Commentary
Momentum Begins Growing for Port of Houston Pressure
Our new efforts to bring the Port of Houston under closer scrutiny are being joined by local news, Houston's own ABC13, KTRK. Check out their recent report below:
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Port of Houston Authority Placed Under Unprecedented Review by the Texas Legislature
In an unprecedented move this past legislative session, the Texas Legislature placed the Port of Houston Authority under the State’s Sunset Review process. Sunset Review is the regular intensive assessment by the Sunset Advisory Commission as to whether a state agency should continue to exist. This is the first time ever that a port authority has been brought under such legislative scrutiny in Texas.
Perhaps not coincidentally, this legislative action followed closely on the heels of media reporting back in April and May of alleged extensive misuse of public funds by the Port. In late May, just before the end of the legislative session, Senator John Whitmire of Houston successfully got an amendment adopted to a House bill, then being debated on the floor of the Senate, which dealt generally with the powers and duties of navigation districts and port authorities. Senator Whitmire’s amendment, ultimately enacted as part of that House bill, as well as in the Legislature’s biennial Sunset Review scheduling legislation, placed the Port under Sunset Review as if it were a state agency.
Even though the express language of this landmark legislation provides that the Sunset Review will not result in the Port being abolished, it requires full assessment of the Port’s governance, management, and operating structure, as well as its compliance with legislative requirements. In another fairly unique gesture, the Legislature required the Port to pay all costs incurred by the Sunset Advisory Commission in performing the required review.
Placing the Port under the Sunset Review process affords the Legislature a unique opportunity to look closely at the Port and make fundamental changes to its mission or operations if needed. Likewise, through the openness, full public participation and accountability that guide Sunset reviews, the public and interested stakeholders are afforded an important opportunity to provide valuable information about how well or poorly the Port performs its functions and what changes should be made to address any deficiencies. Individuals and organizations can participate by identifying potential issues for study and by commenting on proposed changes to the Port. This can be done by: providing input to the Sunset staff during their review process; commenting on staff findings and recommendations in Sunset reports; testifying at public hearings held by the Sunset Advisory Commission; and taking part in the legislative session when the Sunset Review’s findings and recommendations on the Port will be considered by the Legislature.
The Sunset review of the Port of Houston is required to be presented to the Texas Legislature in its 2013 session, but the process has already begun with the Port submitting the required Self Evaluation Report with the Sunset Commission. According to the Port, its Self Evaluation Report highlights three basic components: “public, which seeks to be a good steward of the public welfare; business, which promotes and facilitates commerce in the region; and the Houston Ship Channel, a vital, national resource which must be improved, maintained and protected for future generations.” However, given the areas of assessment expressly directed by the Legislature, as well as full participation by the public and interested stakeholders, the Port’s Sunset Review will likely be much broader in scope.
The Port’s Self Evaluation Report will be available to the public on the Sunset Commission’s website as soon as the staff who will conduct the review are assigned, which is expected sometime in September. Once the review team is assigned, comments or other information relating to the Port can be submitted to the Sunset staff for their review and use in conducting their evaluation and preparing their report. The Sunset Commission’s website will provide routine updates associated with the Port’s Sunset Review.
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The Pete Olson Fight Club
It’s not that Congressman Pete Olson of the 22nd District doesn’t want voters to know how well things are going in Washington D.C. but, he usually does so in a controlled manner. Something he probably learned from his mentor and previous boss Senator Cornyn. Olson’s regular town halls are really town calls where constituents can phone in to hear the Congressman rattle off his latest accomplishments – so many in fact that there is never any time for questions. So, who knows what compelled Pete Olson to hold a series of public town hall meetings throughout his district - which stretches from Fort Bend County to the Bay Area. Peer pressure? Campaign fever? The 106◦F heat? Whatever the reason he must have had second thoughts as soon as he walked past the protestors outside the Clear Lake High School auditorium where his town hall was being held today.
Olson knew the event would be a challenge. Besides the protestors outside handing out flyers listing his dismal voting record, he had to contend with a multitude of recently laid off NASA workers inside. To soften up the crowd of approximately 500, Congressman Olson passed out a multiple-choice quiz as part of his “No Voter Left Behind” program. No sooner had he started to review the first question than the heckling started – “Where are the jobs!” and “Medicaid Killer!” Olson acted as if he hadn’t heard anything and went on to question #2 on the quiz. From the back of the auditorium came - “ I’m a Republican and I’m ashamed of you!” With that several people in Tea Party t-shirts shouted back- “Shut Up! Let the man speak”. By the 3rd question Olson had lost total control of his carefully orchestrated town hall. But, he continued with his civics test and followed that up with a short power point presentation. The heckling and respondent tea party threats never stopped. “Where is my job!” versus “Where is your green card!” Even with a microphone Olson had to scream over the caterwaul among the spectators. The town hall had quickly achieved World Wrestling Championship status.
In between rounds the crowd quieted down enough for Olson to take a few questions submitted to him via post cards that had been passed up from the audience. Most questions where either of the “Why don’t millionaires pay taxes?” kind or of the “Where is my job?” genre. However, my heart skipped a beat when I heard Olson read a question that dealt with air quality – very similar to the query that I had submitted, now lost somewhere in the growing pile of post cards. Olson immediately complained that EPA was trampling on state’s rights by interfering with the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality. The jabs started again – “Houston’s air quality sucks!” from the right. “That’s not EPA’s fault!” from the left. Now hoarse from yelling, Olson further explained that since he moved into the district the air has so improved that - “I can see downtown from my house”. And, in order to throw the presently unemployed a bone, he reminded them that he is currently pushing for the approval of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline that will eventually transport tar sands oil from the boreal forests in Canada to the environmental justice communities of Port Arthur and Houston for refining, creating 50,000 jobs for Texans in the process. This was met with a mixture of boos and applause which introduced another round in the screaming match amongst the audience. But, despite the barroom brawl atmosphere, there was no attempt to rush the stage or each other. The only one that was in any real danger was the Clear Lake High School podium. In frustration over the situation or in his zeal to get his point across, Olson would thrust his hips into the podium moving it each time closer to the edge of the stage. I imagined the podium falling into the front row like a rock star giving himself up to the adoring fans below.
The town hall ended none too soon. By the end of the ordeal, Olson was visibly sweating and his suit was crumpled. The Congressman stayed on the stage to catch his breath and shake hands with some supporters while the auditorium emptied out into the hallway where impromptu debates would break out among people that wanted to prolong the experience. And, as I walked past the protestors on my way to the parking lot I couldn’t help but wonder if what I just witnessed was a knee-jerk reaction to hard times or the first tremors of revolution in Congressional District 22. If anything, maybe a jobs based upheaval in the district could lead to a more honest appraisal of our region’s environmental and air quality challenges. Even more fitting when Clear Lake, site of the town hall, is on a string of four consecutive orange ozone days.
Hello Los Angeles, Houston, and the San Joaquin Valley, May I Introduce You to Cleaner Air
This blog was written by guest blogger, Adrian Martinez of the National Resource Defense Council. Originally posted here.
Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in favor of clean air and promoting stronger public health for millions of Americans. The case dealt with a challenge to an EPA guidance document that failed to hold some of the nation’s most polluted regions accountable to clean air standards. Specifically, the Guidance document dealt with a fee that should be assessed when regions fail to meet a clean air standard for ozone on time. As EPA reports—
Despite having decades to meet federal clean air standards, several regions have failed to meet even the most basic standards. These regions include the Los Angeles region, San Joaquin Valley of California, and Houston, Texas. When Congress amended the Clean Air Act in 1990, it sought to create more mechanisms to push regions with especially bad pollution to actually meet clean air standards on time. One of the provisions they added was a fee on the largest stationary sources of pollution in these regions (e.g. refineries, powerplants, etc.). The fee was meant to encourage regions to actually meet the standards on time or suffer the consequences of paying a fee. It also serves as an incentive for regions that fail to meet standards to fix the problem quickly to make the fee go away.
The decision of the Court is significant because it ensures that the nation’s most polluted regions truly address dirty air sources that promote increased rates of asthma in children and the elderly, impede lung function and promote other health ailments to residents throughout these regions.
Also, the decision will compel these regions to revisit and revise their plans to clean the air. For example, in the Los Angeles region, we have no viable plan in place to actually meet the standard we just failed to meet on November 15, 2010. With no plan in place, it makes the decision of the D.C. Circuit all the more important because it compels regions to engage in the difficult task of revising their failed plans to clean the air.
In the end, I want to thank the lawyers at Earthjustice who did an amazing job representing NRDC in this case. They should be commended for their excellent lawyering and the great impact it will have on the health of children, the elderly, and every resident in some of the nation’s most polluted urban areas. We are one step closer to breathing cleaner air thanks to today’s decision.
