Jane Dale Owen
Op-ed Section
Pause for Precaution: Nuclear Power Still Too Risky
February 2008· Owen argues for stronger precautionary measures for nuclear power before we take a direction that could do irreversible harm. Owen offers a path that focuses on efficiency and clean, renewable sources like wind and solar, which can prevent harm and provide plenty of energy for the future.
Speaking out about standards for hazardous air pollutants
November 2007· Air quality is critically important to all of us. Most of Texas is in non-attainment for ozone levels. In other words, the air is dangerous to human health. Petroleum refineries are a major source of the pollution that makes up ozone and hazardous air pollutants, especially in the Houston-Galveston area.
Citizens’ health and rights ignored in shipment and burning of nerve gas waste
August 2007· Federal, state and local authorities are failing to do their jobs to protect public health as VX hydrolysate (VXH), a waste product of the deadly VX nerve gas, is being shipped across eight states to be incinerated in Port Arthur, Texas.
80th Legislative Session on environment a dark comedy
May 2007· The 80th legislative session is playing out like a dark comedy as the senators and representatives consider bills on toxic pollution and global warming.
Communities near coal plants need to know health threat
November 2006· TXU Energy provides electricity and related services to more than 2.2 million customers in Texas, more customers than any other retail electric provider in the state. TXU plans to build 11 of 19 new coal-burning power plants in Texas. The new coal-burning power plants proposed by TXU would threaten the health of Texans. The company’s existing Texas plants rank among the worst polluters in the nation. Not one of TXU’s new plants would use so-called "clean coal" technology.
Why not renewable energy now?
August 2006· Texas has the highest potential of any state in the country to produce electricity from clean renewable energy sources, and energy fficiency could reduce the amount of electricity we need. So why is Governor Perry trying to fast track permitting the building of 17 new coal-fired power plants?
Solutions to global warming offer more livable city for all
July 2006· As summer heat arrives and ozone levels rise in Texas, the first couple of weeks in June brought much discussion about global warming and other environmental concerns caused by rapid, unsustainable development in our cities and the use of fossil fuels.
My dear grandfather would not be amused
October 2005· If it's true that souls who have passed on can look down on what human beings are doing on the planet, my grandfather, co-founder of Humble Oil Co., must be appalled to see the situation we've created. Most of our energy resources are located along the Louisiana and Texas Gulf coasts in the path of hurricanes and tropical storms. Within one month, two hurricanes shut down refineries in the area for at least four days, and the best solution our leaders can come up with is to remove environmental protection measures so the oil companies can do more drilling.
Time for precaution to protect public health
January 2005· The Houston Chronicle’s “In Harm’s Way” series reveals the critical state of air pollution in the Houston-Galveston area, lax regulation of polluters and a disturbing lack of concern for public health. When state employees become ill while monitoring the air in neighborhoods where children play every day and the officials say they don’t have the power to enforce emission standards, it is clear that something is wrong with this system. When “business” says the regulations are too strict, it is clear that public health is a lower priority than profit.
Don't Make Texas a Toxic Sacrifice
November 2004· Texas power plants have the highest mercury emissions in the country. And if an EPA proposal gets through, more mercury emissions will fill the air, pollute the water, contaminate the fish and endanger our children.
Why Isn't Texas Suing the EPA?
November 2005·One part ignorance, one part denial and two parts greed equal a recipe for disaster as the Bush Administration rolls back the Clean Air Act and lets industry build and improve plants without upgrading pollution control equipment. As this disaster unfolds, the spotlight should be on Texas, the state responsible for two-thirds of U.S. petrochemical production. Here, for a long time, the industry has used our air and water as a dumping ground without knowing or wanting to know how much toxic pollution the refineries and plants spew out each day. A weaker Clean Air Act means Texas industry stands to reap financial savings for not installing pollution control devices. Left to live with the illness and health care costs are the communities and families that cannot escape the health effects of the pollution.
Give Mother Nature a fighting chance to improve Houston's air quality
September 2003· Texas politicians have done a brilliant job of displacing the blame for air pollution onto the driving habits of ordinary citizens, while ignoring the single most important source of air pollution in the Houston area: the petrochemical plants along the Houston Ship Channel. These plants produce approximately two-thirds of the petrochemical products in the nation, and represent one-third of the world’s production.
The Smell of Money
January 2003· Texas politicians have done a brilliant job of displacing the blame for air pollution onto the driving habits of ordinary citizens, while ignoring the single most important source of air pollution in the Houston area: the petrochemical plants along the Houston Ship Channel. These plants produce approximately two-thirds of the petrochemical products in the nation, and represent one-third of the world’s production.
