The article prompted the following email to Jerry Madden, State Represntative for district 67.
Dear Representative Madden,
I was among a group of district 67 residents that spoke to you last February expressing our concern about the negative consequences of permitting dirty coal-fired power plants in Texas. We urged you to support a moratorium on the permitting of these plants. The main purpose of the moratorium was to allow time to fix the permitting process so that environmental issues would be addressed by the design of such plants.
I am dismayed by the Dallas Morning News article today entitled Future dim for bills on air quality. The article indicates that "most bills before the Texas Legislature aimed at making the state's air permit system tougher are dying without getting a committee hearing. Others, including bills to halt new coal-plant permits until rules can be tightened, have gotten a hearing but seem destined to get no action."
In the House, the lawmaker who has bottled up the majority of clean air bills is Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, chair of the Environmental Regulation Committee. Mr Bonnen wants to "wait until the furor over the coal boom has calmed down before thinking about which way Texas should go on regulating power plant pollution." But we cannot wait for Mr Bonnen to get his brain in gear to take action. People are dying now, our youngster's health is at risk now, and climatologists tell us that we have 5 years to get programs in place that will make significant reduction in CO2 emissions. That's not 5 years to think about it and then to something.
Studies have already been conducted and I believe there is enough information out there to write meaningful legislation that will improve the permitting process and offer some protection now. In fact some of your colleagues have already done so. I urge you to support hearings and passage of the following bills:
HB 2475 (Hochberg) and it's companion SB 1855 (Gallegos), which require TCEQ to designate areas where toxic pollution exceeds base levels as hotspots and to clean up pollution in those areas.
HB 2362 (Hernandez), HB 2722 (Thompson) and SB 1924 Gallegos, which require TCEQ to notify the public about areas where air pollution levels are unsafe.
I agree that we need to continue to study Texas' energy needs. However, if we emphasize non-polluting alternatives such as wind, solar, and biomass energy sources, improved load management practices, efficiency measures, we can meet our needs in a sustainable way; and we will save money on the environmental studies.
We can't wait till the Gulf of Mexico comes lapping at Mr Bonnen's door; or till we return to the dust-bowl of the 30's to take action. We need to start now. Please help.
Best regards
Bob Fusinato
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