The proposed $3 billion petroleum coke-fired Las Brisas power plant in Corpus Christi suffered another setback Friday when the executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) said two significant environmental questions were not adequately answered by the plant’s permit application.
Fans of clean air gained an important ally Monday against the proposed $3 billion Las Brisas petroleum coke-fired power plant in Corpus Christi – and it came from inside the state’s own Texas Commission on Environment Quality!
December 14 was the deadline for legal briefs in TCEQ’s permitting process for the enormous “pet coke” plant, and EDF attorneys filed our extensive brief against the permit, as did other interested parties. But we were pleasantly surprised by another brief against the plant filed by TCEQ’s own Office of Public Interest Counsel (OPIC). Read More
Now we’re talkin’. Austin is already known as one of the “greenest” cities in the nation, and it looks like we’ll soon be even greener – and smarter, too.
The U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Nov. 24 announcement of $620 million in “smart grid” demonstration and energy storage projects included $10.4 million for the Austin-based Pecan Street Project. The grant will be used to fund an advanced smart grid project at the Mueller development in central Austin. The Mueller neighborhood – a public-private joint venture between the City of Austin and the Catellus Development Group – is located at the site of Austin’s former airport.
A New York Times Green Inc. article yesterday — “Big Utilities Pull Back on Coal Plant Plans” — stated that many Southwest utilities were shifting away from coal-generated power and moving toward renewables and energy efficiency. Many plants that were planned are now canceled or on hold.
So my question for all Texans is, “Why would we foolishly try to build even one more conventional coal plant?”
On September 22, 2009, the Texas Public Utility Commission plans a climate change summit asking the question, “Is Waxman-Markey Good for Texas?” After review of the topics and panelists invited, Environmental Defense Fund offers without editorial comment, the following facts on those representatives speaking in the first panel, “Academic/Not for Profit/Think Tank”:
Yesterday I sent out this open letter about a joint meeting on the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACESA) being proposed by the Public Utility Commission, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Railroad Commission’s Chairmen.
Let me know what you think. See the formal version here.
Dear Chairman Smitherman, Chairman Shaw, and Chairman Carillo,
I am glad to hear about your proposed joint meeting on the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACESA) and that you are interested in hearing from all parties. I would like to add my voice to those legislators around the state such as Senators Rodney Ellis and Kirk Watson, and Representatives Rafael Anchia and Mark Strama who are asking that this joint meeting be a fair review of the facts regarding the bill and the economic impacts of climate change on Texas. I would also like to see this joint meeting rise above the recent politically motivated press releases and op-eds by some Texas politicians, which relied on so-called “studies” that admittedly and intentionally did not analyze the job and economic benefits of the ACESA. Read More
