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Activists Urge Texas Court to Force State Air Agency to Regulate Global Warming Emissions
AUSTIN - Saying that climate change must be considered when new coal plants and other facilities are approved, Public Citizen today sued the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in the Travis County District Court to require the commission to regulate global warming gases. This case seeks to extend to Texas law the precedent set by the U.S. Supreme Court in Massachusetts v. EPA, which held that carbon dioxide is a pollutant under the federal Clean Air Act and that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must regulate it.
Motion to block Las Brisas denied
Next step is a hearing in November
CORPUS CHRISTI — State judges denied Wednesday two environmental groups’ request to block Las Brisas Energy Center’s air permit.
National organizations Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club had argued that Las Brisas’ application ignored emissions from handling petroleum coke and other materials at a dock next to the proposed plant. The groups filed a motion last month for summary disposition, asking that the permit application either be denied or sent back to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for further review.
Las Brisas filed a response to the environmental groups’ motion, saying any emissions increases from handling materials at the dock would fit within an existing permit at the Port of Corpus Christi.
Administrative Judges Tommy Broyles and Craig Bennett ruled Wednesday that the issues will be resolved during the contested case hearing in November. That hearing is similar to a civil trial in state district court, with both sides presenting evidence and expert testimony.
Tenaska has proposed a 900 MW coal-fired power plant for West Texas
Proposed for Sweetwater in Nolan County
Permit State Air Quality Permit # 84167 and PSD-TX-1123 and HAP-13
Plant will be located 6 1/2 miles northeast of Sweetwater in Nolan County.
Protesters Decry Judges' Refusal to Hear Global
Warming Testimony in Coal Plant Case
To Stop Global Warming, Stop Permitting Coal Plants
White Stallion – Bay City, Texas
Proposed – a 1200 MW pet coke plant that would also burn high sulfur bituminous coal.
Public Meeting: Monday, March 30, 2009 - 7:00 p.m.
Bay City Convention Center, 201 7th Street, Bay City, Texas
The Las Brisas Energy Center LLC
- Motion to block Las Brisas denied; Next step is a hearing in November
Corpus Christi Caller-Times 9/23/09 - Citizens Boast Several Opinions On Las Brisas Power Plant At Public Hearing
KRIS-TV Corpus Christi 2/17/09 - Las Brisas Preliminary Hearing
KIII-TV Corpus Christi 2/17/09
Coleto Creek – Coal Plant – Unit 2
Proposed for Fannin, Texas in Goliad County
Permit # 83778
Feds to order mercury control at cement plants
January 17, 2009
After fighting the idea for nearly a decade in court, the Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to regulate toxic mercury emissions from existing cement plants.
The agreement announced Friday gives the EPA until March to come up with regulations to limit emissions from the more than 100 cement kilns around the country. There are 10 in Texas — including two in San Antonio and two in New Braunfels, according to the EPA.
"This is certainly a step in the right direction," said attorney Jim Pew, who represented the environmental group Earthjustice, one of the plaintiffs in the case. "We want to see some really protective mercury standards."
Read more...Energy Watch: Ruling could disrupt plans for new coal plants nationwide
November 14, 2008
Clean energy advocates are celebrating yesterday's decision by an Environmental Protection Agency appeals board requiring the consideration of greenhouse gas emissions in the licensing of a new coal-fired power plant in Utah.. Read more...
Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars
Narrated by Robert Redford and produced by The Redford Center at the Sundance Preserve and Alpheus Media, FIGHTING GOLIATH: TEXAS COAL WARS follows the story of Texans fighting a high-stakes battle for clean air. The film introduces the unlikely partners-mayors, ranchers, CEOs, community groups, legislators, lawyers, and citizens-that have come together to oppose the construction of 19 conventional coal-fired power plants that were slated to be built in Eastern and Central Texas and that were being fast-tracked by the Governor.
- Offical movie web site. Where you can watch the trailer.
- Texans Beat Big Coal, and a Film Shows How
"David had only a slingshot. Texans fighting big coal have Robert Redford."
Read New York Times article about the movie
Coal Plants Still Being Pushed in Texas
October 7, 2008
The Issue
Seven more dirty coal-burning power plants are being rushed through the permitting process in Texas. Our health, our economy and our air quality are at risk.
- Pollution from coal plants shortens the lives of 1,160 Texans each year. It also causes 196,149 lost work days, 1,105 hospitalizations and 33,987 asthma attacks every year.
- Each year, 144 lung cancer deaths and 1,791 heart attacks in Texas are attributable to power plant pollution.
- A UT Health Science Center San Antonio study found that autism increases by 17% for every 1,000 pounds of mercury that is emitted locally in Texas.
Click Here to Let Your Voice Be Heard
"Increased levels of mercury in our waters - primarily from coal fired power plants - have forced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to warn pregnant women and any woman who might want to become pregnant to avoid or limit fish consumption. This year alone, an estimated 630,000 children will be born to women with unsafe blood levels of mercury, as determined by the EPA. This in utero exposure can contribute to severe mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness, blindness, and seizures."
-Dr. Kimberly Carter, Obstetrician/Gynecologist, Austin, TX
"Mercury gets into our waterways and into our fish and the contamination has made fish unsafe to eat in 12 water bodies in Texas. We should protect the health of the citizens of Texas, especially our children, by reducing pollution and preventing additional mercury emissions."
— Ed Parten, President of Texas Black Bass Unlimited, Houston, TX
"Jo and I have been farming and ranching on this land for 45 years. Several of the proposed coal plants would be very close to us. The pollution from existing coal burning power plants already puts our health at risk. We're both cancer survivors and both suffer from asthma. More coal plants will only make it worse. The pollution is not good for our crops, cattle or wildlife either. The Texas Farm Bureau policy is that no new coal plant permits be issued unless they meet the lowest achievable emission rate (LAER) standard. Coal plants should be no more polluting than new natural gas fired plants with the newest technology and they're right. We're opposed to the proposed coal plants, and urge others to join in to protect our land and our lives."
— Robert and Jo Cervenka, Ranchers, Reisel, TX