H-Town Man Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 Toytoa not chosing Houston due to pollution is more urban legend than fact.And with Harris county getting serious about new (non-grandfathered) plant emmisions, why would they come here? The Toytoa plant will pollute. It's not like they are putting together Legos. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> All right. You win. Corporations never consider quality of life when choosing where to relocate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 We both know they do, but the Toyota move is urban legend.And what's funny is they are more than happy to use our port. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 All right. You win. Corporations never consider quality of life when choosing where to relocate. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> :rolf: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Toytoa not chosing Houston due to pollution is more urban legend than fact.And with Harris county getting serious about new (non-grandfathered) plant emmisions, why would they come here?The Toytoa plant will pollute. It's not like they are putting together Legos.It's a fact, Jack. The Houston area has, in addition to health concerns, economic reasons for seeking cleaner air. Air pollution causes lost jobs and less economic expansion.A case in point is Toyota 's decision to drop Houston as a potential site for its new truck plant because our area failed to meet clean air standards. The plant , with its thousands of new jobs and millions of dollars in additional taxes, will be located instead in San Antonio .LinkIt's from an archive search, so if the link doesn't work the reference is Houston ChronicleApril 18, 2003Page 36"SMOKE STACKS /Anti-pollution laws should be stronger, not weaker "THE Houston area never really was in the running for the Toyota manufacturing plant that will be constructed south of San Antonio .One primary reason was dirty air.For one thing, Toyota never considers locating plants in areas that don't comply with federal clean air regulations, a company spokesman said.Houston is in what is known as a nonattainment zone. The air is too polluted to meet Environmental Protection Agency regulations.The Greater Houston Partnership on Wednesday labeled as "unfortunate" the air problem's bearing on whether the Houston area could be considered."We were initially considered," partnership spokesman David McCollum said. "But when they found out we were nonattainment, then we were no longer considered."Houston ChronicleFebruary 6, 2003Page 1"Houston not a contender because of dirty air " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Very good, but like I said, they would have to work harder to comply in Houston.It's easier to pollute in San Antonio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeightsGuy Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 It is not easier to pollute in San Antonio. San Antonio sits on the Edwards Aquifer. As such there are some pretty tough EPA regulations. You can't just drop an industrial site wherever you want to over there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb434 Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 It would have cost Toyota more to build a facility in Houston to meet the more stringent EPA requirements that were set for the city by the Feds.In San Antonio, Toyota doesn't have to build all of the enivronmental controls that you would in Houston, therefore being a cheaper facility to build.In a roundabout way it was our dirty air, but not because of attracting the employees, but for Toyota's own pocket book. I'd much rather have the Wal-Mart Distribution center than Toyota because it less harmful to our environment.The Chronicle seems to have a way wanting to criticize and blame the city first. They as usual don't cover the whole story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeightsGuy Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 KJB, do you have the rest of the story on this one? Toyota is making claims that the plant in San Antonio will be one of the most environmentally friendly auto plants in the World.While I am usually one of the first to call BS whenever a corporation says something like this, Toyota has recieved a LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) by the U.S. Green Building Council for another one of their plants, so it looks like they are willing to cough up the money to be a good neighbor whether they are forced to or not.In this case, their statements regarding not wanting to be in Houston because of pollution seem genuine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Can someone tell me what is being done to clean up our air? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yall_are_nutty Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Can someone tell me what is being done to clean up our air?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) are precursors of ozone. Since 1980, the number of ozone exceedance days in the Houston CMSA has fallen about 40 percent even as the population grew by 50 percent, largely through reductions in man-made VOCs.Source: U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyThe Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, the largest mass transit company in Texas, uses the latest in clean-burning fuels for its entire fleet of 1,460 buses as one step in a plan to control emissions.Source: Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris CountyThe Houston-Galveston region had nearly 260 tons of NOx reductions last year as a result of private and public entities utilizing alternative fuel vehicles in their fleets.Source: Houston-Galveston Area Council Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yall_are_nutty Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Ten cities had worse overall air quality in 2003 than Houston, as measured by the Environmental Protection Agency Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Hizzy! Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Fresno = 108.Wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb434 Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Yeah, we aren't that bad as some people think. Our Geographical location assists us a lot. No mountains to trap our pollutants like in LA. Our pollutants are allowed to diffuse into the air and become less of a hazard. Also, just because the Toyotal plant meets the LEED criteria doesn't mean it doesn't pollute. It just meets there requirements (which is not hard to do).Most coal electric plants meet the LEED criteria also. The older ones will meet it soon when W's energy bill is passed.New facilities built in Houston have to perform better than the LEED criteria. So Toyota would have had to probably do more adjustments in there plant if located in Houston. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeightsGuy Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Hey, KJB, can you point out the coal plants you're talking about? I'll add the link to the LEED project list......LEED Certified Project List Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Yeah, we aren't that bad as some people think. Our Geographical location assists us a lot. No mountains to trap our pollutants like in LA. Our pollutants are allowed to diffuse into the air and become less of a hazard. Also, just because the Toyotal plant meets the LEED criteria doesn't mean it doesn't pollute. It just meets there requirements (which is not hard to do).Most coal electric plants meet the LEED criteria also. The older ones will meet it soon when W's energy bill is passed.New facilities built in Houston have to perform better than the LEED criteria. So Toyota would have had to probably do more adjustments in there plant if located in Houston.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>What the....I think you may be talking about something entirely different kj. I've actually got a copy of the LEED standards (architect friend gave it to me), and it is not a simple process. The only LEED certified building in Houston is Spaw Glass. And I've never heard of a generating plant even attempting certification.BTW, W's energy bill LESSENS standards on the environment. How does this make things better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb434 Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Hey, KJB, can you point out the coal plants you're talking about? I'll add the link to the LEED project list......LEED Certified Project ListLEED and Coal and Steel IndustriesI would admit that the actual facilities for coal will NOT be on the list, but the coal and steel industries are working closely with LEED groups to produce needed materials for recycling. Ever heard of lighweight or slag concrete. These concrete design mixes use the waste from coal and steel (smoke stake soot) to create mix supplements for concrete.Often used in the construction of buildings especially if they want to obtain and LEED certification. The builder and architect can claim the use of recyled material such as fly ash (from coal) in there buildings. The coal plants and retrofitted coal plants trapped the pollutants produced and sell it off as fly ash. Coal industry is working to obtain some sort accolade for producing this waste (resource). The sheer amount of this stuff used in most concrete on exterior of new buildings helps many of them obtain the LEED or get them close to it.If they didn't use this stuff they wouldn't be able to claim as much recycling credit for certification.I'm also working on getting my LEED certification as an engineer. You need a fairly impressive resume to get this and it is very advantageous for career advancement.A complany having someone who is LEED certified working for them can obtain some projects that were previouse out of reach for them to work on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 Coal and steel plants are to be commended for finding new uses for the waste they generate.However, using fly ash in the concrete for my building to score LEED points is a far cry from saying a coal electric plant that produces the ash is LEED certified. Thanks for the clarification.And, I still want to know what George W. "friend of the environment" Bush and his energy bill has to do with LEED. Is he proposing legislation to water down LEED standards, so his polluting buddies can claim to be environmentalists?I am glad to hear you are studying for LEED certification yourself. The more architects and engineers that are certified, the more people there are to educate those who build buildings. I look forward to the day when we ask why a building isn't LEED in Houston, as opposed to talking about the one that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineda Posted July 16, 2005 Share Posted July 16, 2005 WAL-MART TRIES GREEN MCKINNEY, Texas (dallasnews.com) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted July 16, 2005 Share Posted July 16, 2005 Well, I'll be damned. Maybe you can teach an old behemoth new tricks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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