CEC ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS UPDATE 3/7/03

CEC Notes

Annual meeting set

Mark your calendars! The CEC annual meeting will be held Tuesday, April 1. This is your chance to come network with other coalition members. ItÕs also our chance to update groups on CECÕs services, events and resources that can benefit your organization. The event will be hosted at the Upper Kirby District building at 3015 Richmond Ave. from 6-8 p.m.

Earth Day 2003

Earth Day is April 19 and if you still haven’t signed up for a booth at the event, now is the time. We welcome any environmental non-profit group or business, or artists and vendors who would like a place to exhibit their green wares. For more information on reservations or volunteering, contact Sarah Doss at 713-524-4232 or sarah@cechouston.org or visit the official Earth Day web site.

COALITION NOTES

Goodall featured at HMNS lecturer

Jane Goodall, noted scientist and U.N. Messenger of Peace, will speak Fri, March 14 at the Museum of Natural Science Houston Forum Lecture. Although known primarily for her study of chimpanzees in Tanzania, Goodall today works primarily as an activist on topics ranging from poverty eradication to human rights and disarmament to environmentalism. A 6:30 p.m. wine and cheese reception will be followed by Goodall's lecture at 8 p.m.. A preview of the new IMAX movie Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees will also be shown. For reservations, call 713-439-0466, ext. 10 or 13 or visit HMNS on the web. Tickets are $40 for Forum members and $65 for non-members.

Mercer Arboretum Needs Volunteers

Mercer Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is seeking volunteers for March Mart, the largest tree-and-plant sale in the region. All types of volunteers are needed during March Mart to help with labeling, pricing, stocking, restocking and watering plants, checking out wagons, cashiering, and helping in the office. Volunteers who work at least one four-hour shift can take part in a plant raffle after the sale. March Mart is Saturday through Sunday, March 21 and 22 at the Arboretum, 22306 Aldine Westfield Rd from 12-2p.m.. If you are interested in volunteering, call 281-443-8731.

Local

With the Texas legislature scrambling to make up a $9 billion deficit, several pro-environment bills set for debate in the coming months could be in jeopardy. In an effort organized by Alliance for a Clean Texas, more than a hundred activists turned out in the capitol on Monday to prove to law makers that by cleaning up its act the sate could save enough money to close the gap.

On average, HoustonÕs dirty air costs the state $1000 per family per year in rising health care expenditures. The city could also loose billions more in federal highway funds by 2007 if it fails to meet federal clean air standards by 2007. With taxpayers footing the bill, Public Citizen'sexecutive director, Tom Smith, said Texans should demand tougher pollution regulations.

"Most of us donÕt work in smokestacks," Smith said. "We all need to do our share to clean up the air in Texas." Funding the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan is a heated issue this term, with two competing bills by Houston representatives currently before the House Environmental Regulations Committee. Smith said that funding the TERP would be a good first step toward bringing cities such as Houston and Dallas into Clean-Air-Act compliance by 2007.

"ItÕs time we had a way to pay for cleaning the air," he said. "In poll after poll, Texans have said they are willing to pay more to reduce the pollution that is stealing the vistas we used to have when we were kids, stealing our stars and most importantly, choking us."

Lone Star Sierra Clubdirector Ken Kramer said passing water conservation bills is an effective way for the state to save money, sparing the expense of costly and environmentally destructive water projects like dams, reservoirs and pipelines. "Water conservation is not a sacrifice," he said. "We just havenÕt been smart about water use in this state. But the more water you conserve, the more it stays in the streams and rivers for healthy bays and estuaries, the better off weÕll be in terms of the economy."

According to state representative Eddie Rodriguez of Austin, the effectiveness of any new environmental law depends on state regulatory agenciesÕ ability to enforce it. Rodriguez sponsored house bill 877, which requires the Texas Commission on Environmental Qualityto recover any profits gained by polluters when assessing penalties.

"The way it is now, TCEQ is basically handcuffed," Rodriguez said. "In light of the budget crisis weÕre in right now, it makes no sense. WeÕre being ripped off by $20 million biennium by these companies, and weÕre going to get that back."

Appealing to lawmakersÕ good business sense may be environmentalistsÕ best bet to push eco-friendly bills through a cash-strapped legislature. "I donÕt usually go around talking about money like this," Smith said. "But given this legislature, thatÕs where their heart is."

More than 142,000 children in Texas go to school in the shadow of refineries and chemical plants that collectively release millions of pounds of toxic chemicals each year, according to a report released by the Refinery Reform Campaign.

The report,"A is for Air Pollution," found 100 refineries and chemical plants near 216 schools in an eight county region including Harris, Galveston, Gregg, Orange, Jefferson, Nueces, El Paso and Ector counties.

In Harris county, there are 96 schools, with a combined enrollment of 77,972 students, within two miles of chemical refineries. The majority of Harris CountyÕs at-risk schools were located near and around Southeast Houston. The reportÕs authors said children are especially vulnerable to chemical pollution because they tend to exercise more, are outside more often and breathe lower to the ground where pollution settles. Their bodies' biological defense systems are still developing and more vulnerable to chemical pollution.

Exacerbating the problem, researchers said, is that there is no consistent air monitoring at these schools or on the fence lines of neighboring plants, and the state does not require that parents be notified of the air toxin levels near their children's schools.

The study may have already sparked legislative action. Houston-area Representative Sylvester Turner held a press conference this week to announce he would sponsor a bill to protect school children from nearby refineriesÕ toxic emissions.

About 200 residents turned out for a public meeting last Thursday to challenge the Texas Department of TransportationÕs design for the Katy Freeway expansion. But they almost didnÕt have the chance. The original format for the meeting allowed participants to submit written comments and record oral comments, without providing an open forum.

Polly Ledvina, an organizer with the Katy Corridor Coalitionsaid she and other residents wrote letters to TXDOT and their elected representatives protesting the meetingÕs closed format. "Public participation is all we have as citizens to be able to influence policy so we have to make sure that participation is meaningfulÐ we have to make it count," Ledvina said.

Spokesman Norm Wiggington said the original format was "standard procedure" for TXDOT but was eventually changed to allow for an "open-mic" style public comment after requests were received by the coalition. "We were trying to be nice to those people," Wiggington said. "Apparently they wanted to talk into a microphone so we let them talk into a microphone."

Wiggington insisted the decision reflected the agencyÕs willingness to accommodate community organizations and had nothing to with requests submitted by several elected officials to allow an open mic.

The CEC has confirmed TXDOT was contacted by Houston City Council Members, Gabriel Vasquez, Annise Parker, State Rep. Jessica Farrar, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Governor Rick Perryabout holding an open comment session.

Ledvina said she was pleased the meeting format was changed but thought many people who attended the informational portion of the meeting in the cafeteria of Westchester High School were unaware that an open-mic was being held in the schoolÕs auditorium.

Of the residents who attended the open mic, about 35 urged TXDOT to consider the alternative I-10 design proposed by KCC, with one dissenting voice favoring the agencyÕs plan. Speakers touted KCC's design features, which include depressing the freeway, lining it with trees, and providing local access and through lanes, saying that such enhancements help to mitigate air and noise pollution. The most controversial elements of the TXDOT plan are four toll lanes which the KCC plan designates as Metro HOV lanes for potential conversion to light rail.

"ThereÕs no way in hell mass transit will ever happen this way," Tom Trammel, Spring Valley City Council Member said. "But what TXDOT wants, TXDOT gets and this is a third class piece of cement."

Several other elected officials were represented at the meeting and Ledivina said their support is crucial in persuading TXDOT to consider the KCC design. Farrar, of Houston, said she planned to meet with TXDOT to express her support of the KCC alternative. She said the proposed alternative warranted TXDOTÕs serious consideration because of its apparently minimal environmental impact, but said funding for the project presented an obstacle.

Wiggington said that the KCC plan was currently under TXDOT review. "This is an idea, not an engineering study so it will be reviewed as a concept," he said.

Ledvina urged residents to ask their elected representativesto submit a comment to TXDOTÕs Pat Henry supporting the concepts of the KCC plan. The public comment period will close March 12.

THIS WEEK’S EVENTS

ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION

CEC Environmental News Update is a weekly publication by the Citizens' Environmental Coalition, a 501(c)3 dedicated to fostering dialogue, education and collaboration about environmental issues in the Houston-Gulf Coast Region. Visit the CEC online at www.cechouston.org.

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