TX Group Makes Earth Day Plea for Cleaner Environment
Epiphany La'Sha, Producer
Friday, April 22, 2022
It is Earth Day, and the Texas Campaign for the Environment is backing a movement targeting fossil-fuel exporters across the state.
Texas is the largest energy-producing and consuming state in the nation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
But the advocacy group Save Texas said the figures do not tell the whole story. It has posted a list of what it calls the "Terrible 12" biggest contributors to pollution and climate change in the state, and they are all in the energy industry.
Jeffrey Jacoby, deputy director for the Texas Campaign for the Environment, said it is no longer fair to assume the state cannot prosper without a fossil-fuel industry.
"It's important for people to know that there are corporations out there, in spite of the mythology that fossil fuels are leading to prosperity and leading to jobs, that are not acting in Texans' best interest," Jacoby asserted.
According to Save Texas, the number of fossil-fuel industry jobs has decreased over the last three decades, and the companies themselves contribute to the high energy use in the state. Most of the fuel processing and pipeline companies on the "Terrible 12" list operate on the Gulf Coast.
Jacoby noted his organization and others are advocating a transition to more sustainable, renewable energy. He pointed to the negative health effects of oil and gas production, particularly on Gulf Coast residents, and accuses the "Terrible 12" of halfhearted conservation efforts.
"They respond by claiming to be environmentally friendly," Jacoby observed. "They claim to care about climate, they claim to care about communities, they claim to be collaborating with Indigenous communities."
He added the growth in U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas, much of it from plants in Texas and Louisiana, is one reason for the current gas price hikes felt by U.S. consumers.
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