Bringing it home
Students from Austin College
The ReEnergize Texas Lobby Day was a huge success. Students from across Texas, including from Huston-Tillotson University, St. Edwards, UTSA, UT Pan American, UT Austin, UT El Paso, University of Houston Downtown, A&M College Station, A&M Corpus Christi, and others. Students who attended the summit, including 25 colleges and highschools, are now back home and equipped with tools to take action, train leaders, and grow the movement to demand clean, efficient, smart energy for Texas.
Texas students are taking back their air, and demanding our elected representatives respect our health, our economy, and our future by ensuring a cleaner, smarter economy powered by ethical energy choices – not locking us into a dirty coal infrastructure for generations to come.
Students from UT Arlington
We lobbied 75 legislative offices, and some students were even able to meet their representatives. For students who couldn’t make the Lobby Day, we made photo & video petitions and delivered them to their Representatives.
Students from A&M Consolidated High school expressed their vision for Texas.
ReEnergize Texas is back to the Capitol! On Wednesday, I attended the House Environmental Regulation Committee hearing, while other members of ReEnergize Texas— From UT Austin and St. Edwards University – lobbied all nine of the offices of the Environmental Regulation Committee.
I personally submitted a testimony against Representative Weber’s HB 4012 which would fast track the coal permitting process at the TCEQ by completely removing the democratic right of Texans to attend and give testimony at “contested case hearings”. Essentially, Texans would be unable to comment on coal plants being built in their communities. Fortunately for Texas, we found out on Wednesday when lobbying Environmental Regulation committee member offices that this bill will not pass because nobody seems to like it.
We submitted legislative briefings to the offices, which included our positions on the following:
AGAINST HB 4012: Weber Environmental Regulation Cmte
This bill would fast track coal plants by removing “contested case hearings”, which are Texas citizens’ only opportunity to publicly testify on the environmental, health, economic, or legal impacts. According to Tom “Smitty” Smith of Public Citizen, contested case hearings have significantly improved permit quality and lowered emissions due to demand for better standards.
FOR HB 4206: Farabee Environmental Regulation Cmte
This bill is to ensure adequate water supplies are available for electric generating facilities. It requires a water study be submitted to the TCEQ and regional water group showing sufficient water resources for any electric [coal plant] utility.
FOR HB 2588: Burnam Environmental Regulation Cmte
TCEQ shall, in accordance with federal law, control air contaminants as necessary to protect against adverse effects related to climatic changes (global warming), Cumulative effects of multiple air contaminants on human health, acid deposition, and stratospheric changes (ozone depletion).
Next up? Check ‘”Texas Legislature 2009” under the Campaigns tab to get involved in next week’s action.
Patrick Meaney
