burning more coal and lignite than any other state in the nation. Next to Kentucky, Texas is Number Two in hazardous coal-combustion waste generated at 12,943,000 tons per year.
The only legislation that deals with coal in any way is HB 469 which was pre-filed by Representative Phil King (R-61). King has an appalling record on environmental issues with an average voting record rating of 20% from different Texas environmental organizations. In 2007 King received ratings from Environment Texas, Lone Star Sierra Club, and the Texas League of Conservation Voters of 17%, 18%, and 32%. This legislation would introduce tax incentives for "clean coal" in Texas:
Incentives by this state for the implementation of certain projects to capture and sequester in geological formations carbon dioxide that would otherwise be emitted into the atmosphere.
The coal industry is spending millions advertising "clean" coal, but not a single "clean" coal power plant exists in the U.S. today. For more information on the myth of clean coal visit ThisIsReality.org.
