Texas Currents|Online, Summer 2009

As the 81st session of the Texas Legislature approaches its end, Clean Water Action and our allies are cautiously optimistic that significant progress can be achieved on a host of fronts-above all related to clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency-where we have failed to make progress in the recent past. More bills promoting renewables and efficiency have been filed than ever before, and some of the better ones have already survived key committee votes. We still have anxious days ahead to see if Texas can begin to realize its tremendous potential for renewable energy production. Here is a status report on key Clean Water Action priorities at this point of the session:

Boost Energy Efficiency Requirements

Texas leads the nation in emissions of toxic mercury from coal-burning power plants and overall emissions of carbon dioxide-the leading contributor to climate change. Numerous studies have proven that efficiency is the most cost-effective method to reduce these and other polluting emissions, and the cheapest way to meet future energy demand as well. Efficiency also creates ‘green jobs,' as tasks such as insulating attics and weatherizing homes cannot be outsourced. Clean Water Action is calling on lawmakers to require all utilities to reduce peak electric consumption by 1% each year through 2015 by measures such as rebate programs for ratepayers who insulate their homes and install energy efficient air conditioning. Bills that would meet or exceed this goal include HB 280 (Anchia); SB 546 (Fraser); and SB 601 (Van De Putte).

Build a Solar Economy in Texas

Thanks to goals established by the legislature in 1997, Texas now leads the nation in total energy produced from wind power. But our sun-drenched state has done little to take advantage of its enormous solar potential. While West Texas wind turbines produce energy predominately at night when the wind is strongest, solar produces energy in the day, above all on hot summer afternoons when we need it the most. Clean Water Action is calling on our lawmakers to require utilities to produce at least 4,000 megawatts of electricity from solar by 2020, and at least 2,000 of these megawatts by means of roof-top installations. This will reduce our dependence of fossil fuels and help create a green economy in Texas. It has been estimated that 2,000 MW of roof-top solar -achievable by placing panels on roughly 500,000 rooftops--would create more than 21,000 jobs in Texas. Around a dozen bills have been filed that would move us towards this goal. They include SB 1419 (Lucio), HB 3145 (Gonzalez), SB 541 / HB 3478 (Watson / Gallego), SB 620 (Shapleigh), SB 425 and 436 (Ellis), and HB 278 (Anchia).

Increase the Ability of Counties to Manage Growth

Texas loses an average of 160 acres of open land each day to urban sprawl, most of it in unincorporated areas near major cities. All too often, developers built new subdivisions in areas just beyond the ability of neighboring cities to manage growth via zoning and other tools. These developments rely on wells punched into over-burdened aquifers for their drinking water, or cajole river authorities into extending surface water lines their way. Access to sewage treatment plants is often lacking, so effluent is frequently sprayed onto new golf courses created partly for that purpose-or even into nearby streams. Typically located many miles away from job and shopping opportunities, and lacking easy access to transit, these new neighborhoods pour even more traffic on local roads that are often already strained to capacity.

For many years now, Clean Water Action and our allies have been working to pass legislation that would grant counties the ability to manage growth in order to protect the environment and quality of life and keep the cost of living in check. These tools could include the ability to zone, limit density and impervious cover, and the right to establish minimum set-backs from creeks and other water bodies. Lobbyists for real estate and homebuilding interested have so far managed to thwart such legislation.

This session, a number of bills have been filed that are worthy of support. They include: SB 578 (Wentworth), which would allow a county commissioner court, after a local election, to set buffer zones between land uses and establish developer guidelines for roads; and HB 3265 (Rose), which would grant to the commissioner courts of 15 Texas Hill Country counties the ability to adopt land control regulations to establish density standards, building and setback rules, and land use compatibility standards. Bills have also been filed (HB 595 / SB 822 and HB 1508 / SB 1099) that would limit the discharge of sewage effluent into streams and creeks above the recharge and contributing zones of the Edwards Aquifer.

In this issue of Texas Currents|Online:

Lee Leffingwell Endorsed for Austin Mayor
Austin voters will be electing 5 of 7 city council members, including its next mayor, on Saturday May 9. Stakes are higher that usual this year, with unemployment continuing to rise, sales and property tax revenues down, and the city facing a host of challenges related to energy and water consumption, air quality, solid waste, urban sprawl and traffic congestion. Clean Water Action believes that Lee Leffingwell is easily the most qualified mayoral candidate to meet these challenges.

Reforms At One Texas Co-op As Action Turns To Other Electric Utilities
Thanks to public outcry that led to a change in top management and to the election of reform-minded board members, the scandal-plagued Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC) has begun to chart a new course for its future. The PEC is the largest consumer-owned electric cooperative in the nation, with some 225,000 member households.

Texas Legislature Poised For Progress in 2009?
As the 81st session of the Texas Legislature approaches its end, Clean Water Action and our allies are cautiously optimistic that significant progress can be achieved on a host of fronts-above all related to clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency-where we have failed to make progress in the recent past. More bills promoting renewables and efficiency have been filed than ever before, and some of the better ones have already survived key committee votes. We still have anxious days ahead to see if Texas can begin to realize its tremendous potential for renewable energy production.

For California Woman, Protecting A River Can Cost You A Job
Heather Wylie traded her job for a river. And, given the choice, she'd do it again.

During the summer of 2008, Wylie joined a handful of protestors for a canoe and kayak trip down the LA River, earning the wrath of her employers and the attention of a nation. Why? At the time, Wylie was a biologist with the US Army Corps of Engineers. The agency had just declared the LA River as not navigable--a designation that put the watershed at risk and would have set a.dangerous precedent. Wylie and her compatriots were making their voyage to prove the Army Corps wrong. If their fleet could make the journey, they reasoned, then the LA River must be in-fact navigable, a critical first step in retaining Clean Water Act safeguards for the LA River system.

Restoring the Clean Water Act Must Top Congress' Agenda
Restoring the ability of the Clean Water Act to protect water resources must top Congress' water agenda. Supreme Court and agency decisions put at risk Clean Water Act protections for headwater, intermittent and ephemeral streams that supply drinking water systems that serve more than 110 million Americans. In total, 59 percent of the nation's waterways and millions of acres of wetlands are currently at risk.

What You Won't See In Those 'Clean Coal' Ads: Dirty Air, A Wall of Sludge, Poisoned Rivers
Surely you've seen the ads. They are scattered around the internet and splashed across our newspapers and magazines. Their commercials interrupt our favorite television shows and invade our local radio station's airspace. Yes, the ads are everywhere. But that doesn't make them true.

No PR campaign, no matter how well executed, can make coal clean. It's simply not possible.

Advocates for "clean" coal argue that technology exists-almost-that will allow coal-fired power plants to capture their carbon emissions and store the climate-changing gas deep under ground. Technically, this is true. Realistically, this would be extremely expensive, and wouldn't even begin to address most of the impacts felt by water. From mines to power plants, the process of wresting energy from coal is dirty and unhealthy for our waters, our communities and ourselves.

How Safe is Your Bath Tub?
Children's bubble baths should be clean, safe and fun. But No More Toxic Tub, a report published in March 2009 by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in partnership with Clean Water Action and other organizations, found contaminants and other hazardous ingredients in numerous popular shampoos, soaps and body care products marketed to babies and children.

Get this issue of Texas Clean Water Currents as a pdf (pdf, 600 kb)

You will need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader properly installed to view PDF documents. You can get it free from Adobe.