Jim Blackburn: protecting the environment a labor of love
by Vicki Wolf

Jim Blackburn has made it his life’s work to protect the unique natural beauty and wildlife habitat of the Houston area, as well as the health and well-being of the people who live here. One of the first environmental consultants and environmental attorneys in the country, Blackburn in the 1970s immersed himself in learning about the environment and since then has worked tirelessly to protect it. He has stopped polluters from getting permits, developers from encroaching on flood plains and wildlife habitat, and the Corp of Engineers from plugging up Matagorda Bay. He cares deeply about the preservation of the Texas bays and the Gulf Coast. Protecting them has become a labor of love.

Maybe it’s Blackburn’s love of the Texas Coast that makes him such a powerful, persistent force against polluters of all kinds. His love of the outdoors came early in life. Blackburn was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, and grew up in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. He spent summers on the bayous or hunting and fishing on the Gulf Coast.

Blackburn was admitted to the State of Texas Bar Association in 1972, after graduating from Law School at The University of Texas in Austin. “I hated law school. Then I found out about environmental law and took the first class ever offered,” he recalls. “I focused on environmental law when it didn’t even exist as practice.” Blackburn says he wrote papers to practice representing environmental cases. One of the papers received a low grade from the professor, but it became the ticket for his next step toward greater knowledge and deeper understanding of the environment – Blackburn entered the paper in a national environmental contest and won. That honor led to a fellowship to study at Rice University where he received his master’s in Environmental Science.

In the 1970s, Blackburn focused on environmental consulting. He worked at Rice Center, an environmental think tank and studied urban development on the Texas Coast. “We developed environmental computer models that were way ahead of industry at the time,” he says.

Much of Blackburn’s focus has been on flooding in Harris County. In 1979 he wrote the “Texas Law of Drainage with a Case Study of Harris County.” “I’ve been watching the flood control district for a long time,” Blackburn says.

To protect the Texas Coast, Blackburn has represented citizen’s who have challenged chemical plants for dumping toxic waste into the coastal waters, shrimpers who went up against the Corp of Engineers for dumping sludge into the open waters of Matagorda Bay, and many others.

Recently Blackburn agreed to represent citizens of Port Arthur to fight permitting of the largest refinery expansion in U.S history. He says he’s offering his services pro bono. “The residents of Port Arthur have been forgotten by the state–we will improve the plant even though the plant may get a permit, and the community gets an opportunity to make a difference,” Blackburn says. “Gas supplies are an issue, he adds, “but we can’t sacrifice our communities for more gasoline.”

Blackburn says he’s learned that the cases he loses can be as important as those he wins. One example was the case concerning the Port of Houston’s Bayport facility. “Although we lost that fight,” he says “they need to know people are watching them. That’s important.”

Another fight was on dredge disposal in Matagorda Bay. This fight led to a settlement in Galveston Bay years later on the widening and deepening of the ship channel. Blackburn’s client and the authority were able to reach a compromise. “The fact we were willing to fight led to the right to negotiate,” Blackburn says.

“There are collateral benefits to each of these fights, although the losses might be very hard on those experiencing them,” he says.

The same was true with air pollution and Blackburn’s involvement in the State Implementation Plan (SIP) where Blackburn says his client didn’t win the challenges, but the threat of litigation and the willingness to challenge made agencies think twice about bad decisions.

“The development and petrochemical industries are so powerful in the state that there is ever-present pressure from those who make money from harm to the environment,” Blackburn says. “Challenges at court level may be the only chance the public has to influence decisions about the environment.”

“So often in our society we focus on winning,” Blackburn adds. “I’m not so sure that is the right way to think on these environmental issues. It’s more important to stand up and care about something enough to put yourself out there.”

Blackburn has been honored for his work to protect the environment. His list of accolades include: the 1998 Bob Eckhardt Lifetime Achievement Award for Coastal Preservation Efforts from the General Land Office of the State of Texas; and in 2001 he received a National Conservation Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation.

Blackburn says the honor that surprised and delighted him most was his Honorary Membership in the American Institute of Architects in 2003 for his legal work associated with urban quality of life issues. “I’ve taught urban design and think of what I do as urban design, but the fact that they recognized my legal work as urban design was totally unexpected,” Blackburn says.

In looking back on the honors, the environmental battles won and lost, books, speeches and papers written, Blackburn says writing the Texas Book of Bays has been one of the highlights of his life. “I wrote out of my love for the bays,” he says. “The book came out from inside me. Ultimately, it was a story I had to write.”

Blackburn says the Texas Coast and the bays represent a spiritual connection, a higher power to him. “I quit drinking about 20 years ago and AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) talks about surrendering to a higher power. I adopted the Texas Coast as my higher power,” Blackburn says. “It’s a place I go to experience something larger than myself. I like to go to be with the marsh and the tide and the fish that are moving. I feel very whole and connected to things,” he continues. “I feel a spiritual connection to the bird migration in the fall, to see the snow geese return.”

Blackburn’s hobbies are fishing and bird watching. He lives north of Rice University with his wife of 35 years, Garland Kerr. Blackburn says early in his career Garland supported them with her work as a CPA, which allowed him to take time to learn instead of taking jobs for the money. “I owe much of my career to my wife. We are true partners and I love her very much,” Blackburn says.

A recent event in Blackburn’s life has given him a renewed sense of gratitude. “I had triple by-pass surgery in 2005 and got reminded that I’m grateful to be alive. I’m trying to remember to be grateful as I get healthy again.”

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