Tom "Smitty" Smith is the state director of Public Citizen, a consumer protection group. He has served as state director since 1985 and serves on the boards of Clean Water Action, the Texas Wind Power Coalition, Texans for Public Justice, Campaigns for People, the Clean Energy Project of CEERT, a nature preserve, and a solar energy company.
Under his leadership ...
Rep. Senfronia Thompson’s almost 40-year House tenure is defined by her impassioned and effective defense of the underserved. But her legislative career is peppered with occasional paradoxes, from the campaign contributions she's received from strip club operators to the industry-friendly bills she has carried for energy giants.
Full StoryThe Legislature passed a handful of energy-saving measures this session, ranging from allowing churches access to an energy-efficiency loan program to recalibrating a statewide efficiency program.
Full StoryLots of Texans are asking that question in the wake of last week's electricity mess, and nobody's going to be happy with the answer, which is: "It depends" (if you ask the electricity industry); or "Yes" (if you ask consumer advocates).
Full StoryThe Texas commission charged with aiding economies hit by military base closures will spend millions for a vaccine plant in Bryan-College Station — even though the region’s military base closed nearly five decades ago.
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Seventeen years ago, Texas turned on its last nuclear reactor, about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth. In another decade, several more reactors could get built here — if events in Washington go the power companies' way.
Full StoryThe Environmental Protection Agency's campaign against Texas' air pollution permitting process is well-known, but federal regulators are also working to tighten a number of other rules relating to power plant waste, ozone and greenhouse gas emissions. Texas businesses fear that the new regulations will dent the state's fragile economic recovery. Environmentalists are, predictably, delighted.
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