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Celebrate the closing of CPS’ ‘dirty’ Deely plant

By Briauna Barrera,
Published in the San Antonio Express-News 

The J.K. Spruce plant, left, is seen at the entrance to the CPS Energy Plants, on Wednesday, April 25. The coal-fired Deely plant will be shut down but the Spruce plant will remain open.

Photo: Bob Owen /San Antonio Express-News
Confetti: Us

On Dec. 31, CPS Energy will ring in the new year by shutting down one of its two coal-fired power plants.

Situated at Calaveras Lake in the deep Southeast Side of San Antonio, two looming coal plants sit like angry giants. From their bodies, streaming clouds of polluting smoke rise. This smoke, filled with microscopic pieces of poison, finds its way into everything: our land, our air, our water and our bodies. There is no crack too small, no resource too protected, no person too healthy to evade the poison that emits from these behemoths.

The poison from these coal plants greatly contributes to the facts that San Antonio leads the state in child hospitalization rates from asthma, is increasingly getting hotter, is experiencing more and more drought, and has air so polluted it no longer meets federal standards for air quality.

In general, coal contributes to an array of intensely harmful effects on public health, such as increasing chances of cardiovascular disease and the release of mercury and lead, which deteriorate the nervous and immune systems.

The good news is JT “Dirty” Deely will soon no longer be able to release poison.

There is a soot-colored line in this monumental news: The Spruce coal-fired power plant is staying open with no shut-off date set. While Deely has a total capacity for energy production at 932 megawatts, Spruce’s total capacity is 1,336 megawatts, and it runs more often. In a report released in 2013 called “America’s Dirtiest Power Plants,” Deely didn’t make the list, but Spruce came in 67th place. While one polluting giant topples, another will continue, without any stop in sight, as confirmed in CPS Energy’s “Flexible Path” energy generation plan that projects burning one of Spruce’s two units into the 2040s and possibly even longer.

However, despite the continued use of Spruce, a celebration is in order. It is a celebration that grounds us in the accomplishments of now, while positioning us toward the horizon of progress still to be made. At this horizon stands a world with no coal plants and no natural gas infrastructure. A world where children never struggle to breathe, where workers have secure jobs in safe settings, where the planet and our bodies are free of pollution from fossil fuels. The timeline to reach this horizon is urgent, but it is a horizon that is within reach and comes with assurance of better and healthier lives for all life on our shared planetary home.

The Climate Action SA coalition — which consists of dozens of environmental and social justice organizations, including Public Citizen — is throwing a party to celebrate this amazing moment. Come ready to eat, drink and dance! We are coming together to celebrate cleaner air, water and land, for better health for the people and environment of San Antonio and the surrounding areas, and to start to realize the better world we know we could achieve through a rapid, just transition to renewable energy.

The Dirty Deely Coal Plant Shutdown Celebration will take place Dec. 15 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Galleria Guadalupe, 723 S. Brazos St., in San Antonio. Click here to register to attend this event.

Briauna Barrera is an organizer with Public Citizen and a member of Climate Action SA coalition.

Public Citizen and SEED Coalition Submit Comments on Waste Control Specialists LLC’s Consolidated Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility Project

On November 19, 2018, Public Citizen and the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition submitted scoping comments regarding the license application of ISP’s WCS’ Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) (Docket # NRC-2016-0231) on behalf of Public Citizen members in Texas as well as members of SEED Coalition, many of whom would be particularly affected by this proposed project, either as neighbors near the site or because they live near the rail lines that would carry this risky radioactive cargo through their communities.

A State of Nevada Report regarding the transportation of high-level radioactive waste to the proposed Yucca Mountain repository project led off by stating that it “has the potential to wreak economic, social, and environmental devastation on at least 44 states, including Nevada, hundreds of major cities and thousands of communities across the country through which spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) must travel.”[1] The report noted that tens of thousands of shipments of highly radioactive waste would be an “inseparable and dominant component of the federal government’s repository program “and lamented the fact that the Secretary of Energy recommended that “Yucca Mountain be developed as a repository without full disclosure of these transportation impacts and without having assessed the implications of the program for the nation as a whole…”[2]

What began in 1983 as a noble experiment that promised to place science ahead of politics, and fairness, equity, and openness above parochialism has degenerated into a technical and ethical quagmire, where facts are routinely twisted to serve predetermined ends and where “might makes right” has replaced “consultation, concurrence, and cooperation” as the guiding principle for the program. The shoddy and politically driven science, the heavy-handed federal approach, the constant changing of the rules to negate disqualifying conditions and “inconvenient” findings, and the deliberate avoidance of responsibility for considering socioeconomic impacts have created an atmosphere of severe distrust, where the already significant impacts associated with the nuclear nature of the program are further exacerbated and amplified. The result is a massive suite of negative impacts, national in scope, inextricably linked to the Yucca Mountain program, and unprecedented in the history of federal government domestic projects.[3]

Unfortunately, the same politically driven science and heavy-handed federal approach are still in use today as evidenced by the ill-conceived, ill-advised proposals to store spent nuclear fuel in Texas and New Mexico. As with Yucca Mountain, the nation would be put at unprecedented risk by the thousands of shipments of high-level radioactive waste across the country. At least the goal with the failed Yucca Mountain site was a permanent repository. Consolidated interim storage, by contrast, does not move our nation toward permanent disposal. This approach could delay a viable repository, while unnecessarily risking health and safety and creating financial liability. This proposal also creates the very real risk that a interim repository will become a de facto permanent storage site—a use for which it was never intended and would be wholly unsuited. More

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishes you a safe and happy
Thanksgiving Holiday

And when you return, join us to start the rest of your holiday celebrations at
The 11th Annual Austin Green Holiday Party
Presented by Barr Mansion & The Shades of Green Radio Show

Barr Mansion & Shades of Green Radio Show Present
The 11th Annual Austin Green Holiday Party

Thursday, December 13th, 2018 6pm – 10pm
Hosted and Sponsored by Barr Mansion
10463 Sprinkle Rd., Austin, TX 78754 (www.barrmansion.com)

Advance Tickets $25.00, ($30.00 at door) REGISTER HERE
(Tickets include appetizers, dinner, all drinks and live music)

Co-Hosted by:

The Austin Green Holiday Party comes together every December to celebrate our victories and regroup for the good fight in the coming year. This will be our 11th year enjoying great friends, food, drink and music in a festive mixer that provides cross-pollination for a variety of great organizations. This year, 14 organizations are co-hosting.

Experience how we are at the nexus of a merging of the environmental and food movements while enjoying a buffet featuring a variety of  seasonal, all-organic favorites.

 

Our beverage sponsors include:

 

We welcome the return of the magical sounds of Seu Jacinto, a group introducing and developing traditional Northeastern Brazilian culture to Central Texas. Seu Jacinto pays homage to the masters of the Brazilian folk musical traditions of forró, coco, cavalo marinho, and many other Northeast Brazilian rhythms.

A big year is ahead so let’s enjoy our extended family and refresh our spirits for whatever comes next. We look forward to seeing you!

 

Public comments for State Bar proposed rules changes due November 1st

Ever wonder who makes rules for how an attorney interacts with you as a client?  That would be the Texas State Bar, and as of 2011, non-attorneys can submit comments on the proposed rule changes.  Now is your chance.
The Committee on Disciplinary Rules and Referenda (CDRR) has published proposed rules changes regarding attorney – client confidentiality/ethics advice and diminished capacity.  You can see the proposed rule change by clicking on Publication 18-3 and 18-4- final_v5-4
 
A public hearing on the proposed rules was held on October 10, 2018.
 
The committee is accepting comments concerning the proposed rules through November 1, 2018.  Comments can be submitted at texasbar.com/CDRR .
 
The committee was created by Government Code section 81.0872 and is responsible for overseeing the initial process for proposing a disciplinary rule. For more information, go to texasbar.com/CDRR .
Feel free to share this post with anyone you know who might want to weigh in on these rules.

Drive Electric

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UPDATE:  Yes the Austin Drive Electric Event is still happening on Saturday 9/15/2018 (as of 9/14/2018 3:30 PM)

Guest submission by Michael Osborne, founding member and current Texas Electric Transportation Resources Alliance (TxETRA) board Chair. 

There is something to driving electric that is more than the sum of its parts.  Sure, they are faster (generally), they are quieter, you don’t have to breath dangerous chemicals to make them go, and there is some comfort in the fact that if you accidentally fall asleep in your car while parked in the garage, you actually will wake up.

Most electric cars are smarter than their smoking hillbilly cousins and they are definitely cheaper to drive.  Want to pay a dollar for gas… drive electric.  Want to never spend $129.00 dollars on an oil change, oil filter, and air filter again… drive electric.  Tired of waiting for your car as your mechanic finishes that brake job on your 3 year old car…drive electric.

Plus, you might experience what I experienced several months ago.  I was driving east on Hwy 290, a little faster than the speed limit, when this huge “dually” truck  (four tires on the rear axel) comes roaring around me.  It’s a real fancy black truck with shiny dual vertical chrome exhaust pipes running up on both sides of the cabin. There was probably some stickers that I didn’t read but I suspect that the long haired driver was a member of a political class that rhymes with bumper.

So this guy passes me, then abruptly slows down in front of me. Then, with the flick of some switch, he zooms off leaving a huge noxious black cloud of smoke in his tracks, with me in those tracks; I mean thick black smoke like a locomotive in a western movie.

I had been “smoked”.

And yes, that is a thing.

Surely, I deserved it in his eyes, I was driving the fastest, smartest car on the road in my judgment, and he needed to communicate his unhappiness with that. It was a first amendment thing.

So watch out for those smokers.

Personally, I’m on my second electric car.  The one I have now is all electric, and the one I had before was a plug-in hybrid. The plug-in hybrid went about 40 miles on electric fuel, and then if I needed to travel, the on-board generator would kick in.  There was zero range anxiety and as a cultural transition vehicle, it is pretty smart.  A plug-in hybrid embodies the 80/20 rule quite nicely.  With 80% of trips under 40 miles, then make those emission free trips.  When you drive to Memphis, do that with gas.

I don’t have that option with my “S”.  If I’m traveling out of town, I need to do a little planning.  Fortunately, the computer makes that easy.  One night I got down to about 25 miles before I pulled into the high-speed charger behind the discount mall at mile 202.  Within a few minutes, I had 120 miles again, and Austin was only 30 miles away. Most of the time I charge overnight and wake up to a car that is almost always full and ready to go.

But electric driving is different.  You don’t think of getting a fill-up.  You think of getting home.  Because, unlike a gas car, you get most of your “go” at home.

Electric Car sales are gearing up so to speak.

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, “cumulative passenger EV sales worldwide are set to hit 4 million this week.  Including electric buses, the 4 million threshold has already been reached. At the end of June, there were more than 3.5 million passenger EVs sold globally and about 421,000 electric buses, bringing the total number of EVs sold to 3.97 million.

Sales were driven in large part by China, which is responsible for around 37 percent of passenger EVs sold around the world since 2011 and around 99 percent of e-buses.”

Bloomberg goes on:

Setting e-buses aside, we expect cumulative passenger EV sales to reach 4 million units before the start of September 2018. There are several new EV models that we expect to come to the market before the end of 2018, which should help increase sales numbers globally.

The next million EVs will take just over 6 months. We expect the five-millionth EV to be sold in March 2019.

 

There is a professor at Texas A & M who considers himself an electric car expert.  He doesn’t believe that we will ever replace the advanced gasoline cars of today because they are just so good.

He also doesn’t drive an electric car.

He also doesn’t believe that climate change is a transcendent problem. That in order to get the carbon out of our world, we will need to run our cars on wind and solar.  And with enough electric cars, we will have enough stored energy to do it.

Driving Electric is more than the sum of its parts, because electric transportation is the building block to a carbon-free world.

September is a good a time to start because it’s Drive Electric Week from the 8th to the 16th.  Here in Texas, there will be events in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and Austin.  The Dallas event is in Grapevine on Sept 8th, and the Austin event is on the 15th.

Join us in Austin on Electric Drive Saturday, September 15th, and climb into the driver’s seat of the newest electric vehicles available. There will also be the latest scooters, motorcycles, mopeds, buses, skateboards and bikes. Grab lunch from one of our food trucks and enjoy the live music, workshops and activities for kids!

Sponsored locally by Public Citizen, the Texas Electric Transportation Resources Alliance (TxETRA), Austin Energy, and SmartCharge America, it might be your opportunity to become part of the solution.

Hopefully, it will help keep us all from getting “smoked”.

Michael Osborne led the Plug-in Partners effort to develop the 10,000-plus  soft orders that led to the production of GM’s Chevy Volt.  In the 1980s, Osborne saw the potential of Texas’ vast wind and solar energy resources. He co-founded the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Alliance (TREIA) and The Wind Coalition, both of which successfully advocated policies that helped make Texas the No. 1 wind energy producer in the nation and fifth in the world for wind energy production.

The Texas Electric Transportation Resources Alliance (TxETRA) is a nonprofit organization composed of electric energy vehicle manufacturers, industry leaders, developers, distributors, producers, utilities, and environmental and transportation equity groups. Their mission is to guide and accelerate the adoption of electrical transportation in all its forms, in the most cost-effective way, providing maximum benefit to the citizens of Texas.

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