Energy is a HUGE industry in Texas. We have established this state on the back of oil companies, we are the number one producer of alternative energy in the U.S. but there is no doubt that petroleum is king. Petroleum companies are extremely powerful in both Texas and the U.S. We subsidize them tremendously giving consumers a false perception of the true price of oil. On top of that price, some would add the price of the Iraq war, due to its oil ties, bringing the true price of a barrel of oil to much higher than currently given.
With most of the oil our nation currently uses coming from the middle east, with Texas' oil reserves dwindling, and the with current forecasts concerning global warming, Texas' economy especially is in jeopardy. In this atmosphere Texas needs a new approach.
Regardless of our addiction, by the oil companies' own predictions, oil will run out in 40-60 years. We need to wean ourselves of petroleum now! Wind and solar are making huge advances in Texas, but wind and solar only produce electricity. They don't provide a solution to the transportation issue unless we make readilly available an electric car.
Texas' response to this issue is let's go back to using coal! There are over 11 new coal plants in the works right now that due to a pay out to Governor Perry are on the fast track to being built. Coal also does nothing to solve the problem of transportation and will only provide the energy for electricity. Coal is a product of petroleum and is a non renewable resource that can only sustain us for slightly longer than oil, and then there is the pollution issue. Coal is notoriously dirty. China uses coal as a major source of power and has just surpassed the U.S. in CO2 emissions. The effects of China's air pollution can be detected all the way in California! Coal is dangerous to mine (who will be doing this job?) and environmentally hazardous in the process. There is a coal fire burning in Centralia, Pennsylvania that will continue to burn for at least another 200 years in the place of what used to be a mining town.
I don't understand why Texas will not take this opportunity to be the leader in alternative energy. We will eventually be forced to use something other than petroleum to feed our energy loving society why not put Texas at the forefront of that effort? The main response of the oil companies when asked about alternative energy is that it will be economically damaging because they will be out of a job, well yes they will be out of a job in the oil business but there will be other jobs created in the alternative energy sector. I'm sure that candle makers were very upset with the advent of the light bulb but that is a free market society for you.... or that would be a free market society if the oil companies weren't paid by the government and given a stake in government regulation meant to protect the masses not a source of fuel and an industry built around that fuel.
Texas should just say no to coal! Why trade one bad energy source for another?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Ban on Trans Fats
While I agree with the Tex Report that Texas and for that matter the whole U.S. has a huge obesity problem, I do not believe that this bill, if passed, is the answer to that problem. I too am conscientious of my health and of the types of foods that I consume. I believe that being educated on nutrition is the first step to fighting diet related illness. Restaurants should be transparent about nutritional information and of the ingredients in their foods. A Dunkin' Donut without trans fats has just the same amount of sugar and fat, and with or without the trans fats is not exactly considered a health food. Adults have to make their own health related decisions, and as long as nutrition information is made mandatory they can make those decisions in an educated manner. If consumers push for healthier choices, restaurants will provide for them or risk losing business to another restaurant who does provide a healthier choice. Dunkin' Donuts didn't need a government regulation to decide that banning trans fats was a good choice for them, and I imagine if it brings business and good publicity to them, other restaurants will follow suit. I feel a little differently in the case of childhood obesity, in my opinion it is a parent's responsibility to instill good eating habits at home, and a school's responsibility at school. So a ban on trans fats in school cafeterias is a bill I would like to see!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Why I a Democrat am for the Voter ID Bill (after much debate)
Unfortunately one of the most talked about pieces of legislation this session is a bill that doesn't address any of the major concerns I currently hold for my state. For this reason, my first reaction to the voter ID bill was "Here we go again a whole session devoted to debate over something meaningless", but after reading about this bill ad nauseaum in the paper I started to think maybe I should give it a little more credit.
My first question was why is this bill such a partisan issue with almost all Republicans in favor of its passing and all of the Democrats in opposition? I have to assume that Democrats are aware that they already have a harder time at the polls, and so will oppose anything that could make voting any more difficult, especially for those voters that may be facing harder times and statistically are more likely to vote democrat. So why are the Republicans pushing so hard for this bill? I have to assume that Republicans know that their main voting group which is comprised (generally speaking of course) of financially stable Caucasian voters will not be affected by this bill and that it sends a strong anti-immigrant message that plays right into the fears of many of their voters... The immigrants are coming in undocumented to steal our jobs, rob our state of money, and take over the system while stealing our identities and voting democrat with them.
The immigration issue is precisely the reason I have decided (tentatively and after much debate) that I am for this bill, but not for the fears about immigration listed above. I do not believe that illegal aliens are committing voting fraud if fraud is in fact happening at all. I am married into a Mexican family whose members who reside in this country vary from citizens, to documented residents, to undocumented illegal residents. Of those eligible to vote maybe one does. The rest are hampered by their embarrassment of their broken English and lack of understanding of the system and the issues. My in laws, who are here legally, won't even go to a english speaking restaurant without my husband or one of his siblings due to embarrassment of their lack of English.
The point is I do not think that this bill, if passed, will hamper the democratic vote. Statistically those that will be most affected by this bill are those that are already least likely to vote. Right now, to vote, you have to take the time to register, find the right precinct, and hopefully bone up on the issues your voting for. Bringing along ID is not that much more to ask (presuming there is a wide range of what constitutes proper ID).
Relating to immigration, I do believe it is irresponsible to have thousands of undocumented people in our country both for safety reasons and for an immigrant's own protection from inhumane business practices. If this bill makes it harder to live here undocumented I think that is a good thing. Alternatively we need to remember that for decades our businesses have practically been inviting people over simply by employing them. Now that we are educating their youth and tending to their sick we see that employing immigrants isn't as cheap as we initially thought. So yes I am for tightening regulations on employing illegal aliens, renting to illegal aliens, and generally making it harder to be an illegal resident, but I'm also for finding a comprehensive plan for dealing with those hardworking people who are already here, who have families here, and are only trying to make better lives for themselves and their kids. We need to work closely with these people's home countries, because a shaky economy is usually what forces people from home, and we need to make sure that any program we set up for those wishing to come here in the future is monetarily feasible for even those coming from the most destitute situations. Lastly we need to remember that we are dealing with people's lives most of whom are no more criminal than you and I, and although immigration is a serious political issue, at the end of the day more than political this is an issue of humanity. For every person here taking advantage of the system, there are hundreds more working incredibly hard and living honestly, they should not be criminalized.
My first question was why is this bill such a partisan issue with almost all Republicans in favor of its passing and all of the Democrats in opposition? I have to assume that Democrats are aware that they already have a harder time at the polls, and so will oppose anything that could make voting any more difficult, especially for those voters that may be facing harder times and statistically are more likely to vote democrat. So why are the Republicans pushing so hard for this bill? I have to assume that Republicans know that their main voting group which is comprised (generally speaking of course) of financially stable Caucasian voters will not be affected by this bill and that it sends a strong anti-immigrant message that plays right into the fears of many of their voters... The immigrants are coming in undocumented to steal our jobs, rob our state of money, and take over the system while stealing our identities and voting democrat with them.
The immigration issue is precisely the reason I have decided (tentatively and after much debate) that I am for this bill, but not for the fears about immigration listed above. I do not believe that illegal aliens are committing voting fraud if fraud is in fact happening at all. I am married into a Mexican family whose members who reside in this country vary from citizens, to documented residents, to undocumented illegal residents. Of those eligible to vote maybe one does. The rest are hampered by their embarrassment of their broken English and lack of understanding of the system and the issues. My in laws, who are here legally, won't even go to a english speaking restaurant without my husband or one of his siblings due to embarrassment of their lack of English.
The point is I do not think that this bill, if passed, will hamper the democratic vote. Statistically those that will be most affected by this bill are those that are already least likely to vote. Right now, to vote, you have to take the time to register, find the right precinct, and hopefully bone up on the issues your voting for. Bringing along ID is not that much more to ask (presuming there is a wide range of what constitutes proper ID).
Relating to immigration, I do believe it is irresponsible to have thousands of undocumented people in our country both for safety reasons and for an immigrant's own protection from inhumane business practices. If this bill makes it harder to live here undocumented I think that is a good thing. Alternatively we need to remember that for decades our businesses have practically been inviting people over simply by employing them. Now that we are educating their youth and tending to their sick we see that employing immigrants isn't as cheap as we initially thought. So yes I am for tightening regulations on employing illegal aliens, renting to illegal aliens, and generally making it harder to be an illegal resident, but I'm also for finding a comprehensive plan for dealing with those hardworking people who are already here, who have families here, and are only trying to make better lives for themselves and their kids. We need to work closely with these people's home countries, because a shaky economy is usually what forces people from home, and we need to make sure that any program we set up for those wishing to come here in the future is monetarily feasible for even those coming from the most destitute situations. Lastly we need to remember that we are dealing with people's lives most of whom are no more criminal than you and I, and although immigration is a serious political issue, at the end of the day more than political this is an issue of humanity. For every person here taking advantage of the system, there are hundreds more working incredibly hard and living honestly, they should not be criminalized.
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