Environment Texas is a citizen based environmental advocacy organization based here in Texas focussed on protecting Texas’ air, water and open spaces from pollution or destruction. The state of Texas ranks among the top for producing toxic air pollutants and also is one of the most anti-regulatory states in the nation.
As an advocacy group, Environment Texas seeks to pursue public policy goals on behalf of its members by influencing the government in its decision making policy on where to disburse tax dollars through public spending programs and creating legislation favourable to its members. According to the textbook used in class, the state of Texas regulates one of the most productive economies in the world with an annual gross state product of $1.3 trillion. The state government’s total spending is $173.5 billion. (p115. Maxwell, Crain, Santos. TX.Gov). One can see why special interest groups lobby so hard to have their voice heard in the state capitol since they want a share of the government spending. They will lobby the government to spend more if need be or they will try and lobby against cutbacks and if under threat from reduced government spending, then they would want to maintain the current spending already allocated to them.
There are various types of interest groups here in Texas. Some are economic interest groups; others are non-economic interest groups, whereas others can be categorized as mixed interest groups. I would categorize Environment Texas as a non-economic interest group since its goal or agenda is in the public interest. The advantages of being involved or having an interest group are that it can mobilize individuals with like minds to participate in activism for a common cause. It also helps educate ...
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...on that might affect them directly or indirectly. Citizens can organize themselves into interest groups so as to protect their interests and their values that they might have in common. It is a way for citizens to get their voice heard in the state capitol. However the ultimate goal of interest groups is to influence government policy.
References
Davis, C. (2012). The Politics of ‘Fracking’: Regulating Natural Gas Drilling Practices in Colorado and Texas. Review Of Policy Research, 29(2), 177-191. Doi:10.1111/j.1541-1338.2011.00547.x
Levine, D. (2014). Google sets roadblocks to stop distracted driver legislation. Retrieved
Maxwell, Crain, Santos. (2014). Tx.Gov student edition http://www.myfoxdfw.com/video?clipId=9726200&autostart=true http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/capitol-digest-some-lawmakers-meet-with-federal-co/nRYXN/
Exxon/Mobil, one of the nation’s leading oil producers, has its main refinery located in Beaumont, Texas. Each year, the residents of Beaumont/Port Arthur have to contend with the 39,000 pounds of pollution spewed each year by the Exxon refinery. Exxon’s emissions are 385% above the state refinery average. In 1999, the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Committee (TNRCC) allowed the plant to increase their emissions, without allowing the public to have a say in the matter. Interestingly, 95% of the people living near the plant are of African American descent and are in the poverty range. Some believe that this, along with the lack of education in the area, allows Exxon to get away with such high emissions. Residents in nearby neighborhoods have been complaining of headaches, nausea, eye, and throat irritation for years. Since 1997, Mobil has repeatedly violated health standards in its emissions of two key air pollutants: sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, These “rotten egg” smells are so strong, one can smell it through a car driving past the refinery. After numerous complaints and one record of a refinery worker becoming unconscious because of the fumes, the EPA awarded Exxon with a $100,000 environmental justice grant in October of 1998. Hopefully, Exxon has put the money to good use and cleaned up their emissions.
The Texas government is a complex system whose ultimate purpose is to serve its citizens. Oftentimes, its complexity in certain aspects causes problems in its efficiency in serving. The way the Texas Constitution is written, how local governments run, the judicial, legislative, and executive branches’ efficiency, as well as Texas public policy and fiscal policy result in a government that is not set up to best serve its citizens.
Texas went through a great amount of political change from being dominated by the Democratic Party during the 1960s and 70s, from the Republican Party taking over in the 80s. One of the big reasons for this change was due to the political party’s views. Throughout this essay I will discuss the changes of the political stances in Texas as well as the present day factors that affect America.
The Texas government is an unusually complex institution that is composed of many different levels. Everyone asks, with a constitution like the one Texas has, can people really trust the government? The main reasons why people might not be trusting of the government are that they might believe that the officials take advantage of their power, or want to try to control them. The Texas legislature is also subject to checks and balances in the three branch system. For example, the governor 's power to veto bills, which is rarely overridden, and to call special sessions; while the court has the power of judicial review. In Texas, the Constitution divides the powers
Interest groups are an interesting part of politics that usually gets overlooked. The term interest group is self-explanatory but the definition can be a bit more politically thorough: An organized group that tries to influence the government to adopt certain interests, policies, or measures also called pressure group. Interest group refers to virtually any voluntary association that seeks to publicly promote and create advantages for its cause. America is a melting-pot of races, religions, languages, cultures, beliefs, and ideas, yet it only
In other words, Texas does not levy and individual income tax, instead the revenue is largely generated through property and sales taxes. Property taxes like your house, a place you own, or where your business is at, those are in some way ‘local taxes’ since the state is the one who is in charge of them. There are two type of taxes, progressive and regressive; the progressive taxes take a larger porcentage of income from taxpayers as their income rises (What is, web). Regressive taxes is the exact opposite, the tax is not based on ability to pay. Texas has one of the most regressive tax systems in the US, the reason? Because of their state taxes, where everyone pays the same tax rate regardless of their income. Inside Texas, however, the state’s tax system is not universally beloved. Although few are calling for Texas to impose its own income tax, the way the state employs property, sales and business taxes to finance services, particularly education, draws criticism and debate across the political spectrum (Batheja, web). Also, some critics say shifting away from income taxes and toward sale taxes puts a greater burden on poor people, who at the end would pay a higher percentage of their income to taxes that wealthy ones do(Dealer, web). In other words, the lower class is always the more affected by this type of taxes (regressive), because the way taxes
"Green Party of Texas State Platform (2008) | Green Party of Texas." Web. 11 Mar. 2011. .
The environment and the health of the surrounding population go hand in hand. The Environmental Protection Agency takes on this ever so important mission of protecting them both. The mission statement of the EPA states, “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Small Business Programs is to support the protection of human health and the environment by advocating and advancing the business, regulatory, and environmental compliance concerns of small and socio-economically disadvantaged businesses, and minority academic institutions (US Enviromental Protection Agency, 2010).” The impact of its mission can be defined clearly as it examines the impact of contamination in the air, the water, and the land on human health.
Texas has a total land area of 261,914 square miles- making it the second largest state in the United States. Combined with a diverse geography, Texas has one of the most varied climates of any state. As the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases year by year, causing an increase in the Earth’s average overall temperature, changes in our climate are inevitable. We will investigate how those changes will affect the life of the everyday Texan - from our water resources, to our cities and why they are important issues that need to be addressed by our society.
Political culture is broadly shared values, beliefs, and attitudes about how government and society should function. Gov. Rick Perry speaks supporting strong Texas state government and minimal federal government intervention. Based on Texas’s founding origins, and experiences and orientation toward the marketplace (pro big business), who should participate in government, and the role of government. The three state political culture categories are moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic. Texas is a mix of traditionalistic and moralistic according to our textbook. The moralistic New England Puritanism view of the common good, government should promote public good. Individualistic view of government to provide order and protect property
While each state should be aware of the environmental needs that are most important to address, environmental policy should be beneficial to all. This means that Texas and the federal government need to learn how to work together more efficiently. “As is often the case in environmental policy, environmental outcomes occur at a rate incompatible with political agendas: In addition, a multitude of possibly confounding variables makes it difficult to correlate collaborative governance processes with environmental outcomes.” (Biddle) It is crucial for Texas to drop its “Don’t Tread on Me” state of mind for the greater good of our environment. Selfishness has no place here. Without any compromise, the destruction of Texas’s environment could very well impact other states and become a landslide effect throughout the country.
The word “environment” was given then a contrasting connotation. Unlike the traditional environmental movement, which was condemned for ignoring the experience of black people and the lower class, the environment was restructured as a setting where people live. Supporters started to focus comprehensively on making the topic evenhanded. Advocates classified this equality into three expansive types: technical, geographic, and societal equities. Technical impartiality is apprehensive on unbiased manner or justice on the employment of central regulations, assessment criterion, and enforcement of environmental rules. Geographic fair play is concentrated on finding groups of people and their propinquity to green peril, ...
With the recent ordeal with Denton’s fracking induced water pollution many are shook to the core with the realizations that there nothing they can do to change the states ruling. Meanwhile, the state knows that they are dancing on the fine line of “pose[ing] a bigger risk of enacting laws that infringe on individual rights” (Renaldi). Especially with their ruling to ban the ban of fracking. Despite the direct harm to the people of Denton. Denton had over 14,000 signatures to end the harmful fracking. 1 “There seems to be an attitude that big state government knows better than the citizens of a city. 2 I just think — conservative or liberal — that is something you don’t do in Texas” ( Roden). In many ways, this was another way the state showed their ever-growing superiority over local governments. They said their reason was because the ban posed ‘infringement’ over private property even with the city ban. However there’s a law that states “ Junked vehicles. Municipal ordinances that provide for the abatement and removal
environmental damage mounting, the practice of fracking has only quietly expanded and profited. This concealed expansion into the nation’s backyard has only