Arlington Texan: Texas ranks third highest in teen birth rate

ACTION ALERT - Gas Drilling & Pipelines in Arlington- DFW REGION AIR QUALITY

We used to cover more community news on this blog... sports events, concerts, ballet, etc. Now we are consumed with gas drilling meetngs and environmental issues. We are literally fighting for the life and future of Arlington. Please excuse the absence of coverage on fun things, on cultural things, on other things which reflect the life of our home town. Hopefully the push for gas drilling will fade away and hopefully we'll still have a city and can return to experiencing and sharing something other than action alerts and important notices about gas drilling!

ACTION ALERTS:

Tues. Sept. 29, 2010 6 p.m. Arlington City Council to consider gas drilling permits for site on horsefarm at N Cooper and NW Green Oaks. This site is unacceptable because of terrain and location adjacent (uphill from Legacy Park and a branch of the Trinity). Heavy Hydrocarbons (VOC) travel downward and settle in low areas. River Legacy Park already has more exposure than is prudent from wells in the park. Adding more uphill from them will jeporadize the health of children (familes) who come to the nature center to escape the foul air in the rest of Arlington. Why have a nature center and fill it with toxin which contribute to childhood asthma, leukemia and pediatric bone cancer! Neighbors to the West and South of the site oppose the wells because any run-off will go to their property.

Citizens should demand continuous leak testing at all sites in the City of Arlington. Even if the City must pay for the with the number of wells (187 already permitted since 2006) in the City of Arlington, and miles of pipeline snaking through Arlington next to homes and schools and parks and playgrounds and industries - it is imperative that the City (which is permitting these wells locally) provide better safety measures for the people than the state is currently providing. Otherwise, they should stop permitting wells!

Read more about one of the companies who does arial infred leak testing and about the TCEQ's Remote Sensing Aircraft VOCs Project.

HERE ARE INFRA-RED VIDEOs of the emissions coming from the wells on UTA Campus (near the YWCA Day Care licensed for infants and toddlers!!!

There would be NO Emissions visible in coming off of these stacks if the "only natural gas we have in Arlington " was truly "clean, safe DRY GAS!"

(Note: This video was shot before all 22 wells at the UTA complex went on line. Under PBR each well head and each other "qualifying apparatus" can emit up to 25 tons of VOCs a year PER APPARATUS Under current TCEQ rules that site can emit 550 tonsof VOCs per year just for their well heads at that one site alone. That does not include their allowable emissions for their storage tanks and other "qualifying apparatus" at that site. TCEQ needs to be told to tighthen those rules!

(Video used by permission of Texas Sharon - Blue Daze)

THE CLOSEST BUILDING TO THESE WELLS IS THE YWCA DAYCARE CENTER at UTA. Children are among the most vulnerable to harm from VOC emissions common in natural gas. These wells do not have Vapor Recovery Systems which can capture 90% of the toxic VOCs before they escape into the atmosphere. There are no air quality monitors at this site to alert gas company operators and fire and rescue personnel that measures need to be taken to evacuate the children at the Day Care because of excessive VOC emissions. Methane and Benzene and many of the other VOC s which are known to cause bone cancer in children and contribute to pediatric asthma are invisible to the naked eye. Some of them are odorless however their presence leaves life long health damage to some and death to others.

: The derrick at the drill site pictured in this video is on Bowen Road in Pantego. That pad site was constructed about 2 years ago and that derrick has been up and down several times during that period of time. Two years later the homeowners STILL SEE THE DERRICK despite Councilman LeBlanc's statement that "after a few weeks homeowners will barely notice it!"

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Texas ranks third highest in teen birth rate

Texas Moves from Highest Teen Birth Rate in Nation to Third

Texas ranks 48th in teen birth rate
By DEAN TRAVINSKI - WFAA - July 28, 2010
A new study shows Texas has the third highest rate of teenage births in the country.
The annual Kids Count report, released Tuesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, says more than 54,000 babies were born to girls between the ages of 15 and 19 in 2007. The rate has improved since 2000, but still earns Texas a 48th ranking nationally.
Overall, the study ranked Texas 34th for children's well-being. Texas ranks near the bottom in the number of children living in poverty.

See more on WFFA.com

In 2007 the state ranked first in the number of births to teenaged mothers.

National Report: Texas Has the Worst Teen Birth Rate in the Country
By Lynsey Kluever and Frances Deviney - Center for Public Policy Priorities - July 25, 2007

Texas has the highest teen birth rate in the nation (63 births per 1,000 females ages 15-19) according to the KIDS COUNT Data Book, a national state-by-state report released today by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. This report is a precursor to the fall release of The State of Texas Children 2007, which will provide child well-being data for every county in Texas. Despite improving by 9 percent between 2000 and 2004, Texas has the nation's worst birth rate, with more than 51,000 births to Texas teens (or 63 births per 1,000 teens). Nationally, there are 41 births for every 1,000 teens.

Read more in CPPP

In 2009 The Texas Department of State Health Services stated:

Cost and Outcomes

The Costs. . .T
Medicaid paid for 173,226 deliveries in Texas, at an estimated total cost of $420 million (HMO deliveries are estimated). Approximately 10% of these deliveries were to teen mothers aged-13-17, at a cost of $41 million.

How Often Does a Teenager in Texas Get Pregnant?
Every 10 minutes, a teen in Texas gets pregnant.
Every 10 hours, a 14-year-old teen gets pregnant.
Every 3 hours, a 15-year-old teen gets pregnant.
Every 1.5 hours, a 16-year-old teen gets pregnant.
Every 52 minutes, a 17-year-old-teen gets pregnant.
Every 35 minutes, an 18-year-old teen gets pregnant.
Every 28 minutes, a 19-year-old teen gets pregnant.

What are the Outcomes?
Every 10 minutes a teen gives birth.
Every 48 minutes a teen has an abortion.

Teenage parenting often averts or postpones education for both girls and boys. While 7 out of 10 teen mothers eventually complete high school or receive a GED, they are less likely than girls who delay childbearing to go on to college. (Alan Guttmacher Institute)

There can also be serious consequences for the children of teen mothers. Research sponsored by the Robin Hood Foundation compared children whose mothers were 17 or younger with children whose mothers were 20-21 when they gave birth. The research indicates that children born to teen mothers tend to have:
- lower cognitive test scores and more difficulty in school
- poorer health yet receive less health care
- less stimulating and supportive home environments
- higher levels of incarceration
- higher rates of adolescent childbearing themselves

Until recently, most teen pregnancy prevention efforts were directed at girls. Too often boys have been left out of the equation. Examining the various roles that boys play in causing and preventing teen pregnancy, and involving boys in teen pregnancy prevention programs are important components of a comprehensive approach to reducing teen pregnancy.

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EPA Warns Drilling Rigs in Arlington / Grand Prairie endangers health

By Tx Sharon - Blue Daze - June 1, 2009

STATE DATA SUPPORTS CONCLUSIONS OF EDF/SMU STUDY ON BARNETT SHALE EMISSIONS

from the desk of Al Armendariz, Ph.D.

May 27, 2009

Dallas, Texas

STATE DATA SUPPORTS CONCLUSIONS OF EDF/SMU STUDY ON

BARNETT SHALE EMISSIONS

Oil and gas sector emissions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are significant, but cost-effective solutions are available to reduce the environmental impact and increase revenue for oil and gas producers.

From 2004 to 2007, officials from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) worked to develop the latest version of the clean air plan for the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, with input from other stakeholders including US EPA, local and regional governments, the business community, EDF, and other environmental groups. In May 2007, at the hearing when the TCEQ adopted the clean air plan, testimony was presented which indicated that oil and gas sector sources in the Barnett Shale area around the city of Fort Worth were greatly underestimated in the clean air plan. This testimony cast serious doubt on the accuracy of the photochemical modeling at the core of the state’s plan. Nonetheless, the TCEQ commissioners adopted the plan.

In the state’s May 2007 clean air plan, oil and gas sources in the 9-county DFW metropolitan area were estimated to produce only 26 tons per day (tpd) of smogforming nitrogen oxides and volatile organic emissions.

There is a common misconception that all the natural gas being produced in the Barnett Shale is “clean” gas, with no impact to the environment. While it is true that the use of natural gas for electricity generation results in much lower emissions of sulfur, mercury, and greenhouse gases compared to coal, the production (upstream) and processing and transport (midstream) parts of the natural gas sector can have very large environmental impacts. The official records from the Texas Railroad Commission demonstrate that oil/gas activity in the approximately 20 counties of the Barnett Shale area produces hundreds of thousands of barrels of condensate liquid and crude oil, which are stored in thousands of above-ground tanks that vent to the atmosphere.

Since May 2007, independent efforts were undertaken by both the TCEQ and SMU/EDF to estimate the real magnitude of oil and gas sector emissions. The SMU/EDF effort was lead by me and coordinated by Dr. Ramon Alvarez of the Austin office of EDF.

The new data compiled by the TCEQ after May 2007 estimates that smogforming emissions in the 9-county D-FW metropolitan area were approximately 90 tpd. This new data also estimated that emissions for the entire 19-counties of the Barnett Shale area were approximately 200 tons per day.

These updated state results are extremely consistent with the independently produced results of the SMU/EDF study that I released in January 2009. For the 2007 calendar year, I estimated emissions in the 9-county metropolitan area to be 112 tpd on average and I estimated estimates for the entire 19-county Barnett Shale area to be 191 tpd on average. These numbers are within 10-20% of the TCEQ estimates (90 vs 100, 200 vs 191).

In my report I also accounted for the increase in VOC and HAP emissions that occurs on peak summer days because of heating of volatile compounds in storage tanks. I estimated emissions to be 165 tpd in the 9-county metro area and 307 tpd in the entire Barnett Shale area during a hot summer day.

The fact that separate efforts by the TCEQ and SMU/EDF to correct the emissions inventory for oil/gas sector sources in the D-FW area are coming to the same approximate answer is satisfying. Claims earlier this year by some gas company representatives that my estimates were too high by a factor of 5 or more appear to be completely unsupportable.

While it would have been best to have the updated TCEQ data in the emissions inventory and photochemical computer modeling prior to TCEQ adoption of the DFW clean air plan in May 2007, it is clear that in the future, state and federal regulators will have a more accurate picture of the true magnitude of emissions from the oil/gas sector in this part of Texas.

It is unfortunate that the oil and gas sector chose to lobby against common sense measures that were introduced in the Texas Legislature this year that would have both reduced emissions, plus resulted in increased revenue to producers from the capture of excess hydrocarbons that are otherwise being vented to the atmosphere.

Nonetheless, I hope the industry realizes that the days of venting methane and hydrocarbons to the atmosphere are probably numbered. If I was their lobbyist, I would be strongly advising them to take all necessary measures to reduce emissions starting today, to give themselves time, lessen the impact that future initiatives are bound to require, and help protect the environment.

my emissions inventory, references, and additional information can be found at:

http://lyle.smu.edu/~aja/barnett-shale.html

TCEQ Emissions Table

Cities Must Look Elsewhere for Rail Funds

By GORDON DICKSON - Fort Worth Star Telegram - June 1, 2009

Cities hoping for help from the state in paying for commuter rail service must now reassess plans after Texas lawmakers killed a proposed law that would have allowed local-option elections to raise taxes and fees for transit.

The Fort Worth Transportation Authority, also known as the T, has a service area that only includes about half of Tarrant County’s 1.8 million residents. Cities such as Arlington, North Richland Hills and Burleson must now find other ways to connect to the agency’s rail network.

In Arlington, elected leaders must now decide whether to ask city voters for permission to raise sales taxes for transit. Arlington has a quarter-cent available, but transit elections in the city have failed three times since 1980.

"Everything is back on the table. We’ll look at all the options and do the best we can do," said Arlington Councilwoman Kathryn Wilemon. "A decision will have to be made by the Arlington council."

Barring a sales tax increase for transit in Arlington, Wilemon said, "it just leaves Arlington out of the rail picture, pretty much. There’s no funding for that right now."

A quarter-cent would provide enough funding to build a Trinity Railway Express station near Farm to Market 157 in far north Arlington, and extend express bus service from that station to the entertainment district, said T President Dick Ruddell.

Projects continue

Other cities near Fort Worth are in much the same situation.

In Northeast Tarrant County, cities such as North Richland Hills and Haltom City may have to wait many years before building train stations on the proposed southwest to northeast commuter rail line that will cut through their city and is scheduled to have passenger service by 2013. Those cities don’t have any room under the state’s 8.25 percent sales tax limit, and were hoping for options such as a local gas tax or vehicle registration fee to generate revenue.

But several commuter rail projects already in the planning or construction phases will press on, and that’s good news for cities such as Fort Worth and Grapevine, which are combining forces to develop the rail line from southwest Fort Worth to the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport north entrance.

Grapevine voters already agreed to raise their sales tax by .375 cents to pay for commuter rail to their city.

Tough questions

As for the cities that can’t afford to join, the T will continue to keep their proposed stations in the master plan, Ruddell said. "It doesn’t cost anything to leave them in the plan."

The failure in Austin also won’t hurt the efforts of the Denton County Transportation Authority to get its A-train open from Denton to Carrollton by December 2010. The project is already funded, and rail cars have been ordered.

Private investment on the Cotton Belt portion of the southwest to northeast line could improve the financial picture — and Dallas Area Rapid Transit is actively seeking private partners. However, private funding likely would benefit cities such as Addison and Carrollton on the more densely populated North Dallas segment, Ruddell said.

County officials may now look at their options. In Tarrant County, officials in 2006 passed a $433 million bond package for roads.

"These are really tough questions, and we don’t have the answers for now," said Amanda Wilson, a council of governments spokeswoman. "If you’re not a member of the T, and not planning on it, I can imagine that rail is not in your future for the next two years."

Read more in the Fort Worth Star Telegram

Spending Records of Barton's Charitable Trust

By LAURA ISENSEE - The Dallas Morning News - Tuesday, April 7, 2009

WASHINGTON – Rep. Joe Barton's charitable foundation, which has drawn headlines for the Arlington Republican, has spent more in overhead than on public causes, according to a published report.

A story in Monday's Washington Times noted that the charity started by Barton, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, raised money from industries with a stake in his committee's business and took credit for some donations that corporations made directly to local nonprofits.

The fundraising is "perfectly legal and by the books," said Sean Brown, a spokesman for Barton.

In its first three years, the Joe Barton Family Foundation spent more on overhead – about $130,000 – than it gave to charity. In 2006, it donated $90,000 to construct a new 10,000-square-foot facility for Boys and Girls Club of Navarro County, according to the group's tax reports.

The organization formed as a tax-exempt public charity in 2005. Its mission is to help nonprofits, primarily in Barton's district, build large-scale capital projects. His daughter-in-law runs the Arlington-based organization.

Overall, Barton's foundation has spent less than a quarter of its funds on public causes, according to the Times.

The typical charity rated by the watchdog group Charity Navigator spends about 75 percent on programs and services and 25 percent toward administration and fundraising costs.

There is no one-size-fits-all for how much charities should spend on overhead, said Elizabeth Boris, who directs the Urban Institute's Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy.

Some in Arlington neighborhood unhappy with pipeline plans

By Susan Schrock - Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009

Nov. 21--ARLINGTON -- Several southeast Arlington residents say they fear for their safety -- and their property values -- after learning about a natural gas pipeline that will run behind their back yards beneath high-voltage power lines.

DFW Midstream Services plans to install a low-pressure pipeline to collect natural gas from drill sites around Arlington Municipal Airport and transport it to larger lines nearby for market delivery.

The pipeline would be buried largely in utility easements, except for a section of the Coldwater Creek neighborhood where some residents own the land behind their fence lines where the pipeline would run.

Many of those residents, who live off Sublett Road between New York Avenue and Collins Street, have refused DFW Midstream's easement request. State law allows the company to condemn private land for the pipeline. Construction could begin early next year, company officials said.

Ed Flanegin, who has lived on Winter Park Lane for three years, called the company's $600 offer to sign a 40-year easement agreement for his land "a joke." He has a sign in his front yard that says: "No Pipeline."

"I have to maintain it. I have to keep paying property taxes on it. It makes my home value go down and my insurance go up," Flanegin said. "I can't afford it anymore, but they are making millions."

DFW Midstream President Brett Wiggs said that he understands residents' concerns about the pipeline but that the company follows even stricter regulations than those imposed by the state.

Wiggs said the company plans to bury the 24-inch line at least 6 feet underground -- 3 feet deeper than required. The company also X-rays each weld to make sure it's solid, takes measures to prevent the pipes from rusting and periodically runs testing equipment through the line to check for problems, he said.

"There are a number of steps we take to ensure the integrity of our pipeline systems. We believe it is actually safer operating in existing utilities," he said

Good neighbor

Over the next three years, DFW Midstream plans to lay 85 to 110 miles of pipeline to collect and transport natural gas from well sites between Lake Arlington, Joe Pool Lake and Mountain Creek Lake. The company is already transporting natural gas being pumped from Carrizo Oil & Gas wells at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Almost half of the system's lines will be in existing utility and road rights of way, Wiggs said.

"We are in this urban environment. It's extremely important to us to be a good neighbor," Wiggs said.

"By utilizing those existing rights of ways, it minimizes the long-term impact on the community because we aren't encumbering land that could be developed for other uses."

Residents say that they may not be able to stop the pipeline but that they want better financial offers.

Some, such as Jeana Cole, said they want the company to put in writing what they are going to do to ensure residents' safety and to be open to some of the neighborhood's requests, which include using new American-made pipe, odorizing the gas to help with leak detection and monitoring the line weekly for leaks.

"It's about our safety and our kids," Cole said.

Limited control

Wiggs said that his company has made fair offers for the easement use based on independent appraisals and that some property owners have negotiated higher payments. Wiggs said the company will go to court to reach a settlement with property owners who do not voluntarily sign agreements.

Cole and other residents said they feel as if they have no one to look out for them. The Texas Railroad Commission cannot regulate the pipeline's route, and Arlington has control only when the pipeline crosses public property.

This week, Flanegin, Cole and other residents carried protest signs in front of City Hall and spoke to the City Council in opposition of the pipeline. While the council could not comment because the item was not on the agenda, Councilman Robert Rivera said after the meeting that he is sympathetic to residents' concerns.

SUSAN SCHROCK, 817-390-7639

Taking Stock

By Faith Chatham - dfwrcc - August 14, 2009

There are times when we do what we can and our best efforts seem frail and inconsequential. It seems like we are needing a mountain to shift and we are picking up the earth minute particle by minute particle. It is frustrating when our words seem lite-weight when stacked-up against the resources of professional special interests, especially when children's lives are in jeopardy and the very earth beneath us is changing and shifting. As I take stock, there are some things which amaze me and fill me with thanksgiving.

Deep Holes:

For months we observed and photographed deep sump holes on pipeline construction sites in Arlington residential neighborhoods, playgrounds, parks, and apartment complexes. In March, April and May the pipeline company made no effort to cover them. They didn't seem to comprehend that they were hazards or needed a cover.

When school was letting out we were filled with fear, dreading the probability that a child would fall in one of them and be harmed. Harriet Irby photographed pipeline construction sites seven days a week from March through July. Triple digit temperature did not keep her in the house. Eddy Crosswhite did not let cancer treatments prevent him from photographing the construction sites. They fed me the information and verification needed to speak to media, the pipeline officials, public information officers and officials with Luminant, TXU, Oncor, TCEQ, the City of Arlington and the Railroad Commission. Jim Grimes of Channel 33 and Debbie Denmon of WFAA and their news teams covered the saga.

By mid July pipeline personnel were claiming that they "always cover the holes with sheet metal". They didn't, but that meant that they had come to understand that they should. We rejoiced when they went on record saying that they "always do" and "always have" because that meant that they probably would, at least some of the time. Some of the time was much better than the "never" or "rarely" we observed and photographed at multiple pipeline construction sites in Arlington from March through July. Small victories. The big victory is that thus far this year no child in Arlington has fallen into one of these sump holes. Vigilance is still necessary but at least there has been some improvement in consciousness.

Earthquakes

Last October a series of earthquakes began occurring in North Arlington, Euless, Irving and Cleburne. Speculation that injection well fracking on gas wells in the Barnett Shale circulated. For decades there has been technology to discern man-made earth quakes from natural earthquakes. A team from SMU and UT measured activity south of DFW airport and in Cleburne. Tonight's newscast on most DFW regional television stations include reports that Chesapeake Oil is voluntarily discontinuing injection well operations at wells "along a major fault line" at Cleburne and south of DFW Airport in response to data from the SMU study. It's a beginnning. Utilization of technology by the SMU team and coverage by area media contributed to the decision by at least one gas driller to reduce the risk to residents of this area.

Couplings and an Exemplary Example:

For years it has been known that some of the couplings used to connect gas delivery lines in this region are faulty. In many other states they have been banned from use and the gas company was forced to replace them years ago. In this region, despite knowlege that they were dangerous, hundreds of thousands of them have remained in the ground. Brett Shipps and the WFAA news team ran a series on these couplings two years ago. Newspapers reported the problem but most of them remained.

In Pantego, the Mayor picked up the telephone last year and phoned the gas company. A quiet-spoken, genteel lady, Dorothy Aderholt, inquired: "How many of those faulty couplings are in the City of Pantgo?" She didn't like the answer. She said: "When are you going to get them out?" They told her 30 to 60 days. She told them: "Do it."

Thirty days later she phoned them again and asked: "Are those couplings out yet?" They told her no, not all of them. She asked: "How many are still here?" They told her. She told them: "Get them out." A couple of weeks later she was informed that the last faulty coupling in Pantego has been replaced. This wasn't accomplished through Public Works or by an action of the City Council. It was accomplished by the mayor making a phone call and using her authority as the mayor. Few Pantego residents know that they are safer now because they elected a gutsy, determined woman as Mayor.

Unfortunately, Mayor Aderholt is very ill. She has earned our appreciation and respect. Most Mayors attend city council meetings and some mayors attend some committee meetings. During her years serving Pantego, Mayor Aderholt has been a very "hands-on" servant. She attended most committee meetings as well as City Council meetings. This summer she has been absent. People knew that something was wrong. It had to be serious for her to be "missing" that much. This week the City was officially notified of the seriousness of her situation. Knowing Mayor Aderholt, I suspect that there are other things she has done behind the scenes to help keep her beloved town and neighbors safer. There are bigger towns than Pantego in this area and Mayors who command more employees and more resources, but no city has any one leading it of higher stature than the Town of Pantego. She didn't have to agree with you to work with you. People didn't have to redstamp her opinions to have a place at the table and to be given opportunity to be heard and to contribute to the community. A dedicated Republican, she embraced Democrats and Independents who were civic-oriented and displayed a desire to give to the community. When she didn't understand something, she found people who did. She asks questions and listens and she consistently took information home to study to help her understand important things, especially when they pertain to the safety and security of the people of Pantego.

When DFW Regional Concerned Citizens was formed, we hoped to be able to identify governmental leaders in this region who were hallmarks of integrity and dedication to duty. We hoped that by pointing out the strengths in some, others might be inspired to be more like them. Today we are holding Mayor Dorothy Aderholt up to her colleagues. Hopefully, other Mayors will measure themselves by her gracious, effective, dedicated shadow and step forward to help make the citizens of their towns safer.

OPINION - 675 More Miles of Toll Roads

The Texas Legislature has backed away from Private/Public Partnerships for State Highway construction, yet local elected officials have lobbied to get this region’s transportation projects exempted from a two-year moratorium passed by both houses of the Texas Legislature. Legislators limited the length of CDA (public/private partnership agreements) for toll roads in the rest of the state to 30 year terms. Areas (Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston) which do not meet Federal Clean Air Standards are exempted from the moratorium and the term length of toll contracts is left to local officials. In DFW, local officials serving on the RTC (Regional Transportation Council) of the NCTCOG determine the terms and length of the contract, who will build and operate the corridor and formulas for setting toll rates.

Many decisions impacting Arlington are made at the NCTCOG. Currently the Mobility 2030 plan for the 16 county region (DFW area) is a major topic at the NCTCOG and in the Texas Legislature. Comprised of representatives of member governments in the 16 county region, the NCTCOG's 30 year transportation plan for the DFW region encompasses construction of 675 miles of tolled highways and 70 miles of non-tolled highways, some incorporating existing public highways. "Creative" funding solutions have been hatched, plotted, debated, promoted, attacked and vilified.

Masive changes to the Transportation Code, allowing exercise of eminent domain for private highway constructionm were enacted. Comments by outraged citizens at House and Senate Transportation Hearings this Spring prompted passage of the 2-year moratorium as a cooling off period for all regions of the state except DFW and Houston.

Because our region is exempted from the moratorium, local citizens must monitor local city councils, county commissions and the RTC and Executive Boards of the NCTCOG. Authority to develop, approve and modify the region mobility plan rests with local elected officials. Federal and State law mandates that public participation in planning and public comment is sought.

It was the decision of the local RTC that proposals for DFW projects must have toll rates high enought to generate billions of dollars of surplus toll revenue (paid to the RTC for use on other transportation projects). Revisions in state law transferred authority from the Legislator and TxDOT to local and regional officials. Monitoring the process now rests with local citizens.

Some think that using toll fees to build highways makes sense "because only those who use the roads pay the tolls." The reality is that everyone will pay the fees, even those who never drive on the highways. If 675 more miles of toll roads are constructed in the DFW region in the next 30 years, everyone who purchases goods in local stores will pay the tolls through higher costs at the check-out counter. It will be paid by manufacturers when they purchase raw materials.

We'll also pay in loss of jobs to this region and in loss of revenue when customers choose suppliers which are located in regions where shipping costs do not include toll fees. Businesses in this area will be at a significant competitive disadvantage.

Instead of proposing to reduce gas taxes for the summer, lawmakers should be demanding that Governor Perry call a special session to solve transportation funding. State Lawmakers have failed the citizens of Texas for decades by refusing to solve difficult transportation funding dilemmas. We need to index the gas tax, fund the mobility fund, and stop diversions of transportation dollars to other uses in the state budget.

Some of the responsiblity rest in Austin, some in local city and county commissions and some with the NCTCOG. What we get will ultimately rest with citizens. The Texas Legislature adjourns for 18 months in a few weeks. Decisions to alleviate highways congestion, rail alternatives, funding plans, set toll rates shifts to the local level.

Unless we communicate with and monitor our local officials, there is no advantage of having local control! If we don’t like the plan, we must speak out. If there is something that will make it better, we should speak up. We have the right to be heard and participate. If the public sleeps, we'll probably pay more for transportation in this region for the next 50 years than citizens will in other parts of the state. Citizens can attend RTC meetings, examine documents on the NCTCOG website, telephone city and county commissioners and members of the RTC. Now is the time to ask questions. It is imperative that we understand what the alternatives are, know upfront what it will cost, and realize who will benefit and who will pay. We need answers to these questions before our elected officials sign contracts committing us and future generations to pay tolls for the next 50 years.

ACTION ALERT - Gas Drilling & Pipelines in Arlington- DFW REGION AIR QUALITY

NEWS & INFORMATION

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Texas ranks third highest in teen birth rate

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