The post Floridian’s Deliver over 92,000 Petitions to Florida Governor Scott Asking Him to #ActOnClimate appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

A new investigation shows a strong correlation between the fracking boom and a significant increase in fatal crashes in Texas.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is known for the environmental dangers it poses: obscene water use, groundwater contamination and the release of greenhouse gasses. A equally dark side to the practice has recently been revealing itself.

Working together, The Houston Chronicle and Houston Public Media conducted an investigation that found fatalities involving commercial vehicles on Texas roads have increased dramatically since the fracking boom of 2008. In 2009 there were a reported 352 highway fatalities involving commercial vehicles. That number jumped to 532 in 2014; a 51 percent increase.

For decades, Texas’ incidents of auto fatalities were in decline. Improved safety standards, such as seat belts, child seats and airbags made being on the road less deadly. However, Texas saw an 8 percent increase between 2009 and 2013, the same time the fracking boom started.

Texas is not the only state to see an increase of fatal crashes related to fracking. According to a data analysis released by the Associated Press, fatalities have quadrupled since 2004 in other heavily drilled areas.

On average 400 tanker trucks, which make between 2300 and 4000 trips per well, are used to carry water and supplies to and from every fracking site. Many of these trucks travel on rural roads that aren’t designed for such heavy traffic.

An article published by the Houston Chronicle noted that smaller highways, such as Texas 72, dubbed “Death row”, have seen many triple tragedies – accidents that result in three or more deaths. Since 2011, there have been 21 fatal accidents on “Death row”, four of which were triple tragedies.

One lawsuit against Company Well Services showed that seven natural gas workers were sent to their hotel after each having worked a 24-hour shift. These workers were not provided a designated driver or an on-site resting area.

Photo from Texas Department of Public Safety

According to police reports, the driver, Daniel Zambrano, dozed off and collided with the back of a stopped school bus at 70 mph. Luckily, because the children had been warned of the dangers of sitting in the back of the bus on Texas 72 none of them were harmed. Zambrano and two others in the van were not so lucky and died at the scene.

These accidents are not only due to the increased number of commercial vehicles on the road but also a result of negligence. Many times these companies employ unqualified drivers, operating vehicles unsuitable for the road. Lenient regulations have allowed these tycoons to engage in unsafe practices nearly unchecked.

Public records show, the Department of Public Safety has made an attempt to respond to these accidents. State troopers have increased truck inspections and have doubled the number of audits performed. Tom Vinger, DPS spokesman, refused to speak to the Houston Chronicle and Houston Public Media about the rise of commercial accidents in Texas.

Unless tighter regulations are put in place and a way to hold these companies accountable for their disregard is established, the amount of fatalities on Texas roads will continue to grow with the number of Hydraulic Fracturing operations.

The post Fracking Boom Linked to Fatal Crashes on Texas Roads appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

EPA Workshop for Communities with Environmental Justice Concerns on Rule to Reduce Carbon Pollution from Existing Power Plants
(online participation available)

 October 30, 2014
8:30 am – 5:00 pm ET
7:30 am – 4 pm CT

Crystal Gateway Marriott
1700 Jefferson Davis Highwayz
Arlington, VA 22202

 On June 2, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency issued the proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) Proposed rule. This rule proposes state-specific goals for reducing carbon dioxide from the power sector; states will then need to make plans to meet the goal. The proposed rule also promotes clean and renewable energy options. This is a federal rule that will have important implications for state air and energy policies. The EPA  welcomes stakeholders who have environmental justice concerns to participate and share perspectives about how the rule can be reflective and responsive to the needs of environmentally overburdened, underserved, and economically distressed communities across the country.  Most of us cannot travel to Virginia to attend the workshop, but the EPA will make online participation available and registration information is listed below.

If you are interested in learning how you can help your state achieve cleaner air, reduce the impacts of climate change, and promote renewable energy sources, it is important that you understand the Clean Power Plan. You have an opportunity to help shape this rule…come learn how!

We encourage you to take advantage of this 1-day workshop, which will:

• Provide an overview of the Clean Power Plan proposed rule.
• Prepare participants to engage effectively in the public participation process.
• Provide information about the elements of the CPP that are important to communities with environmental justice concerns.
• Provide information about how to participate in the public comment process, which is open until December 1, 2014

To register for this event in-person or online via Adobe Connect, click here

• If you plan to participate in this workshop online, you must register in order to receive the information to participate in the workshop
  • In your registration, you must indicate that you are participating online “via Adobe Connect”
  • You will receive the information to participate in the workshop by October 29th, 2014
  • Only a limited number of webinar slots are available (130 slots) if several of you from your community want to participate, we recommend you gather at a single location and register just for your group.

The post EPA Workshop- What you can do about power plant pollution appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

The Big Buy

October 28, 2014 at 8PM

When an elected Republican Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled earlier this month that Tom Delay’s flooding of corporate contributions into state elections for the purposes of manipulating Congressional redistricting was “wheeling and dealing (that) was a tad shady, but legal,” it brought to an end an almost decade-long criminal case, but it didn’t end the controversy surrounding the Former Majority Leader.

Prosecutors claimed the ruling undermines the fairness and integrity of Texas elections, while Delay said the verdict gives him fresh impetus to run for elected office again. An October 28th national online screening of the only documentary made about the Delay case will allow viewers to look at the original evidence and make up their own minds.

Filmmakers Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck are using the court decision to team-up with online screening room 2ndLine.tv to host an October 28^th live internet screening of the “The Big Buy,” their 2006 investigation of the scandal that forced Delay to resign from Congress.  Viewers will be able to vote via a Google Docs link on whether they think Delay knowingly broke Texas law when his Political Action Committee solicited corporate donations for Republicans running in state House races.

Saying the issues examined in the 2006 film are still very much in play in national politics in 2014, Birnbaum noted that over the years, the criminal intent of Delay had taken a back seat to the widespread adoption of his strategy to take control of Congress.

“Tom Delay’s use of corporate money to buy elections and build what Karl Rove termed “a permanent Republican majority” was the blueprint for many of our current political controversies. If you want to know how we got where we are, Delay provided the map.”

In September, the Republican National Governors Association accidentally released a list of previously secret corporate donors that gave so-called “dark money” to “bring their particular expertise to the political process while helping to support the Republican agenda.” In August, a state judge ruled that the Florida Legislature violated the state’s constitutional ban on favoring a political party because congressional boundaries of two central Florida districts were redrawn to benefit the Republican Party.

Delay’s 2003 strategy in Texas was a milk run for Republican strategists in Florida and across the country who took advantage of the 2010 census to permanently redistrict Congress, first by winning state legislatures and then redrawing their House districts to tilt the playing field in their favor. Their success was unprecedented. In 2012, Republicans maintained a 33-seat majority in the House, even though GOP candidates as a group got 1.4 million fewer votes than their Democratic opponents. It was only the second time since World War II that the party receiving the most votes failed to win a majority of House seats.

A film noir exploration of Delay’s original elaborate scheme to give Republicans a larger Congressional majority, “The Big Buy” traces the distribution and impact of corporate money on politics – money Travis County Texas District Attorney Ronnie Earle charged was illegal under state law.

It features extensive exclusive interviews with Earle as his office builds its case against Delay that resulted in convictions for money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering – the convictions that were tossed by the Appeals Court on October 1st. It also includes interviews with lawyers for Delay’s co-defendants, who plead guilty, and long-time observers of Texas politics, including Paul Burka, Lou Dubose, Jim Hightower, and the last appearance on camera of national columnist Molly Ivins before her death from cancer in 2007.

Known as “The Hammer” for his ruthless enforcement of party discipline and reputation for retribution as Republican Minority Whip and then Majority Leader, Delay plotted to take over the Texas Legislature using tidal waves of corporate contributions and then have that body redraw congressional district lines to gain a significant number of new Republican seats in the House of Representatives. It worked. Five new Republicans were elected from the Lone Star state and provided the margin of victory for more than one close vote on national legislation in the subsequent 2005 session.

Taking its name from the New Orleans brass band tradition of interaction of performers and audience, 2^ndLine.tv is a new internet-based platform for the live screening of concerts, films, and performances allowing a direct connection between artists and viewers. Participants in this screening can pay whatever they can based on a suggested a five-dollar ticket price with all proceeds going to Texans for Public Justice.

TPJ is the Austin-based ethics watchdog group that filed the original complaint against Delay and was also responsible for filing the original complaint against Texas governor Rick Perry that led to his recent indictment on charges of abuse of power after threatening the funding of Ronnie Earle’s successor, Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, who also appears in The Big Buy. It’s a small world in Texas politics.

Likewise, many DC figures featured in The Big Buy are still on the scene. Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner ascended to Majority Leader, and then to his current position, as a result of Tom Delay resigning. Former Representative Chris Chocola received tens of thousands of dollars from Delay’s political action committee and is now president of the Club for Growth, itself a huge spender of dark money in congressional elections.

Scheduled for 8 pm Central Standard Time on Tuesday, October 28^th, The Big Buy already has its video trailer up and running online. Audience members can “tune in” on the 28^th and interact with the filmmakers as the film is being shown, in a Q&A afterwards, as well as vote on Delay’s guilt or innocence in breaking the state prohibition against corporate campaign donations.

“We’re excited that 2^ndLine as provided a second life for a film that we think is still the best case study in how the current atmosphere of political polarization got institutionalized,” said Schermbeck, who now lives in Lubbock and is working with Birnbaum on a reality series that intertwines stories of grassroots activists who transcend traditional left-right demarcations. “We hope folks take advantage of this great opportunity to better understand how current front-page scandals can trace their origins back to Texas and Tom Delay.”

The post Online Screening of “The Big Buy” Documentary on Tom Delay appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

Earth is now on pace to tie for the hottest year ever recorded. The first nine months of 2014 have a global average temperature of 58.72 degrees, tying with 1998 for the warmest first nine months on record, according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.  Last month the globe averaged 60.3 degrees Fahrenheit making September the hottest in 135 years of record keeping and the fourth monthly record set this year,that includes May, June and August.

So we are on track for  2014 to break the record for hottest year.  Earth hasn’t set a monthly record for cold since December 1916, but all monthly heat records (and there have been a few) have been set after 1997.

The post September 2014 hottest September on record appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

NASA and University of Michigan scientists have discovered a massive cloud of methane that spans 2500 square miles (about the size of Delaware) located above the the Four Corners intersection of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.

The atmospheric methane concentration of methane in that area is equivalent to 1.3 million pounds of emissions a year, which is 80% higher than EPA estimates.  This is the largest concentration of methane in the United States.  It was so large in fact that scientists “weren’t sure if it was a true signal or an instrument error,” but they recently verified the levels of methane in the affected area.

Eric Kort of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor attributed the dramatic methane emissions to leaks in natural gas production and processing equipment in New Mexico’s San Juan Basin.  The San Juan Basin is the most active coalbed methane production area in the US.  The coalbed methane covers the pores and cracks in coal.  As this methane seeps out from underground coal mines, it causes fatal explosions almost yearly.

While the methane concentrations in that area are not an immediate health risk to the local inhabitants, it has significant implications for climate change.  As a greenhouse gas, methane is 86 times more potent in its atmospheric effect than carbon dioxide in the first two decades after release.  25% of human-induced global warming is caused by methane emissions in the environment.

As the U.S. considers transitioning from coal to natural gas as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it is critical that accurate assessments of leaking methane are accounted for in all calculations.  If leakage of natural gas isn’t greatly reduced, switching fuels may make little or no difference in combating climate change.  This methane hot spot should serve as a warning that other undiscovered leaks are probably out there and having a significant impact.

The post Methane Hot Spot Highlights Natural Gas Climate Threat appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

 Australia experienced record-breaking temperatures and many other countries are experiencing uncharacteristically intense heat waves. Whether or not these events are related to climate change has been questioned in the past, but has recently come to light as something that is very probable.

Recently, researchers and scientists come up with the phrase “extreme event attribution” which acts as a unit of measure for the extent to which these weather events are human-caused. For instance, according to extreme event attribution, the heat wave in Korea was 10 times more likely due to human caused climate change. Scientists want extreme event attribution to be in real-time by the end of 2015.

The American Meteorological Society recently released a bulletin based off of 22 case studies. It concluded saying that high temperatures made heat waves more intense and more likely and that the emission of greenhouse gases is causing these extreme weather events. Recent heatwaves in Australia, Korea, Japan, China, and Western Europe are all judged to be due to climate change. The National Climate Assessment also made a connection between climate change and the drought in Australia.

The impact of climate change seems clear, with China experiencing its biggest heat wave in 140 years August of 2013, during which at least 40 people died. Health effects of heat waves range from heat strokes to aggravated chronic diseases. The heat also increases ground-level ozone levels, causing lung injury and increasing the severity of respiratory diseases.

Australia experienced its hottest year on record in 2013, with the heat waves sparking several wildfires. Experts predict that the heat waves will continue and the effects will worsen. According to Think Progress, “The State of Australian Cities” predicts the number of heat-related fatalities in Australia’s cities will rise to 2000 by mid-centry, compared to the approximately 500 recorded in 2011. The report found the cities of Brisbane on Australia’s east coast and Perth on the west coast will see the most heat-related deaths, with predictions of nearly 800 in each city by 2050, compared with compared with fewer than 200 in 2011. Sydney could experience close to 350 heat-related deaths by 2050, compared to about 70 in 2011.”

Japan also hit its hottest day ever in 2013 at 106 degrees Fahrenheit, necessitating heat warnings in 38 of the country’s 47 prefectures. The country reported 52 deaths from heatstroke with nearly one third of them occurring in one week. South Korea also experienced its hottest day in a decade at 102.6 degrees Fahrenheit, driving up electric demand. The government ordered air conditioning to be turned off in public institutions and limited the subway service to avoid a nationwide blackout. Western Europe also experienced a hot and dry summer, with temperatures exceeding 104 degrees Fahrenheit. These heat waves sparked multiple wildfires, challenging the country’s resources.

To study these changes, scientists run climate models. These computer models divide the atmosphere into small grid cells and solve the equations of mathematical theory that show how the atmosphere should behave on each of those little grid cells by going through time with the expected concentrations of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide. Researchers can run the model with the atmosphere expected to exist 100 years ago, before we started putting so much CO2 in the air, and compare it to the atmosphere now to see how much humans have impacted the flow of climate.

Director of Meteorology at Weatherunderground.com Jeff Massers explained the science behind storms that have been caused by climate change,

With heavy precipitation events it’s more complicated because you’re heating up the oceans, causing more evaporation, and driving more moisture in the air which could cause more intense heavy rainfall events. You’re changing the nature with which storms form, and you’re changing the Jetstream that storms follow so it gets pretty complicated.

Luckily, computer models are getting more powerful and researchers are to subdivide the atmosphere into grids that are finer and finer. Though awareness of human impact came late, technology is becoming a better tool to understand what is happening to the atmosphere and how it affects climate and weather.

The post 5 Deadly and Disruptive Heat Waves of 2013 appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

Texas Tribune will present a daylong symposium, in partnership with the University of Texas at San Antonio, on the impact of the shale boom in Texas. Topics of discussion will include the transformation of the state economy, the energy sector, and physical and social infrastructure in cities and counties across Texas.

• Friday, October 31, 2014
• 8 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
  Various panel times. Schedule to be announced soon.

Confirmed panelists include

• State Sen. JUDITH ZAFFIRINI, D-Laredo;
• State Sen. CARLOS URESTI, D-San Antonio;
• State Rep. JIM KEFFER, R-Eastland;
• State Rep. MIKE VILLARREAL, D-San Antonio;
• State Rep. MYRA CROWNOVER, R-Denton;
• State Rep. PONCHO NEVÁREZ, D-Eagle Pass;
• State Rep. JOSÉ MENÉNDEZ, D-San Antonio;
• DAVID PORTER, Texas railroad commissioner;
• IVY TAYLOR, mayor of San Antonio;
• JERRY MORALES, mayor of Midland;
• BEN SHEPPERD, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association;
• LEODORO MARTINEZ, executive director of Middle Rio Grande Development;
• SHERYL LYNN ROBERTS, research economist for the Center for Community and Business Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio;
• OMAR GARCIA, president of the South Texas Energy & Economic Roundtable;
• THOMAS TUNSTALL, research director for the Institute for Economic Development at the University of Texas at San Antonio;
• DON TYMRAK, city manager of Karnes City;
• JOEL RODRIGUEZ, LaSalle County judge;
• DARYL FOWLER, DeWitt County judge; and
• Sister ELIZABETH RIEBSCHLAEGER, environmental advocate.

Full schedule announced soon.

RSVP:  click here.

ABOUT THIS EVENT
The day-long symposium will be held at the UTSA Downtown Campus in the Buena Vista Theatre (BV 1.326). Complimentary parking for attendees will be available in UTSA’s Lot D3. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided. The event is free and open to the public.

• UTSA Downtown Campus
  501 César E. Chávez Boulevard, San Antonio, TX 78207 (map)

This event is generously sponsored by UTSA, CPS Energy, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, The University of Texas at Austin, Permian Basin Petroleum Association, Texas A&M University and Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas.

The post Symposium on impact of fracking in South Texas appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

On Monday, we concluded our series of Austin City Council and mayoral candidate forums.  Over the course of two and a half weeks, we heard a variety of views on Austin Energy issues from an astounding 54 candidates.  On top of that, 49 candidates submitted responses to our questionnaire on Austin Energy issues.

Many of our Austin supporters joined us in person for the forums, but for those of you who weren’t able to make it out to your district forum or the mayoral forum, we have posted all of the videos on a special Austin Elections page of our blog. Or you can view them directly on the Public Citizen’s Texas Office YouTube channel.

If you care about climate change, shutting down polluting power plants, expanding the use of solar energy, energy efficiency, preserving our water, or keeping electric bills affordable for low-income customers, you’ll want to check out the Austin Council candidate forum videos for your district and the mayoral race.  Get the information you need to make an educated vote on November 4.

Public Citizen didn’t host these forums on our own.  We were joined in this effort by the SEED Coalition (Sustainable Energy and Economic Development), Sierra Club, Solar Austin, Texas ROSE (Ratepayers’ Organization to Save Energy), Clean Water Action, Austin Climate Action Network, Texas Drought Project, First Unitarian Universalist Green Sanctuary Ministry, and the Wildflower Unitarian Universalist Church.  Many thanks to everyone who helped with the forums, especially former Austin Mayor Will Wynn for moderating the mayoral forum, Progress Texas deputy director Phillip Martin for moderating the districts 6 and 10 forum, and Treehouse for donating their space for the districts 5 & 8 forum.

The post Videos of Austin Council Candidate Forums on Energy appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

Research published in a new report by the World Wildlife Foundation and the Zoological Society of London found that the population of wild animals on Earth is now half of what it was in 1970. Freshwater species have seen an even more dramatic decline of 75%.

The researchers concluded that the decline in wildlife populations is due to human activity: unsustainable hunting, pollution, habitat destruction, and climate change.

Though climate change in this report accounts for 7% of the loss of wildlife in the past 40 years, climate change’s impact on the Earth’s ecosystem is expected to dramatically increase.  Some experts estimate that a-fourth of the Earth’s species could be extinct by 2050 due to the effects of climate change.

Climate change will also have negative impacts on humans.  Global temperatures are projected to rise 4 degrees by 2100.  In the hotter months of the year we can expect exposure to temperatures above 38 degrees Celcius (100ºF) on a common basis, which can cause organ damage and death.  Crops and livestock will struggle with the rising temperatures and water shortages.  Humanity’s staple crops, corn, rice, wheat and soybeans have a temperature limit of 40 to 45 degrees Celcius (104ºF to 113ºF), “with temperature thresholds for key sowing stages near or below 35 ºC (95ºF).”

The current human consumption of natural resources is unsustainable.  Climate change exacerbated by human activities at this rate is detrimental to both wildlife and the human species.  At this rate, we can expect to see the collapse of ecosystems on which we depend for our survival.   The scientists behind these various reports hope that these statistics and projects will serve as a wake-up call to ramp up conservation efforts and mitigate the effects of climate change and our exploitation of the environment and its resources.

The post Our Biosphere in Peril: 50% Decline in Wildlife Populations appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

Former Austin Mayor Will Wynn will host a candidate forum for the current Austin mayoral candidates tonight.

The focus of the forum is Austin Energy issues.  Questions will cover topics including climate change, solar energy, affordability, and the retirement the city’s portion of the coal-fired Fayette Power Project.

When: Tonight (Monday, September 29), from 7:15 to 9:30 p.m (program from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m.)

Where: First Unitarian Universalist Church (4700 Grover Ave., 78756)

Like almost all of the City Council races this year, the mayoral race features long list of candidates.  6 have committed to participate in tonight’s forum.  They are:

• Mike Martinez (Current Council Member)
• Sheryl Cole (Current Mayor Pro Tem)
• Steve Adler
• Randall Stephens
• Todd Phelps
• David Orshalick

While there are many forums in Austin this election season, this is the only one to focus on the city’s largest asset, Austin Energy.  Find out what the candidates have in mind for Austin’s energy future.

The post Mayor to Mayor – Candidate Forum on Austin Energy Issues appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

75% of Texas streams could remain vulnerable to pollution due to House Bill 5078 passed by the House of Representatives on September 9th. HB 5078 would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from applying the protections of the Clean Water Act to more than half the nation’s rivers and streams. This includes 143,000 miles of Texan streams that flow into vital waterways such as the Edwards Aquifer, the Trinity River, Caddo Lake, Galveston Bay, and the Rio Grande.

Texas waters are already considered the 2nd most polluted in the nation, according to a report by the Environment Texas Research and Policy Center. Data from 2012 showed the Lower Brazos River watershed as ranking first for the highest amount of toxicity released with 33,475,464 toxicity-weighted pounds. Over 80,000 pounds of carcinogenic chemicals were discharged into Texan waterways. These chemicals persist in the environment and have the potential to cause birth defects, infertility, cancers, and developmental problems in children.

“Texas’ waterways should be clean – for swimming, drinking, and supporting wildlife,” said Luke Metzger, Director of Environment Texas Research and Policy Center.  “But too often, our waters have become a dumping ground for polluters.  The first step to curb this tide of toxic pollution is to restore Clean Water Act protections to all our waterways.”

The post Our Texas Waters: Polluted, Toxic, and Unprotected? appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

The Renewable Energy Roundup & Sustainable Living Expo is a full 3 day event on September 26th, 27th, & 28th at the Bell County Expo Center in Belton, TX.

Booths will feature products and information on:
• Renewable energy resources; solar, wind, biomass and other resources and services – The Public Citizen booth will offer information on solar energy.
• Smart Grid solutions available to homeowners now
• Green Building and remodeling
• Sustainable transportation solutions
• Tips for improving health and well-being
• Insights on organic gardening and cooking, tree care and soil care
• Climate Change innovation
• Texas water conservation and drought solutions

Over 50 speakers and demonstrations are scheduled throughout the 3 day event. A few are:
• Rainwater Collection: 10,000 Years in the Making
• Combining Wind and Solar Power Systems in the Home
• Backyard Aquaponic Farming: From Small to Large Systems
• Building a High Performance Home- the Balance Between Your Vision & Wallet”
• Electric Vehicles: Creating the Market in Texas
• Creatures that live on Fort Hood
• Easy Solar Cooking
• Cheese Making at Home
• Backyard Chickens
• Do We Need Bees?

For more details and a complete listing, go Demonstrations and Sustainability. Click here for a complete listing of the Speaker Schedule & Bios.

Roundup Dates and Times:
• Friday, September 26th, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. – Grand Opening & “Save The Planet? – Kids Are The Answer” Day
• Saturday, September 27th, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
• Sunday, September 28th, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

The event opens with information packed “Save The Planet? – Kids are the answer” day. This day is dedicated to nearly 1,000 Bell County area Middle and High School age students with an interest in environmental issues. There will be opportunities to learn about Living and Working In Space, Light Pollution – Saving the Milky Way, the Mysteries of Bee Decimation, Ecofriendly Gadgets, Electric Automobiles and Vermiculture to name just a few of the topics that will be covered. Admission is FREE for ages 18 and under on Friday only. Ages 12 & under are admitted FREE on Saturday & Sunday.

Location: Bell County Expo Center, 301 W Loop 121 (at IH-35), Belton, TX 76513
Cost: Friday, Saturday & Sunday $8. 3-day Pass $20. Military, Senior & Student discounts available.

The post Join us at the 14th Annual Renewable Energy Roundup & Sustainable Living Expo appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

Food and Water Watch, which works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainably produced is hosting a campaign kickoff event in Austin this Thursday (9/16).

The focus of this campaign is the overuse of antibiotics in factory farming.  80% of antibiotics are used on factory farms, mostly as part of routine feeding, not for treating any specific illness in the animals.  This is done to help the animals overcome the deplorable conditions they are raised in.

Antibiotic overuse poses a health risk to people by allowing bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics to develop.  The few bacteria that survive an antibiotic dose reproduce quickly and create a strain of bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics. This leaves some human infections with no cure. According to the CDC:

Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections. Many more people die from other conditions that were complicated by an antibiotic-resistant infection.

Because the FDA and Congress haven’t done enough to deal with this urgent problem, cities across the country are acting by passing resolutions telling Congress we need legislation now to save antibiotics and stop their misuse on factory farms. This event is the beginning of this effort in Austin.

The post Stop Antibiotic Overuse in Factory Farms – Austin Campaign Kickoff Meeting Thursday (9/16) appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

The Climate Reality Project is dedicated creating a healthy and sustainable future by making a global shift from fossil fuels to renewable energies. This year, they’ve decided to give a voice to the generation that will be most impacted by climate change by hosting a video contest and rewarding the winner a trip to the U.N. Climate Summit in New York on September 23 as a representative of the Climate Reality Project.

The U.N. Climate Summit is a day-long event that will feature some of the world’s leaders discussing environmental issues and solutions. Serving as a public platform for all UN Member states, finance, business, and civil society leaders from public and private sectors, the event will be educational and progressive as leaders from around the world work together to address the climate issues.

To participate, contestants must post a video to YouTube or Instagram asking “Why? Why not?” about a climate issue (Ex: Why are we still burning fossil fuels? Why not switch to clean renewable energy and protect our future?) and talk about the issue in under one minute. Six winners will be chosen and flown to New York to watch their video get played to the leaders of the world at the U.N. Climate Summit opening ceremony.

The project is global and winners will be selected based on their passion and the relevance of the issue. Contestants must be between the ages of 13 and 21 to participate.

The post 1 Minute of Fame to Stop Climate Change appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

The post What would a weather report for 2050 look like? appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

As Austin prepares to enter a new phase under 10-1 governance (10 Council members to represent geographic districts and 1 at-large mayor), many voters may find themselves overwhelmed with the large number of candidates to chose from.  A whopping 78 candidates filed to run for City Council this year.  District 3 alone has 12 candidates.

So how do you, as a voter, choose between so many options?  We aren’t going to tell you who to vote for, but we are helping you get some of the information that you might want when making that important choice.  Along with some of our local allies, we are hosting a series of candidate forums focused on Austin Energy issues that are free and open to the public.

• Districts 6 & 10: September 12, 6 – 9 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, 8001 Mesa Dr, Austin, TX 78731
• Districts 2 & 3: September 19, 6 – 9 p.m., Austin JATC Electrical Training Center, 4000 Caven Rd, Austin, TX 78744
• Districts 1 & 7: September 20, 12:30 – 3:30 p.m., Northwest Recreation Center, 2913 Northland Dr, Austin, TX 78757
• Districts 4 & 9: September 22, 6 – 9 p.m., First Unitarian Universalist Church, 4700 Grover Ave, Austin, TX 78756
• Districts 5 & 8: September 23, 6 – 9 p.m., Treehouse, 4477 S. Lamar Blvd, #600, Austin, TX 78745
• Mayoral: September 29, 7 – 10 p.m., First Unitarian Universalist Church, 4700 Grover Ave, Austin, TX 78756

If you don’t know which district you are in, you can look it up. Type in only your street address. For example, if you live at 1234 Barton Springs Rd, Apt 44, type in only “1234 Barton Springs Rd.”

While there are many important issues facing Austin, we believe that governance of Austin Energy will remain one of the single most important responsibilities for any City Council member.  Valued at $3.8 billion, Austin Energy is the City’s most valuable asset.  In addition to providing power for the city, its residents and businesses, Austin Energy revenue to supports city operations such as parks, infrastructure, EMS, firefighters and libraries.

Candidates will be asked to respond to a series of questions relating to Austin Energy, including questions on climate change, energy sources, affordability and governance of the utility.  The public is invited to attend to learn more about the candidates.

Let us know that you’ll be at one or more of the forums.

Participating organizations are: Public Citizen, SEED Coalition (Sustainable Energy and Economic Development), Sierra Club, Solar Austin, Texas ROSE (Ratepayers’ Organization to Save Energy), Clean Water Action, Austin Climate Action Network, Texas Drought Project, First Unitarian Universalist Green Sanctuary Ministry, Wildflower Unitarian Universalist Church

The post Austin City Council Candidate Forums on Austin Energy Issues appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

According to the annual report of the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nation’s weather agency, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2013.  CO2 rose to global concentrations of 396 parts per million last year, the biggest year-to-year change in three decades. That’s an increase of 2.9 ppm from the previous year — and is 42 percent higher than before the Industrial Age, when levels were about 280 parts per million.  The report also said the rate of ocean acidification, which comes from added carbon absorbed by oceans, “appears unprecedented at least over the last 300 million years.”

Our climate is changing, our weather is becoming more extreme due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and time is not on our side.  Click here to read the WMO’s Greenhouse Gas Bulletin.

The post Carbon Dioxide Levels Hit Record High in 2013 appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

Gathering line fire from a rupture near Alice, TX in 2010. Photo from Texas Rail Road Commission Archives

NBC News has been investigating the danger that gathering lines (the pipeline installed to get natural gas from fracking sites to storage facilities and major transportation pipelines) pose to rural residents who live near the fracking sites and whose land the gathering lines crisscross with little to no regulatory oversight.

Click here to read NBC’s article resulting from their investigation”Danger Beneath: ‘Fracking’ Gas, Oil Pipes Threaten Rural Residents“.

The post Fracking Gathering Pipelines of Increasing Concern to Rural Areas appeared first on TexasVox: The Voice of Public Citizen in Texas.

City sets ambitious solar goal, path to zero carbon pollution from Austin Energy by 2030

Some of the Affordable Energy Resolution community supporters celebrate with Councilman Chris Riley, who was the lead sponsor of the resolution. Photo by Al Braden.

A diverse coalition of groups representing workers, people of faith, low-income residents, clean energy supporters and environmental advocates united in their of goal of expanding affordable clean energy and protections to public health cheered the Austin City Council for adopting the Affordable Energy Resolution late Thursday evening.

The resolution comes after years of community-led work to study Austin Energy’s portfolio and generation plan, identify opportunities to strengthen the municipal utility’s clean energy and climate commitments while meeting the needs of low-income communities and after community members demonstrated strong demand for more affordable clean energy and less pollution on a reasonable but aggressive timeline.

The Affordable Energy Plan calls for Austin Energy to generate more than 60 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2025 and eliminate carbon pollution from its generator fleet by 2030. It directs the utility phase out the Decker gas-fired power plant by investing in 600 megawatts of solar power, enough to power more than 100,000 homes.

“Solar is now cheaper than building a new natural gas plant. Our analysis shows that 600 megawatts of solar will save Austin Energy between $12 and $33 million per year,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith of Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group. “We’re grateful for the strong leadership shown by Council Members Chris Riley, Mike Martinez, Kathie Tovo, Laura Morrison and Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole.”

The landmark resolution also takes significant steps to expand local solar power.  It doubles Austin’s local solar goal to 200 megawatts, with half of that goal reserved for distributed residential and commercial solar projects. And the resolution expands access to rooftop solar projects by including solar leasing as an option for residents and businesses and by refining Austin Energy’s innovative value of solar tariff.

“Local solar creates local jobs.  The Austin solar industry already employs more than 800 people and many of those jobs are in solar installation and can’t be outsourced,” said Kaiba White of Solar Austin.  “Money spent on local solar goes back into our local economy.  Allowing people from all walks of life to benefit from solar is a win-win for Austin.”

A separate resolution was also passed to establish a task force to make recommendations on expanding the utility’s energy savings goal and ensuring that energy efficiency services are provided to people of all income levels. Energy efficiency is the most easily deployed, lowest-cost option for meeting energy needs and will be a critical component of meeting climate goals for the utility.

The City of Austin has long been a leader in Texas and nationally. The City announced its plans to power all city buildings and operations with Texas wind power in 2012, and earlier in 2014 Austin Energy announced a new solar power project at the lowest cost in U.S. history. In June 2014, the Austin City Council became first elected body in the nation to endorse the goals of the Clean Power Plan, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed plan to curb carbon pollution that drives climate disruption.

“The impacts of a rapidly changing climate are clear in Central Texas and as a progressive community we have a moral obligation to lead in reducing our carbon footprint while providing clean, affordable electricity to our people, businesses and churches,” said Reverend John Elford with the University United Methodist Church of Austin. “This resolution sets us on a path to meet both those needs.”

The Decker natural gas-fired power plant is a major contributor to smog pollution in Travis County. Replacing the plant with clean solar power will cut smog and improve air quality for the more than one million residents in the county, protecting children, seniors and people suffering from asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

“In its opposition to this resolution, Austin Energy continued the tradition of marginalizing the communities near Decker by citing money as a primary concern at the expense public health. By passing this resolution, City Council members have finally recognized that every Austinite should have the right to clean air. That this is an issue of justice and that it is an issue of equality,” said Mayte Salazar-Ordonez, a volunteer leader with Austin Beyond Coal.

As Austin Energy develops its plan to meet the goals of the Affordable Energy Resolution, building new gas- or coal-fired power plants will not be an option, representing an opportunity to move beyond traditional power plants and further tap Texas’s renewable energy potential.

The coalition will now look to secure timely retirement of the Fayette coal-fired power plant to meet the city’s carbon pollution elimination goal as well as to cut the soot, smog and mercury pollution coming from the plant that impacts local communities, farms and waterways. Nationwide, 178 coal-fired power plants have been announced for retirement as clean energy solutions like wind, solar and energy efficiency have cut air pollution, lowered costs for consumers and created jobs.

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