Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2000)
Page 6 STATE Friday. Decr Ey- Dec THE BATTALION Pollution program fails Industrial plants choose not to reduce emissions HOUSTON (AP) — A law backed by Texas Gov. George W. Bush asking older industrial plants to voluntarily reduce pollution levels has no takers, more than a year after the program’s creation, a state agency says. A draft report by the Texas Natural Resource v ‘Conservation Commission (TNRCC) that shows 'no major industrial facilities have obtained vol- * l .untary permits or reduced emissions. “This is exactly what environmentalists and the * ^ public health community predicted would be the * ~ '.outcome of reliance on a voluntary approach,” Ken 'Kramer, the Sierra Club’s state director, told the ► I -Houston Chronicle in Thursday’s editions. 1*1 Bush, the Republican presidential nominee * - who has established a transition team even as Vice President A1 Gore has challenged the election ^-Ccount, frequently cited the program of grandfa- ^ ^thered polluters during his campaign as one »**method he has used to cut Texas emissions. The TNRCC draft report issued Wednesday •^•shows 37 companies have applied for the volun- I^Itary permits, while 125 others have promised in ’writing to apply by the program’s expiration on I *Sept. 1,2001. * l “What this report shows is that there has been a * ^ substantial level of activity dealing with these * . grandfathered facilities, though not so much yet in the pure (voluntary permit) arena,” said TNRCC Chairman Robert Huston. He said the voluntary program has helped “raise the attention level” of industry officials about grandfathered emissions — a carrot that comple ments the stick in other programs. In October, representatives of the Texas Air Cri sis Campaign said the 1999 voluntary law result ed in a barely measurable reduction in pollution and proposed repealing or toughening the law next legislative session. The current legislation applied to an estimated 800 industrial plants built before 1971, when the state adopted new environmental regulations. Be fore the law, grandfathered plants produced an es timated 900,000 tons a year or 36 percent of the state’s industrial pollution. The earlier report said that, since the law went into effect Sept. 1, 1999, eligible plants reduced emissions by only 0.3 percent. Ralph Marquez, a TNRCC commissioner who worked for a chemi cal company for 30 years, said earlier that reduc tions from grandfathered plants were better than that figure. The new TNRCC repprt says that because of other mandatory stlite programs, including pro posed smog-reduction pfetfis for Houston and Dal- las-Fort Worth, about 23^ercent of emissions from major grandfathered facilities will be eliminated. Armed patrols planned for bord HOUSTON (AP) — Armed patrols near the Mexican border are planned next year by a group of North Texas vol unteers in the wake of an immigrant’s shooting death. Members of the group. Ranch Res cue, say they will help protect private property in Kinney County from what South Texas ranchers are calling immi grant trespassers. However, Ranch Rescue leader Jack Foote denied that his property-rights group chose the sparsely populated county for patrols next spring because a Mexican immigrant was shot there last May after asking a landowner for water. “We go where we are invited,” Foote, a former U.S. Army captain, told the Houston Chronicle in Thursday’s editions. Foote said he has no sympathy for trespassers. His Arlington-based group produced a flier urging “volunteers from all over the USA” to meet in the area around Brackettville and Eagle Pass, Texas. Ranch Rescue volunteers last month ran patrols in Arizona with ranch ers along the border. “I think they ought to stay in Arling ton,” said Tom Lee, the district attorney in Del Rio, whose office covers Kinney County. “They don't know a damn thing about our situation down here.” Area residents say immigrants have damaged fences and burglarized unat tended hunting camps. But they agree that outsiders are not needed to fix the problem. I think [the volun teers] ought to stay in Arlington. They don't know a damn thing about our sit uation down here." — Tom Lee Del Rio district attorney “I can’t imagine who came up with that idea,” said Marjorie Wilson, who owns a ranch east of Eagle Pass along with her husband, Charles. “I can tell you we won’t be using them. We take care of ourselves.” Wilson praised the U.S. Border Pa trol for responding quickly wte spot immigrants trespassing land. Debate over the tide of illegal^ gration across the Texas- renewed last May when Eus^ Haro, a 23-year-old Mexico from behind after stopping 1 ter netu- the home of Samuel! A 75-year-old retiree, confessed to the shooting, curred off his property, lawc Blackwood has been charged# der and will face trial next; lives of the Mexican nationals a $15 million wrongful against Blackwood. Ranch Rescue members I quested doctors, mechanics,e cooks, guards and heavy equ erators to build a campdu weeks of the patrol, dubbed" Eagle.” After armed patrols ranchers, officials there ter ilante practice to be cacerad grantes — immigrant hunting. The intelligence divisionofj Immigration and Naturalization! distributed a confidential wa vance of the Texas group's; tu -I. so Lr i- ft «fj -T iT tn lib ?ER?LEVED Honest, accurate information at www.pphouston.org can 1-800-230-PLAN and be connected to the nearest clinic Planned Parenthood® of Houston and Southeast Texas, Inc. www.pphouston.org tv, t-r f i i i V{. X ?'}■ The Perfect Gifts for Your Aggie Graduation or Christmas! AIM (acutal size) 14K Gold Aggie Pendant $ 24 95 Citizen Watches with Official A&M Seal Gold-Tone $ 179 95 Two-Tone $ 159 95 CA$H It Up for BOOKS reshr list or 7 Convenient Buyback Locations ■ Texas AAM Bookstore in the M5C A1 Lounge Outside West Campus Library Commons Lobby Outside Blocker * Pie R Square Food Court # ■ Outside Heldenfels mgt Quartz Movement. 3 yr. Warranty. Water Resistant. Available in Mens and Ladies Sizes Mail orders welcome! TAG-Heuez SWISS MAD£ SINCE I860 John D. Huntley ‘79 313B S College Ave. (next to Harry’s) 979-846-8916 An official authorized BREITLING 188A dealer far Tag-Heuer and Breitling, Bookstore emonai tudent Center me, thir