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State parks system in crisis
Budget cuts by the Legislature has forced the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to make severe cut-backs to keep the system afloat. TPWD has had widespread park ranger lay-offs, delays in major repairs of facilities, and even the possible sale of part of Big Bend Ranch State Park to a developer. Plans to expand fourteen state parks and create five new 5000 acre parks near Texas’ biggest cities have been put on hold indefinitely.
Environment Texas is working to get the Legislature to provide funding for TPWD’s basic repair and operating needs and to move forward with the proposed park system expansion.
Governor fast tracks new coal plants
Despite serious health effects associated with pollution from coal-fired power plants and the state’s continuing failure to come into compliance with federal air quality standards, on Oct. 27, 2005, Governor Perry ordered state regulators to expedite permitting for seven new coal plants. His executive order means scientists and the public will have less time and ability to review the proposals and fight for improvements. Environment Texas and our allies have called on Governor Perry to stand up for people not polluters and rescind his order.lth effects associated with pollution from coal-fired plants and the state’s continuing failure to come into compliance with federal air quality standards, on Oct. 27, 2005, Governor
Attorneys General stand up for clean water
On Jan. 20, attorneys general from 34 states (not including Texas) and the District of Columbia signed a legal brief to the U.S. Supreme Court regarding two important Clean Water Act cases the Court will hear in February. The attorneys general argued that the Clean Water Act protects tributaries that flow into larger water bodies and their adjacent wetlands, and that Congress has the authority under the Constitution’s Commerce Clause to protect such waters. A negative ruling on the cases could remove federal limits on pollution and lead to the destruction of millions of acres of valuable wetlands and countless streams.
Support growing for oceans protection
In a recent trip to Washington, D.C., Environment Texas staff met with members of Congress to build support for strong oceans protection legislation. Overfishing, habitat destruction and ocean mismanagement are leading to the decline of ocean wildlife and putting our natural heritage at risk. Populations of large fish, like shark and tuna, have declined 90 percent worldwide since the 1950s and about 30 percent of marine mammal species in U.S. waters are at risk of extinction. Along the Gulf of Mexico, where whole towns depend on fishing, the popular Red Snapper is already considered depleted. Environment Texas is supporting Rep. Nick Rahall’s (WV) HR. 1431 which would curb the mismanagement of the fishing management councils; the bodies that govern how much fish can be caught each year.
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