THE FUTURE OF ENVIRONMENTALISM
AN INTERNET MUST READ

Bill McKibben, scholar-in-residence in environmental studies at Middlebury College in Vermont, reviews what the environmental movement has accomplished and sets forth the next challenge, dealing with global warming. In a manner too restrained and thoughtful to be called argument, he proposes that the environmental movement is not dead, but rather, has much more difficult work to do.
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050811/the_future_of_environmentalism.php

ENERGY ACT WILL CAUSE GAS PRICE HIKE, INCREASED IMPORTS, CRITICS SAY
By Ella Tyler

"We have labored mightily and brought forth a fat hog."

No congressional leader will admit that the five-years-in-the-making energy bill that President Bush signed into law on Monday is more pork than policy. Estimates of the cost of the new Energy Policy Act range from $11.15 billion to $14.5 billion over its 10-year span. However, to many of the bill's critics, the pork is the least offensive element.

The bill makes no requirements that car manufacturers increase fuel economy; earmarks nearly $9 billion as incentives for oil and gas production, electricity reliability and coal pollution abatements; and spends less than $5 billion on energy efficiency and renewable energy.

The Act's centerpiece conservation measure is a provision to increase Daylight Saving Time, beginning in March of 2007. It also requires higher efficiency standards for 15 types of household appliance.

It does not deal with the issue of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; forbids drilling in the Great Lakes; and asks for an inventory of offshore oil and gas resources, including areas where drilling is presently banned. It removes the oxygenation requirement from the Clean Air Act and does not give liability protection to MBTE producers or fund MBTE clean up.

League of Conservation Voters president Deb Callahan described the bill as "[a] collection of special interest giveaways, harmful environmental rollbacks, and flawed policies of the past. This bill fails to reduce our nation's dependence on oil, provide relief to consumers. or strengthen our national security."

Loren Steffy, Houston Chronicle business columnist, writes, "Once again this Congress has shown aplomb at pandering to special interests." He continues, "The energy bill was an opportunity, a chance to lead the way out of the snarling beast [foreign oil dependency] that has consumed us. It was a chance to chart the course, before desperation and crisis chart it for us. The bill doesn't do that."

"The single biggest step that Congress could take to reduce our oil dependency is to significantly increase the fuel economy standards of the cars and trucks that Americans buy," according to Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists. The organization contends that, in fact, the bill worsens the problem by providing that fuel economy figures for dual-fuel vehicles can be credited to a maker's fleet. Although the lack of availability of alternative fuels means that these vehicles use gasoline 85 percent of the time, fuel economy for dual-fuel vehicles is calculated only for the alternative fuel.

The best public relations provisions in the Act -- those that attracted many of the votes needed to pass it, including Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) - come in the form of subsidies of one sort or another for ethanol production and distribution, and requirements for greater use of ethanol in gasoline. Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, the ethanol producers' lobby, claims "The energy bill takes the first steps down America's long road to recovery from foreign oil addiction. The renewable fuels standard alone will reduce foreign oil dependency by 5 percent."

Help for ethanol producers can also be touted as a way of reducing air pollution and aiding small farmers. However, a look at the Renewable Fuels Association's list of ethanol producers shows that the biggest ethanol producer, and the most likely recipient of the majority of the help, is agri-giant Archer Daniels Midland Company.

The support and subsidies for increased oil and gas exploration and production, from an industry point of view, are probably helpful to the Houston and Texas economy. The bill gives royalty relief for deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, provides favorable tax treatment for expenditures made by oil refiners to increase plant capacity, and gives tax breaks to companies that own natural gas pipelines. It gives exemptions from Clean Water Act requirements during plant construction. A Sugar Land company is the most likely contender to administer a program that has been allocated $1.5 billion for research and development for ultra deep-water and unconventional natural gas drilling.

The only aspect of the Act that the LCV's Deb Callahan commended is that it does not extend liability protection to the makers of MTBE. The House version included such a provision but the Senate's did not, and it was removed in conference committee.

Houston-based Lyondell Chemical, which produces more MTBE than any other maker, will not stop making the additive, according to its spokesman, David Harpole. "We believe it is a product that is safe and gives cleaner air." However, Valero Energy, based in San Antonio, announced that it will stop making the additive, prompting the US Energy Information Administration to predict 'transition pressure' on the price of gasoline.

Both US senators and most House members from Texas voted for the bill. Area House members voting for the bill were John Culberson, Tom DeLay, Al Green, Gene Green, Shelia Jackson Lee, Michael McCaul, and Ted Poe. Rep. Ron Paul voted against the bill.

There are some minor provisions in the bill that directly benefit this region. The bill includes funding for the National Cancer Institute to study the health effects of living near refineries and petrochemical plants. Galveston may get some money to improve its beaches.

However, the move to put decisions about the siting of liquefied natural gas terminals in the hands of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reduces Galveston's authority over LNG terminals. Two LNG terminals are proposed for the Galveston area. BP America has leased Pelican Island for one such terminal and Conoco-Phillips has proposed one about 40 miles offshore. The BP terminal is the subject of a local lawsuit opposing it.

The FERC will also acquire authority over power lines.

HERMANN PARK DESIGN WINS AWARD FROM ASLA

The $10 million project to renovate the northwest corner of Hermann Park has received the American Society of Landscape Architects' 2005 Award of Excellence in the category of general design. The project, dubbed The Heart of the Park, was completed last summer when the Mary Gibbs and Jesse H. Jones Reflection Pool was finished and fountains were added to Molly Ann Smith Plaza and the O. Jack Mitchell Garden. Forty four mature oak trees were transplanted to create a live oak allee. The project was part of the first phase of Hermann Park Conservancy's master renovation plan for the park.

The award will be presented to SWA Group and Olin Partnership on October 10 at the ASLA annual meeting. Thirty three projects were selected to receive awards from a field of more than 520 entries in this annual competition. Only one other project received an Award of Excellence. SWA Group, which has offices in Houston, will also receive the ASLA's landscape architecture firm award at the meeting.

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