| I think the fifth and sixth most important issues in the upcoming November elections will be Environmentalism and Transportation.
From today's papers:
Clean air vs. jobs an issue for TCEQ
Texas environmental regulators soon are expected to settle a dispute in El Paso about the future of an old copper smelter.
Supporters argue that good-paying jobs justify reopening Asarco on the fringes of downtown El Paso. Opponents counter that reopening the smelter would foul the air with some 15 million pounds of pollutants per year, risking health and putting a big smudge on the city's reputation.
I know we have heard this debate before, but issue involving air quality, water availability and quality and conservation, were all over the news this past year.
Our own Texas Sharon has really done a great job covering the war between the oil and gas folks and the average folks who just want clean water to drink. Her recent dairy is clear evidence she has hit a nerve.
The coal plants debate which continues to rage, the continuing saga of the perpetually deferred federal ozone standards for Harris and other urban counties tell you that this issue has legs. Unlike the invisible crisis in corruption and even the drug war, this issue can literally be tasted ,smelt and felt in the back of your throat. The cross links between this issue and energy as well as transportation will also ensure that environmental concerns will be front and center here in the state as we approach November. Did I forget to mention Global Warming and its impacts which the national campaign will also talk about?
As for transportation, I need go no further than the boondoggle and cash cow we call the TTC. Our continuing failure to pay for public infrastructure year after year is catching up with us and this election year will see more battles over this matter. Rural areas have been up in arms over the dislocations and deprivations visited upon them by the TTC.
The real crunch however, could very will come in urban areas like Houston. A case in point for Houston specifically: convention business. Two stories make the point. Sometime early last year, there was a convention in town. I only remember that the conventioneers were African American and they had previously held their annual meeting in Atlanta. Their most frequent complaint: inadequate public transportation.
All that makes today's puff piece in the Chronicle even more surreal. When asked what were the biggest barriers to Houston becoming a leading convention town the new head of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau said:
Houston's strengths could lure more conventions
The first is the misperception about the community that exists outside Houston.
The second is the lack of committed hotel rooms - rooms that hotels are willing to hold back for conventions.
And the third is just the geography. It works a little against us. I think we have a challenge to reposition ourselves in that market.
What is missing in his concerns is , of course, public transportation. As this issue interacts with the energy/fuel issue and the matter of economic development, it can only grow more important.
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