The Lone Star Sierran - July 2015

Director's Message

Triple digit temperatures have arrived in earnest in Texas. Dallas hit the century mark on July 26, Austin on July 27, and Houston on July 30. Austin's hit triples everyday since and it's 102 in Dallas as I am writing this message. I know no one needs to be reminded of the weather this time of year, but it is exactly at this time that we should be keenly focused on climate - what might be, and what we can do about it beyond just avoiding being out in it. We have been enjoying a respite of sorts. This Summer has been a little milder than recent years, which is related to the unusually persistent record rains we enjoyed a few months ago. But now the rains are a memory. It's hot as blazes. Air conditioners are running overtime, energy demand is peaking, and in several cities, ozone levels have reached levels that present serious health risks, especially to children, the elderly, and people with respiratory and other vulnerabilities.

This is the time to reflect on the connection between air conditioning and energy demand, between coal and other unsustainable methods of energy production and dangerous ground level ozone. The hottest days are also a good time to be reminded that the record rains we enjoyed a few months ago were an anomaly for our region and not what we should expect in the future. When I hear the drought's demise proclaimed, I am reminded of Mark Twain, who is frequently misquoted as saying, "the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

Take Action

Trans-Pecos Pipeline Delayed - What Does It Mean for Big Bend?

The Federal Environmental Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced on July 24 that an environmental assessment must be carried out and studied for the full length of the 143-mile Trans-Pecos Pipeline proposed by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) that cuts through the Big Bend region. ETP had attempted to limit Federal review of the pipeline to just a 1,093-ft stretch underneath the Rio Grande River. The FERC announcement represents a relatively small procedural setback for the energy company's plans to build the controversial methane gas export project, but an opportunity for residents and businesses in the Big Bend area, as well as citizens everywhere who want to protect the wilderness of the Big Bend area, to raise issues with the project. You can help protect this beautiful corner of Texas! The Big Bend Sierra Club is currently raising funds to cover the attorney's fees for their initially filed comments at http://www.gofundme.com/bbsierraclub.

Take Action

15 Years and Counting - Residents Near ExxonMobil's Beaumont Refinery Tired of Waiting for EPA to Enforce Title VI of Civil Rights Act

Years of civil rights complaints have gone unexamined by the EPA. In July, Earthjustice filed a lawsuit on behalf of several groups, including the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter, to compel the EPA to fulfill its duties to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The complaints, according to the Earthjustice press release, "involve discrimination by the states in granting permits that subject already overburdened low-income communities of color to more big-polluting facilities." What's the story in Texas? In 2000, the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ, then called TNRCC), failed to consider the environmental burden that ExxonMobil's refinery expansion near Beaumont, Texas, would have on residents who already suffered from elevated levels of asthma and breast cancer due to pollutants in the area. The Sierra Club and other groups filed a complaint with the EPA under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

Walker: Commonsense Preparation for the Next Drought

There's no better time to reevaluate your outdoor water use than during Smart Irrigation Month. As July draws to a close, temperatures continue to rise, but your water use doesn’t need to follow suit. In Texas, outdoor water use, particularly lawn watering, accounts for almost one third of annual residential water use, and can be much higher during hot, dry summers. Instead of following this trend, let's learn from the drought and continue to limit outdoor watering. This commonsense water conservation strategy can result in significant water savings.

Charismatic Megafauna Reaches Milestone in Louisiana (Still Missing in Texas)

Although mostly unnoticed in Texas, a national conservation milestone has been achieved for the Louisiana Black Bear (Ursus americanus luteolus). The bear, federally-listed as threatened since January 1992 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is proposed to be delisted throughout its range in namesake Louisiana. Why does this matter in Texas? While the Louisiana black bear has made a remarkable recovery in Louisiana, it is still a vanished species west of the Sabine, a trophy to unregulated hunting and habitat fragmentation. It's believed that the last resident bear in Texas was killed in Polk County in the 1950s. There have been sporadic sightings, but they have all been transient males. Establishing a sustainable population in East Texas would require breeding females. That is why the proposed delisting in Louisiana is a cause for celebration with a tinge of regret.

A Remarkable Night - Lone Star Chapter Celebrates 2013 and 2014 Environmental Award Winners

Our annual Chapter Environmental Awards banquet was a huge success! We had a full house at the Blue Mesa Grill on July 18, and got the chance to honor two years worth of dedicated individuals and organizations in service to the environment. The awards recognized and rewarded efforts of volunteers, organizations, staff, and others that reflect Sierra Club's mission. In addition to several well-deserving volunteers and organizations, Conservation Director Cyrus Reed received the Chapter's highest honor (the Orrin Bonney Award), Houston Chronicle Editorial Cartoonist Nick Anderson received the Art in Service to the Environment award for his stellar three-part full-page series on the decades of pollution in the San Jacinto River, and Peter Bella received the Special Service Award for his work on a two year report that linked the relationship of emissions from oil and gas operations in the Eagle Ford Shale to diminishing air quality in the San Antonio region. The success of the event would not have been possible without the financial support of our generous sponsors.

Ken Kramer on SWIFT Funding Implementation Milestone

On July 23, the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) reached a milestone in the implementation of SWIFT funding for water management strategies and projects in the State Water Plan with its approval of the first round of funding. The SWIFT program was created by the Texas Legislature and ratified by voters in 2013. Ken Kramer, retired Lone Star Chapter Director and current Water Resources Chair, commended TWDB "for the efficient and expeditious way in which it is implementing the SWIFT program. The projects being funded are diverse, both geographically and in types of projects… The Sierra Club is especially supportive of SWIFT funding for the water conservation projects of the Cities of Bedford and Fort Worth, and the Hidalgo County Irrigation District #1."

Mannchen: Forest Service Begins Planning Effort in 2016

In 2016, the U.S. Forest Service (FS) will begin a four-year process to revise the existing National Forests and Grasslands in Texas (NFGT) forest plan. Usually, forest plans are revised every 10-15 years. However, our existing forest plan is already 19 years old! To say we are overdue for a change, is a vast understatement. Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Angelina, and Sabine National Forests and LBJ and Caddo Grasslands all deserve a revised plan with better and more protective environmental measures.

Bad Air Days Are Back - Is Your City Affected?

Texans associate a lot of things with our hot summers: swimming holes, trips to the coast, and warm nights spent outside with the fireflies to name a few. Unfortunately for Texans in urban areas, the unstoppable heat also harkens the arrival of ozone season making the outdoors a dangerous place. The Lone Star Chapter's Communications Intern Madeline Detelich wrote that, as of July 1, ozone monitors in the Houston area had detected ten separate days on which the average ozone level was 76 ppb or higher. Dallas had seven high ozone days. These two cities are respectively ranked 6 and 8 on the list of cities with the worst ozone pollution in the United States in 2014 according to the American Lung Association. The San Antonio area had three high ozone days, El Paso had three, and Longview had one.

With HB 40 on the Books, Will Local Governments Be Able To Make Progress on Badly Damaged Roads?

When Denton citizens came together last year to pass an unprecedented local ban on new hydraulic fracturing, retaliation by the powerful oil and gas industry seemed inevitable. With the passage of HB 40 this year, the 84th Legislature and Governor Greg Abbott reasserted the supremacy of the oil and gas industry lobby in the state of Texas. While it may not have come as a surprise, its predictability did little to soften the blow. The new law severely limits local governments' ability to protect their citizens from harm caused by the oil and gas industry. Local bans and regulation of below-ground-activities—such as making sure wells have shut-off valves in the event of a hurricane or allowing city officials to inspect the cement and casing jobs—are strictly prohibited. Municipalities, counties, and other political subdivisions are only left with limited power to regulate above-ground activity related to an oil and gas operation and only if those regulations are deemed commercially reasonable. And just what is "commercially reasonable"?

Griggs - Chapter PAC Support Influential in Dallas City Council Elections

The Sierra Club Political Committee of Texas (the Lone Star Chapter PAC) was active in supporting candidates again this Spring in the Dallas City Council elections. The PAC made contributions to several candidates which provided much-needed support in some of the hard-fought contests. In a crucial election which was touted as a referendum on the future of several local environmental issues, namely the fate of the Trinity Toll Road, the plastic bag ban, and other matters related to Dallas' fracking ordinance, the Sierra Club made endorsements in 12 of Dallas' 15 city council districts. The goal was to elect a majority of at least eight environmentally leaning council members to advocate for those causes. Five of the Sierra Club's stalwart supporters won re-election, and three additional endorsed candidates were elected as new members of the Council, bringing the potential of an eight vote majority on some of these important issues.

La Loma: A Group Poem By Young Scholars For Justice

Last month, we posted about La Loma, a special green space in East Austin that has been neglected by the city and strewn with years of toxic trash. ATX EJ leaders and Sierra Club Outings went on a hike with Pete Rivera and his brother Raymond, who have explored there for decades. Several Young Scholars for Justice (YSJ), a program of PODER, also traversed La Loma and saw first hand the discrepancy between green spaces east and west of I-35. Steps are being taken to persuade the city of Austin to clean up this beautiful space and protect it. Meanwhile, Rivera, a leader with the Springdale-Airport Neighborhood Association and PODER board member, shared a moving poem, written collectively by recent YSJ graduates.

Outings Across Texas

• That was quick. New Braunfels residents must again adhere to once-a-week landscape sprinkler limits as of July 27, and San Antonio and other cities in the area might soon follow suit. Via the Express-News, "even though drought isn't bearing down on the area right now, SAWS officials said the utility is asking customers to fill out a brief online survey about the city's conservation rules."
• Sierra Club's Fort Worth Regional Group is leading an initiative that could add Fort Worth to the growing list of cities with plastic ban bags. The thin, yet hardly degradable bags are a common eyesore, and animals ingest them. Yet, they can be easily phased out and replaced with reusable bags.
• The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will soon wrap up its full-day Eco-Summit series to educate Texans on how they can help to conserve and protect our native wildlife. The final meeting will be in Houston, August 11: 6200 Hermann Park Dr.
• Finally, get ready to celebrate the National Park Service's 100th birthday in 2016 with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department!