Election 2006 - Has Houston's Environment Finally Become a Political Issue?
While Democrats celebrate their national victory and talk of a change in direction in Iraq, another important issue may have been decisive in the race for State District 134 here in Houston. Despite winning two previous terms in a Republican leaning state district, Republican Representative Martha Wong was decisively turned out of office on Nov. 7, in favor of Democratic candidate Ellen Cohen. Moreover the margin of victory surprised all of the pundits. Did Martha Wong lose because she didn't protect Houston's environment?
What happened in that race, and what does it mean for our city? Representative Wong was criticized in many issues, including health care, and gay rights, but her positions on those areas did not necessarily differ from that of the Republican state party in general, and Republicans comprise a majority of her district. But her negative vote last year on legislation that attempted to address the City of Houston’s severe toxic air pollution may have cost her. In 2005, when investigative reports in the Houston Chronicle called attention to Houston’s harmful air quality, the Texas legislature responded by proposing several new laws. Every one of these proposed laws was opposed by Representative Wong. Again, this is not particularly out of step with the state Republican position on the issue, but unlike the others, this may have hit closer to home for residents of the 134th. The Houston Chronicle focused on this in its endorsement of Ellen Cohen, and I believe this may have provided the traction for Cohen’s victory. It is one thing to have general opinions about the business regulatory environment, and quite another to have concerns over the very air that one breathes. This validates Mayor White’s plan to address the environment despite state inaction, but hopefully this will serve as a wakeup call to the Republicans in the Houston area and force them to work harder on finding bipartisan solutions to Houston’s air toxics problem.
A report from the Houston Endowment and another from the Center for Progressive Reform last month both illuminated problems in the way our current state laws address air toxics. The Houston Endowment report identifies a “road map” for effectively changing our state laws to address these deficiencies. Well-defined standards and stronger enforcement systems are at the top of the list. The report uses the best and most recent studies of health impacts of the most dangerous air toxics to recommend maximum allowable levels of these air pollutants. It also suggests interim standards that could be applied to help alleviate the worst “hot spots”, and identifies suitable standards to be applied over the long term. As a whole, these measures would help protect Texans from health problems caused by the uncontrolled actions of pollution sources.
The report also recommends that pollution sources be responsible for ensuring they are not contributing to an increased risk to the public through regular operations or through occasional “upsets” and fugitive emissions. Industrial plants should be required to monitor their own site boundaries for any violation of new ambient standards, and report these results to the state. (Fenceline Laser Detection devices are a feasible alternative already used at some sites, and the equipment represents a relatively inexpensive means of verifying compliance.)
Other states with far fewer hazardous air pollution issues have successfully amended their laws to lower allowable ambient standards for the worst pollutants, and to require the sources of these toxics to ensure that they are not contributing to an increased health risk. And while it will be harder to achieve the same levels here because we have so many sources, our heightened health risks should spur us to do more, not less.
I hope that Representative Cohen will take the lead on this issue. One thing is certain: every day that we wait for lawmakers to take action endangers our citizens and helps erode the quality of life in our area. New laws could provide important protections – but they will not materialize unless the public demands them.
Victor B. Flatt is the A.L. O’Quinn Chair in Environmental Law at the University of Houston Law Center. He is a member scholar of the Center for Progressive Reform, and was a principal investigator on “The Control of Air Toxics: Toxicology Motivations and Houston Implications,” a report by the Houston Endowment.
