Texas League of Conservation Voters—We elect conservation champions because conservation is a Texas Value.

Every 12 years, state agencies come up for sunset review, a process that determines if a state agency lives, dies or is reformed to better serve the public and taxpayers.

Ten years ago, the agency then-known as the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, survived a significant overhaul and review as part of the Legislature’s renewal of the agency back in 1999.

Many of the same criticisms of the predecessor to today’s Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) resurfaced in the much-anticipated initial report released yesterday by the Texas Sunset Commission. You can read the full report online here.

Sunset Commission staff found that the TCEQ performed “reasonably well,” but it did make a series of recommendations aimed at strengthening the state’s environmental agency, including increasing the caps on penalties for some polluters.

Perhaps the area of TCEQ that needs the most substantial reform is a topic that the Sunset Commission outright refused to address: Texas’ air permitting program. Citing pending lawsuits and looming implementation of Environmental Protection Agency rules, Sunset staff concluded, the controversy surrounding Texas air permitting program were “high-level political and policy issues that do not easily lend themselves to objective staff-level analysis or solution.” In other words, Sunset punted on an issue that has profound impact on our state’s air quality and public health.

On the whole, however, Texas League of Conservation Voters is pleased that the Sunset Commission staff recommends improvements in the agency’s enforcement, transparency, compliance history and public participation. We’ll watch how these recommendations play out in the weeks and months ahead as the agency’s sunset review progresses.

Up next, be sure to mark your calendar for the public hearing Dec. 15-16 where TLCV, other conservation advocates and the general public can make their voices heard.

Details regarding the December public hearing on TCEQ will be posted online soon, and if you follow TLCV and the TLCV Education Fund on Twitter and Facebook, we’ll keep you updated throughout the process.

Join TLCV, presenting sponsor Enviromedia Social Marketing,  and special guest  State Representative Mark Strama at Frank (Downtown Austin at 4th and Colorado) for snacks, dollar beers, cold drinks and a good time to gear up for the 2010 Election on Wednesday, October 13, from 7-9. (Suggested $10 donation.) RSVP to ewilliams@tlcv.org or on Facebook.

Rick Perry one of Twelve Dirtiest Candidates for State Office to be Targeted for Defeat

Austin – Today, the national League of Conservation Voters (LCV), which works to turn environmental values into national priorities, announced the inaugural state-level Dirty Dozen program. Rick Perry is one of 12 candidates for state office from around the country named to the list for his consistent stances against clean energy politics and conservation initiatives. The Texas League of Conservation Voters will work to defeat Rick Perry during the remaining months of the election cycle.

“Rick Perry has consistently put corporate polluters and other special interests ahead of protecting our natural resources and working to make Texas a leader in the new clean energy economy,” said David Weinberg, Executive Director of the Texas League of Conservation Voters. “Being named to the Dirty Dozen should put Rick Perry on notice; voters in Texas won’t stand for a Governor who fails to fight for a cleaner, healthier future.”

In 2006…Governor Perry tried to fast-track permits for eleven new, dirty coal plants, adding to the risk of asthma and premature death.

In 2009…Perry vetoed a bill passed by a Republican-controlled Legislature which would have required television manufactures to recycle their product, keeping toxic heavy metals from reaching Texas landfills.

Perry’s anti-environmental record has peaked in 2010. Just this year:

…Perry called the BP oil spill an “Act of God,” instead of calling for better regulation of off-shore drilling

…..Perry’s Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) dragged its feet on shuttering the highly polluting Asarco smelter in El Paso, and is green-lighting a toxic-waste dump near Odessa over the objections and resignation of agency staff

…Perry and his appointed commissioners at TCEQ have waged a legal and political war against the federal Environmental Protection Agency because it is finally requiring polluters in Texas to follow the same laws that all other 49 states are following

The full list of state-level Dirty Dozen candidates can be found at http://www.lcv.org/statedirtydozen.

“From Congress to the state house there has never been a more urgent time to defeat politicians who stand with Big Oil and block progress on clean energy reform,” said LCV President Gene Karpinski. “With the U.S. Senate’s recent failure to act on comprehensive energy and climate legislation, we need strong environmental leaders at the state level to move the ball forward on new energy policies that will put America on the path to a clean energy future.”

LCV’s trademark Dirty Dozen program targets candidates for Congress — regardless of party affiliation — who consistently vote against clean energy and conservation and are running in races in which LCV has a serious chance to affect the outcome. Since 1996, more than 60 percent of the federal candidates named to Dirty Dozen have been defeated. Today’s announcement marks the first time LCV has named a state-level Dirty Dozen consisting of gubernatorial and state legislative candidates.

For a list of federal candidates named to the 2010 Dirty Dozen, visit http://www.lcv.org/dirtydozen.

kat swift
Executive Director
Green Party of Texas
P.O. Box 271080
Houston, TX 77277-1080

Dear Director swift:

I am writing on behalf of the Texas League of Conservation Voters to express profound disappointment in how the Green Party of Texas funded its recent ballot petition drive with corporate, out-of-state, partisan-directed funds.

The Texas League of Conservation Voters is a statewide non-partisan organization that works to elect candidates who support clean air, clean water, renewable energy and the protection of open spaces and wildlife habitat.  TLCV supports third party ballot access and would, under normal circumstances, support Green Party candidates who share the organization’s values and goals.

Unfortunately, the League cannot support Green Party candidates in Texas at this time as it appears the Green Party used corporate money directed from out-of-state partisan sources whose positions on environmental policy are antithetical to those of the Green Party. The League believes the use of corporate, out-of-state money directed from partisan operatives for a petition drive corrupts and manipulates the electoral process.

We also believe that candidates for office who owe their place on the ballot to funders who do not support cracking down on polluters and a clean environment cannot be trusted by the public to adhere to a pro-environment agenda if elected to office.  For these reasons, we respectfully request that Green Party candidates remove their names from consideration for public office in Texas in 2010.

Texas has suffered for 10 years from having a Governor who has put polluters before people, and is in the pocket of big oil and big coal.  We believe that the best option for moving Texas forward in 2010 rests with candidate Bill White, who showed extraordinary leadership as Mayor of Houston in cleaning up Houston’s air and understands state environmental regulatory agencies must be responsive to the people of Texas.

It stands to reason that the ballot petition drive funders’ primary interest was to siphon votes away from Bill White to the benefit of a big polluter like Rick Perry.  It is profoundly dismaying that the Green Party decided, by accepting this tainted money, to be a willing accomplice in this endeavor.

Again, The Texas League of Conservation Voters respectfully reiterates its call for Green Party candidates to remove their names from the ballot in Texas in 2010.

Sincerely,

David Weinberg
Executive Director
Texas League of Conservation Voters

On Tuesday, May 25th, please show your support for TLCV and join us for an evening in Fort Worth with our hosts Senator Wendy Davis, and Gretchen Denny and George Bristol, at the home of Senator Davis. Tarrant County and surrounding areas are very important in our fight to preserve clean air and clean water, and by joining us you will become part of our fight to ensure that Texas elects lawmakers who value our environment and natural resources. Click here to secure your spot or simply make a contribution.

May 25th, 2010
5:30 PM-7:30 PM

At the home of Senator Davis
2737 Calder Court
Fort Worth, 76107

For more information, please contact Emily Williams at Ewilliams@TLCV.org, or 512-477-4424.