Mayor Bill White to negotiate with plants across Houston region to reduce levels of benzene

[musicman]

Unbelievable. It's one thing for the State to completely shirk its responsibility to enforce its own laws on air quality. But, it's another thing altogether to pass laws forcing the City not to help itself. This is akin to the fire department not only refusing to put out the fire, but blocking the exits as well.

Full Disclosure: I own a ton of Exxon stock. After posting a $38 BILLION profit last year, several million to clean the air of the city it calls home won't hurt it one bit.

I am disgusted.

be grateful that air quality is improving. i'm sure you realize that if the company wanted to be more environmentally friendly they could. federal laws are tightening and emissions are heading down. While it may not be at the pace that most environmentally friendly people would like, it is improving. engines used in most mowers pollute more than a car. one would think that different types of engines might have been phased into by now. unfortunately they haven't

Things like this coming out of Texas aren't even surprising any more. I've spent the last 10 years defending my birthplace but it's getting harder and harder to do.

if only the PEOPLE would wake the F up...

we'll i'd hope all states defend cities' rights too.

[TheNiche]

Unbelievable. It's one thing for the State to completely shirk its responsibility to enforce its own laws on air quality. But, it's another thing altogether to pass laws forcing the City not to help itself. This is akin to the fire department not only refusing to put out the fire, but blocking the exits as well.

Pollution regulations can be made reasonably, but I'd argue that the City of Houston isn't the one that needs to enforce them. Pollution is a regional issue, and so it should be handed off to the regional council of governments (H-GAC in our case) or the State, and then strictly enforced. Mayor White may (or may not) have had reason to be frustrated and seek action for damages caused to his city by refineries in other cities, but he overreached in his attempts to effect change.

Think of two neighbors bickering because one has dogs in their back yard that bark and howl at all hours of the day and night. City ordinances are supposed to prevent that, but it is difficult to enforce them, so the frustrated neighbor buys some muzzles, jumps the fence, and applies them to the dogs. Was that the correct approach?

Analogously, Mayor White tried to be sort of a civic vigilante...but he didn't get very far. ...and he shouldn't have. He should've called the police and failing that, gone up the chain of command. It isn't as though he's a lame duck politician. He speaks and people listen.

Full Disclosure: I own a ton of Exxon stock. After posting a $38 BILLION profit last year, several million to clean the air of the city it calls home won't hurt it one bit.

I am disgusted.

What do you care so much about Baytown?

[MidtownCoog]

This is another case of Texas needing Houston more than Houston needs Texas.

All the rural legislators protect their own and don't care about the big city.

And considering we have misguided State Reps like Garnett Coleman working for us, we get what we deserve.

Nothing.

Exxon is from D/FW last time I checked.

[RedScare]

Rather than use quotes, I'll just respond randomly, so everyone may have to scroll up to see the quote.

CDeb and others, White's proposal was to sue individual companies, not the city that they reside in. This is not a city suing a city, as it has been painted. I agree that White should have used his consensus building skills to get the eastside cities on board first. However, the suits are nuisance suits against particular plants. In this way, it is not similar to suing Houston for its criminals. It would be more akin to suing the criminals themselves for creating a nuisance. Houston does this to its OWN businesses, for instance, ice houses that do not control their patrons.

musicman, federal laws are not tightening. They are loosening. In fact, you give an example of this yourself with the lawn mower example. Additionally, the Administration is slashing EPA funding, so that there are fewer inspectors and others to enforce the laws already on the books. TCEQ, the state agency, absolutely refuses to do its job. This is why White proposed the suits in the first place.

Coog, I agree that Texas needs Houston and its tax base, and then craps on Houston by shortchanging it on funding. I rarely acknowledge being a Texan, only a Houstonian.

Niche, the law supports my right to sue the neighbor for causing a nuisance. Your analogy supports, not defeats White's proposal. As for my concerns for Baytown, it is part of my hometown. You can't separate the two, just because of a city limit. Ever hear a story about

"Houston's refineries" that included the caveat that the refineries were not really in Houston? And, the prevailing southeastern winds make Baytown and Pasadena's pollution MY pollution. Not only do I care for the citizens of those cities whose mayors are more concerned for their corporate buddies than them, but I also care for my air and my city.

Coog, Exxon is in Dallas in name only.

[musicman]

musicman, federal laws are not tightening. They are loosening. In fact, you give an example of this yourself with the lawn mower example. Additionally, the Administration is slashing EPA funding, so that there are fewer inspectors and others to enforce the laws already on the books. TCEQ, the state agency, absolutely refuses to do its job. This is why White proposed the suits in the first place.

i will respectfully disagree. in the past 20 yrs, things have improved. i know the clean air act updates in 1990 did set some timelines to achieve a standard and studies show that numbers are improving. while it may not be at the pace everyone would like, things have improved. as for enforcing laws, that is another issue IMO. i agree that enforcement is probably lax. i'm sure there are things in houston proper that the mayor could do to improve the problem. as for my lawn mower comment, with technology, i think there is definitely room for improvement.

TABLE 1

Area class Design value* Primary standard

attainment date**

Marginal . . . . . 0.121 up to 0.138 . 3 years after

enactment

Moderate . . . . . 0.138 up to 0.160 . 6 years after

enactment

Serious . . . . . . 0.160 up to 0.180 . 9 years after

enactment

Severe . . . . . . 0.180 up to 0.280 . 15 years after

enactment

Extreme . . . . . . 0.280 and above . . 20 years after

enactment

* The design value is measured in parts per million (ppm).

** The primary standard attainment date is measured from the

date of the enactment of the Clean Air Amendments of 1990

[CDeb]

CDeb and others, White's proposal was to sue individual companies, not the city that they reside in.

Ah, thanks for the explaination. The Chron story does a poor job of making that distinction. It made it sound like the COH was trying to pass regulations for those cities.