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- smacksaw, on 01/18/2008, -9/+72FTA:"Being that Texas is a heavily populated state, that it is the leading producer of energy, has the largest refining capacity and has the largest petrochemical industry in the nation, it would be expected that we would have the largest total of greenhouse gases in the country," Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle said.
The two main problems: NIMBYs and the environmental lobby. The NIMBYs don't want refineries anywhere near them, but they have to go somewhere. That somewhere is Texas. Let's move some of them. Where? Oh, that's right - you don't want it in YOUR backyard. But those Texans who are all insular, you can make them have the crappy air and water from refineries? Sure.
And let's say that the NIMBYs allowed a refinery. The environmentalists would not hear of it. Even if you were going to just move them, not make any new ones...nope. The only thing they want is a net loss of refining capacity. I never hear environmentalists saying things like "Texas has too much pollution and not many plants to deal with it. Why not move some of those refineries and spread them out?"
It's not even a realistic argument because you can't work with NIMBYs or environmentalists in this case. So Texas has to do all of the refining. And they make the most of it and make some money at it. But to blame them is wrong.
We can't have our cake and eat it too. We can't use the fuel they make and then complain about the cost of it all being made in one place. And we fuel the "Imma drivin' mah big ass truck dun mess wit Texas y'all" mentality because fuel/gas is seen as living, making a living. So using it must be good. It's like asking hippies in Eureka to support clearcut logging. They define themselves by their trees and environment. Same thing.
We need to wake up. We need to spread out our refineries not only to disperse the pollution, but for the strategic advantage of national defence and to shorten transport of fuel. If we put it in more diverse areas we can more easily make biodiesel and ethanol blends. Texas isn't exactly a farming Utopia. - saltyveruca, on 01/18/2008, -12/+54"I think it's the idea that in Texas, everything is bigger," said Nguyen, 20. "I grew up here, and I think it's pretty cool."
Did they just go around looking for the biggest ***** idiots they could find? This sort of thing makes me so proud to be a Texan. - SteelChicken, on 01/18/2008, -15/+55people need someone to make fun of to feel better about their own inadequacies and insecurities. Texas makes a convenient target.
but if people hate Texas so much, maybe Texas should stop shipping out oil/gas, and stop letting goods from mexico go through. Who would be laughing then, I wonder? (and I dont even live in Texas)
and the idea that Texas pollutes more than California is absurd. - inactive, on 01/18/2008, -8/+42well they are the largest state in the lower 48. and since alaska is the only bigger one and has like no people it's not too amazing.
- smacksaw, on 01/18/2008, -15/+45Actually, Texans like Texas because it keeps all of the non-***** Texans in the same place.
Many of the nicest people I have ever met in my life were during my time in Texas and there was never a shortage of courtesy, kindness and manners. Judging by your attitude and misconceptions, you'd get what's coming to you from any decent Texan. - Machismo, on 01/18/2008, -1/+30Texas has a huge seaport, tons of refining, tons of heavy, moderate, and light industry as well as it makes more power than it needs to power major chunks of the US grid.
US also has the world's largest windfarm. There are many PLANS for larger ones, but Texas has the largest as well as numerous smaller ones being built.
Texas is absorbing the carbon footprint for much of the rest of the US. - blqysmg, on 01/18/2008, -5/+34I'd love to see the breakdown of pollution per square mile, and see where the highest concentration of CO2 is, rather than label the state as evil. Apparently there are a lot of people who hate Texas. That's OK, bigots exist everywhere. In my epxerience, Texans are much nicer people than anyone from the Northeast, where rudeness seems to be a virtue. I live in a city in the South, and I do so by choice. You can keep the Urban Ghetto lifestyle, the closed minds and hateful attitudes of the North East. The California lot, quietly confident that they are better than the rest of the world, is easier to take, although they can be annoying, too. I'll bet that LA, New York, Phillidelphia, or anywhere near Washington DC is by far a higher producer of CO2 per square mile than Texas, and I'll bet the levels of CO2 in the Northeast or in L.A. are higher than anwhere in Texas.
- silveravnt, on 01/18/2008, -3/+31Because a large percentage of these Californians cannot afford or do not need a vehicle. Cities in TX are very spread out so a car is needed for commutes. Also the climate is much hotter in TX.
- michnuc, on 01/18/2008, -1/+29I just did some calculations using census data, and the data used for the report above. I was curious about carbon emissions on a per capita basis.
Metric Tons CO2 Emitted per person for 2003:
Wyoming 125
North Dakota 80
Alaska 69
West Virgina 63
Louisiana 40
Indiana 38
Montana 37
Kentucky 35
These are the worst on the list, with the average in 2003 at 25.38. - delafere, on 01/18/2008, -1/+28You can't underestimate the impact of the 19 coal-burning power plants that Bush's EPA-Lite keeps grandfathering on clean air standards... as long as there is some miniscule percentage of original equipment, they can just keep replacing what breaks with pre-standard parts, thus never coming up to pre-2000 standards for emissions. And there's other sources. 40 miles northeast of Austin, there's an Alcoa aluminum smelting operation with a similarly fatuous, Bush EPA-Lite grandfather status that has been strip mining and burning a 20 mile long seam of anthracite or some such for years... a well-placed friend and environmentalist I know in the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality tells me that we can attribute the largest percentage of the "ozone action days" and recently thickening smog in Austin to that single source polluter's expanded operations over the last 7 years.
I know it's so tempting to make easy redneck jokes, but big industry is laughing while you do it.
That said, yes there are a lot of trucks in Texas, but I for one need mine to pull my trailer, to move hay, feed and other quaint implements for my horses, and for other animals and projects. When I'm not doing those things, I drive my Honda. I will buy a hybrid truck as soon as they and the fuel needed to run one become widely available here. Anyone on this thread that's not from Texas driving an SUV that never gets dirty? - faskippy, on 01/18/2008, -9/+331. More people.
2. Bigger area.
3. Making the gas YOU need.
4. I'll be damn if I'm gonna shove my 3 tool boxes inside some little hatchback, rubberband powered, matchbox sized "car" and get beat to death by them when some idiot is trying to get to his wine tasting, and cuts me off. I've seen the big v. little wrecks, and I think I'll stick to my pickup, thank you.
5. Either take all the relevant information into account, and decide based on facts, or resign yourself to being a close minded , prejudiced, whining bitch, and shut the ***** up. - dblespresso, on 01/18/2008, -1/+23Plus isnt California a net importer of energy. It could very well be the California energy need creating the "carbon" in Texas.
- member57, on 01/18/2008, -1/+23Chevrolet claims that 40% of it Suburbans are sold in Texas. No telling how many SUV and fullsize pickup I see everyday driving to work with a single occupant. 90% of these go to work in an office building with no need what so ever for such a vehicle. I will however say this though, Texas does supply most of the energy needs for the rest of the nation, so please cut us a little slack. I grew up ranching and farming so pickups and other large equipment was needed, now I don't do any farming or ranching, so I don't have a pickup anymore, makes sense to me.
- Ninnux, on 01/18/2008, -10/+30Texas is also one of the largest states, with the most people. How about some normalized statistics or per capita data. I bet New Jersey would beat Texas if those data were available.
- Rostin, on 01/18/2008, -12/+31Dude. You are totally missing the point. BUSH is from Texas, so we hate it. Stop confusing us with relevant information.
- davewashere, on 01/18/2008, -1/+20I might be one of those New Yorkers that Texans traditionally hate, but I have to agree that this headline is misleading. Texas is not necessarily the end user of all their oil and coal production. Texas just happens to be where many of those natural resources are found and its sparse popular outside of the major cities makes it an ideal place for refineries because it moves the pollution, noise, and eyesores away from people who would complain about them. If Texas stopped polluting, other states would have to pick up the slack to provide our energy needs. That would likely be a less-efficient solution that would produce more pollution.
- JerodSlay, on 01/18/2008, -4/+22We're also the biggest wind power producing nation (if we were a nation) in the entire ***** world: more than any other state, more than any other country.
- DrDragun, on 01/18/2008, -0/+18All the states got together for a pool party. Now Texas is the one who is peeing in the pool (pollution), however Texas is also the one who brought extra beer because the other states didn't bring enough for themselves (net energy exporter).
- YanMan, on 01/18/2008, -4/+20Would that bubble keep in all the energy Texas generates and oil it refines? You know, so California can go back to the rolling blackouts they had the last time someone in Texas ***** with their energy supply?
- hater2win, on 01/18/2008, -7/+23Yes, and we all have tumbleweeds blowing in our front yards. We only know how to square dance and my aspirations in life are to be a bull rider in the rodeo.
Jackass...
What do you know about Texas? - Bukowsky, on 01/18/2008, -8/+24and yes, there are a ***** of trucks here in Texas!
- dafragsta, on 01/18/2008, -2/+18Uuuh... it's also the most sparse, yet largely populated state in the union too. The bus is not an adequate means of transportation unless you like to spend two or more hours commuting each day.
- sq2shooter, on 01/18/2008, -1/+16No kidding. They refine all of your oil.
- neognostic, on 01/18/2008, -1/+14I've lived in Texas for 32 years, and have never seen a homosexual or foreigner mistreated.
No, we don't want illegal immigrants here, but then, they don't want us down there illegally either.
Unless you have lived here, you have no idea what goes on. - DrDragun, on 01/18/2008, -0/+13*5 times more DENSLY populated, I'm guessing you meant
- afx1138, on 01/18/2008, -2/+15yes, slaves never existed anywhere but in the south, ever.
- capty, on 01/18/2008, -25/+38All I have to say is : American by birth.... Texan by the grace of God.
- Locke23, on 01/18/2008, -2/+15Right, ok, great... Now we have Texas, what are we gonna do about it? Nothing.. again.. Common' people, inaction is killing us. We're just gonna put the blame on Texas now and forget that our own states pollute nearly as much...
- insertAliasHere, on 01/18/2008, -0/+13And in cases like mine, the bus wouldn't take me anywhere near where I need to go.
- tehxen3, on 01/18/2008, -6/+18Yeah so? At least it's smug free.
- DivisibleByZero, on 01/18/2008, -0/+12My uncle always used to say, "I don't know why people complain about the climate here in Houston. The climate is whatever you set your thermostat to."
- slasc, on 01/18/2008, -1/+13George W. Bush - Born New Haven,CT
- Sle3per, on 01/18/2008, -1/+13I guess you haven't seen the wind farms Texas is building.
- Wholekernalcorn, on 01/18/2008, -5/+17Texas is a country within a country.
- trer, on 01/18/2008, -2/+14Yes. It's called the Central Valley.
- bossm4n, on 01/18/2008, -0/+11"Since you have chosen to elect a man with a timber toe to succeed me, you may all go to hell and I will go to Texas. " David Crockett
- pushmouse, on 01/18/2008, -4/+15***** is also a plant food.
- chad78, on 01/18/2008, -0/+11Also, people seem to be ignoring the fact that outside of Alaska (which averages 2 people per square mile!) Texas is the biggest state in the union. Of course it would be the biggest "polluter" It's got the most land, and a lot of people to cover that land. It's not like New York where a 20 mile drive is a huge commute and you can get anywhere you need to by subway or bus. It's millions of people spread out over thousands of square miles. (23.5 Million over 261,000 square miles to be more precise.) There's going to be some driving - and there's going to be some emissions. And, like you pointed out, vehicles aren't the only source of pollution.
- Ugoff, on 01/18/2008, -3/+14I don't care about farmers or ranchers, they have a legitimate use for trucks and I don't have a problem with that, I have a problem with these suburbanite ***** with lift kits on their trucks which gives them ***** MPG than they already have. Also all those damn huge SUV's which don't even have any practical uses (but then again, you see those everywhere).
- Kythas, on 01/18/2008, -0/+11If you drive from Corpus Christi, TX to Los Angeles, CA, you'll find that El Paso, TX is almost exactly half way. That's how big Texas is. Hell, yeah.
- jcims, on 01/18/2008, -4/+14Uh, no. Texas is 2.5 times as populated and 10 times as big...which means more people moving greater distances.
- Ugoff, on 01/18/2008, -2/+12May we hate Connecticut too? It was at least worth trying.
- dcbebop, on 01/18/2008, -2/+11I think what we're dealing with here is a lack of a carbon based life form and ***** for brains ...
- member57, on 01/18/2008, -2/+11Texas is bigger than many countries...
- slasc, on 01/18/2008, -1/+10George W. Bush - Born in New Haven, Ct.
- afx1138, on 01/18/2008, -1/+10wow, you people are REALLY bigoted. it's surprising that for being so "open-minded," no one seems interested in finding out what texans are really like(here's a hint, we're not really like they show on tv or the movies, kids!) or how CO2 actually interacts with your environment. unfortunate.
- drlha, on 01/18/2008, -1/+10Which California are you thinking of? The magical non-existant one where everyone uses public transport, or the real one where everyone has a car and they're addicted to SUVs and lifted trucks. Maybe in SF everyone has a Prius, but go down to LA, its almost as bad as Texas.
- boombye, on 01/18/2008, -0/+9If all these Americans are sending their kids to Soccer practice, why the hell do we still suck at it?
- Sle3per, on 01/18/2008, -2/+11That's what I say about Kansas.
- shadowspawn, on 01/18/2008, -4/+13Of course we pollute more. Start playing with other factors in statistics (which I would hope non-Texans would understand), and one will find that Texas doesn't pollute anywhere near NJ, NY, MD, etc.; on top of that we produce more consumables for *other* states than any other state does. (And make money off of it.)
So um, y'all are just fix'n to get a big ass whoopin if you don't start showing some respect. We'll put you right up in your place, y'know what? -
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