Where is the leadership in Texas?

Commentary by David Van Winkle

Having attended the UN Conference on Climate Change in Montreal last month, I see a large gap between the climate change actions of the world and Texas.

Many other nations, states, and cities have recognized that climate change is real, accelerating, and caused by human activities. Further, these nations, states, and cities are taking action to address the problem. While many developed nations have committed to mandatory reduction of greenhouse gases, the U.S. administration has stated that the U.S. can best address the problem with voluntary actions. So, let’s see if Texas is taking voluntary actions.

In 38 states across the U.S., 195 U.S. cities have signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement a.k.a. Cool Cities Program. This agreement commits the city to action to address climate change. Texas cities that have signed this agreement include McKinney, Denton, Hurst, Austin, and Laredo. Major cities that have signed up include Albuquerque, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC. It should be noted that Dallas and Houston are not on the list and these two cities are also #2 and #3 for worst air quality in the country amongst major cities. Not much action in Texas at the city level.

Many state governors and legislators are taking action. Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) at the state level drive increasing use of clean renewable energy sources, such as wind, to higher percentages of total electricity production. Twenty states have an RPS to increase use of renewable energy. Texas’s RPS currently increases to 2% (2000 MW) by 2009. Now, we all know that Texas is a windy place, especially in west Texas and the panhandle area. In fact, these locations are some of the best wind in the country. In 2004, a Texas Energy Planning Council report indicated that the wind energy capacity in Texas is more than 100,000MW, (50 times the current RPS for Texas). This report also recommended increasing the Texas RPS to 5% or 5000MW by 2012-5 and to 10% or 10,000MW by 2025. Texas legislators chose to not increase the RPS in the 1H05 legislative session. How does this compare other major states? It is California’s policy to get to 20% renewable energy by 2010. California’s Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order in mid-2005 that outlined the major problems that climate change will cause for California….”rising sea levels threaten valuable coastal real estate property and natural habitats”, (including destruction of fresh water supplies near the coast that will be destroyed due to due salt water ingress). It further stated “increased temperatures threaten to exacerbate air quality problems and impact human health by increasing….the risk of asthma, respiratory, and other health problems.” Is the coast of Texas immune to these issues? Is air quality less important for Texans than residents of California? Where is Texas leadership action on these important issues?