TXU Starting To Feel The Heat

When TXU gave Perry a bundle in campaign funds, and got him to "fast-track" their building of 11 new power plants, they didn't give much thought to greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. After all, Texas doesn't even require it's industries to control CO2 emissions. Also, Texas has not generally been one of the more enviornmentally-concious states in the U.S.

But things are different now. A bruising governor's campaign has helped to spotlight the issue. The public has become more aware of the proposed plants, and the fact they would significantly add to the greenhouse gas pollution. This is not a good thing in a state that already leads the nation in production of greenhouse gases.

A group of Texas mayors has now gotten together with enviornmental groups to oppose building the plants without modern pollution controls. These opponents include the mayors of Texas' two largest cities -- Laura Miller of Dallas and Bill White of Houston.

With the recent rash of negative publicity and the formation of a potentially effective opposition, TXU has begun to rethink it's position. In a press release on Monday, TXU said, "TXU recognizes the growing importance that customers place on enviornmental performance including consideration of carbon dioxide emissions." But TXU did NOT pledge to cut its carbon dioxide emissions.

Instead, they have said they will leave room in the new plants for emissions equipment to be added later. TXU also said it will start a fund to help create the "next generation of clean power technologies", and will donate $50 million dollars to the fund. While this may sound good to some, it is actually nothing more than a public relations stunt.

It only makes sense for a company to invest in technology for the future -- I suspect they were doing that already. If they weren't, then they're not very smart.

As for leaving room to add emissions equipment later -- that's just unacceptable. They should install the best-available emissions equipment as they build the new plants. Otherwise, the new plants should not be built.

The fight is not yet over. There is a long way still to go. But at least now, we know TXU is paying attention and they're starting to feel the heat.