Govt Bill tracking and Presentation(ppt)

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Student Name

Professor Martha Giglio

Government 2306

Date

Bill Tracking Exercise Information Paper

The issue of Global Warming has slowly gained awareness worldwide, and people have

started calling for stronger regulations on certain industries, trying to target the main sources of

this problem. Among these industries is the automotive business, specifically cars. With the

introduction of Senate Bill 26 (SB26), Texas was aiming to better the environment and address

this prevailing problem (Estes). I support this Senate Bill in trying to improve the environment

for the betterment of not only Texans but the world at large. I believe that this bill should pass

under the state’s jurisdiction and I support the way in which the legislature is proposing to act.

In order to discuss this bill properly, the origins and development of global warming must

be addressed. As described by National Geographic, global warming causes a multitude of

issues. Some of them include: glaciers melting, sea leveling rising, cloud forests dying, and

wildlife scrambling. This is caused by one important concept, the “greenhouse effect”. Under the

greenhouse effect, certain gases are trapped within the atmosphere, causing the Earth to slowly

heat up like a convection oven (Richards). These gases or emissions will continually bounce

around within our world until they dissipate. To add onto the effects already mentioned by

National Geographic, the Natural Resources Defense Council states that the overall warming of

the Earth would cause an increase in extreme weather events such as storms, massive heat

waves, floods, and droughts. Further, they state that “as temperatures spike, so does the

incidence of illness, emergency room visits, and death,” (Denchak). This supports the idea that

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global warming is the greatest threat to human health in the current era. Essentially, the Earth is

slowly dying and if global warming were to continue, catastrophic consequences would follow

for our species as well as other organisms on this planet. That means everyone should be giving a

hand in solving the issue we caused; there will be consequences for all of us. With this in mind,

we have to act before it is too late. One way of acting is to enact new plans and laws at the state

and federal level to address the issue.

Along the lines of enacting plans on the state level, according to the Texas Legislature

Online website, SB26, which was proposed in the Senate Committee of Natural Resources &

Economic Development during the regular session in 2017, is a bill that was aimed at state

agencies that had cars running on gasoline as the main mode of transportation (Estes). The main

goal of this bill is to establish a plan for decreasing the amount of emissions coming from Texas

that would in turn help improve the environment and further enhance the federal Clean Air Act.

With the tightening of standards concerning ozone levels by the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA), a federal government department, Texas has to find a way to comply with the

demands of the federal government. This plan would be officially called the Texas Emissions

Reduction Plan (TERP). It would start within an area the State of Texas can control - the state

agencies. Under this plan, the state would implement 14 different programs that would

incentivize all state agencies to start replacing their gas-powered automobiles with those that

used alternative fuel sources. The proposed sources include, but are not limited to, natural gas,

petroleum gas, electric, and hydrogen cells. With the creation of a specific program called

Governmental Alternative Fuel Fleet Grant Program, “[only] state agencies other than first

responders with more than 15 vehicles purchase alternative fuel vehicles” are allowed to

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participate (Estes). In this sense, the bigger state agencies are able to receive a bit more help and

therefore would be more likely to change.

Changing the transportation choices of state agencies is not the only thing that the

proposed plan will do; the plan would also help fund projects that are aimed at reducing oilfield

emissions through the New Technology Implementation Grant Program. Also, any funds from

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) that are leftover or are deemed not

necessary for allocation in other programs can be put into different programs that will yield

greater results. Finally, school districts can participate in this reduction plan by eliminating their

old retrofitted buses and buying new ones instead. In essence, this bill is attempting to reduce

emissions when it comes to state-controlled agencies and matters (Estes). This is further evident

with the TCEQ’s ability to reallocate resources from less successful programs to other emissions

reduction programs. This way, the commission could have control in utilizing resources in the

best manner to eliminate needless emissions. With this plan, Texas is able to effectively and

efficiently answer the problem. This plan may be the first of many plans that will help maintain

the health of the planet for the entire country and world.

Although the problem of global warming is dangerous for the human race, and this plan

seems to be an effective step in addressing a contributing cause of this predicament, there are

opponents to this bill. According to the Texas Legislature Online website witness list, there are

only two opponents among the 41 proponents of the bill. Some of the proponents of the bill are

even gasoline-based car manufacturers and oil companies such as Toyota, Nissan North

America, and BP America. The major opponent of this bill is Koch Companies. Koch

Companies is known for being a major part of the oil industry in the South. According to

Nasdaq, although Koch Industries is privately held, some of the main subsidiaries are involved in

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producing fuel, running pipelines, and other energy businesses (Nasdaq). Energy has a seemingly

small percentage stake within the overall group of companies controlled by Koch Industries, but

energy can account for a lot of capital. Therefore, Koch is an opponent against this bill.

When comparing the 41 proponents to the 2 opponents of the bill, it seems like the bill

may be able to easily get enacted. However, it may not be the case as Koch Industries has a PAC

called Koch Industries PAC which had donated $75,000 to Governor Greg Abbot during his

campaign in 2017 (Murphy, Ryan). That means that even if the bill were to have passed through

both houses, which it did not have the time to, the likelihood of Abbott signing the bill is lower

due to pressure from his PAC to not do so. They are a big lobbying group that could pressure

Abbott, forcing him to comply. However, that is but a hypothetical. In essence, due to the bill

having so much support, it was likely to pass, allowing Texas to start taking the much-needed

steps to address global warming by reducing emissions. Supporters of the bill might say the bill

must pass in order to help the state continue in a cleaner and more environmentally-friendly way.

It seems that even an oil company such as BP America agrees on pushing forward.

This bill passed the Senate Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee

with a vote of seven ayes and 2 nays and moved to the Senate floor for a vote. It was approved

on March 14, 2017 and sent to the House of Representatives. The House Environmental

Regulation Committee unanimously approved the bill and it was placed on the General State

Calendar on May 23, 2017 (Texas Legislature Online). By the end of the legislative session, the

bill did not make it any further as there was not enough time in the session to continue, therefore

the bill was killed off. However, if the bill were to be reintroduced, the likelihood of it being

passed is pretty high. Even with the major lobbying opponent being Koch Industries and Abbot

being an unknown factor, the bill can be passed and should be passed.

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Global warming is causing a chain of events that if not stopped will end the world as it is.

The greenhouse effect will eventually heat the world to the point where it is uninhabitable by the

animals that we hunt and eat and there will a reduction in crop output, causing our demise

(Richards). The extra incentive programs will help drive state agencies to continue changing

their cars to cleaner options (Estes). It may seem tough now with all state agencies being forced

to change in such a short time, however, the effects of it will only help Texas industries. By

thinking long term, Texas will continue to flourish. I support the passage of a bill like SB26

because I believe we need to address contributing factors to global warming and we need to do it

now.

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Works Cited

Denchak, Melissa. “Are the Effects of Global Warming Really That Bad?” NRDC, Natural

Resources Defense Council, 9 Apr. 2018, www.nrdc.org/stories/are-effects-global-

warming-really-bad.

Estes, et al. “Texas Legislature Online - SB26.” Texas Legislature Online , Texas Government,

2017, www. capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=85R.

“Koch Industries Inc.” Nasdaq, Nasdaq, 31 May 2018, www.nasdaq.com/quotes/institutional-

portfolio/koch-industries-inc-35664.

Murphy, Ryan, and Jay Root. “Texas Republicans Getting Almost 90 Percent of Money Flowing

into State Elections.” The Texas Tribune, 19 Feb. 2018,

www.texastribune.org/2018/02/19/texas-republicans-getting-almost-90-percent-money-

flowing-state-electi/.

Richards, Cory. “What Is Global Warming?” National Geographic, 30 Jan. 2018,

www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/global-warming-overview/.

Texas Legislature Online - 85(R) History for SB26,

www.capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/BillStages.aspx?LegSess=85R&Bill=SB26