Please find below the questions asked by Pekka Mykkänen of Finish News - Helsingin Sanomat of GPTX co-chair, Douglas Reber. Click here to read the published article in Finish

HS) According to U.S. Energy Information Administration Texas is the biggest polluter of carbon dioxide in the US . What in your view explains this fact?

GPTX) These facts are shockingly true and they are records that the Lone Star State should be ashamed of. It is the largest CO2 emitter in the United States and it emits more than California and Pennsylvania combined. Many of our large cities are in violation of EPA standards for breathable air. Approximately one third of these CO2 emissions come from vehicles and the rest are largely attributed to industrial sources ( http://www.newsweek.com/id/116784 ).

Rather than become an early adopter of higher efficiency standards for vehicles, vehicle exhaust inspections, and mandatory caps on industrial emissions, the state has, until recently, favored voluntary reductions and grandfathering of violators. In fact, during George W. Bush's term as governor, efforts to cap emissions, and fine excessive polluters were intentionally stifled ( http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/georgewbush/articles/story/5926595/george_w_bush_and_the_environment).

The attitude in the state is slowly changing for the better. We now have mandatory emissions checks for vehicles now and grass roots protests by the Green Party and others helped stop reduce the number of new coal plants by eight. The change is in part due to general consciousness on the global warming crisis and government incentives for renewable energy production and conservation. Texas, with nearly 4GW of installed wind generation, has been the top wind producer in the US for the past two years ( SECO - State Energy Conservation Office ). The Texas Legislature has mandated all political subdivisions to reduce their electrical conservation by 5% per year for the next six years ( SB12, also SECO, http://www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us/sb5compliance.htm ). And, AustinEnergy's GreenChoice energy program and Solar Rebate programs lead the country in residential and commercial adoption of clean energy. My wife and I are proud participants in both programs and have a 20 panel, 3.4 kW system on our roof which, when combined with efficient appliances and compact florescent lighting throughout, provides approximately 43% of our electrical needs.

The state has enormous potential for green house gas emission reduction, conservation, and production through solar or wind. With new technologies such as the CIGS ( copper-indium-gallium-selenide) thin-film solar cells from Austin Based Heliovolt, Meosole, or those which just went into production at Nanosolar ( www.nanosolar.com ), the cost of solar panels could be reduced from the current $4-$5/W down to a dollar or less per watt. This will make the total install cost including wires, and inverter less than potentially half of the current price. The current cost of solar electricity without subsidies ( for the solar but with aid to the coal and nuclear plants ) is generally considered to be twice the standard rate, $0.26 versus $0.13 / kWh. But with this new solar technology, solar's cost would be on par. Other advances in solar energy are underway. Quantum dot or noncrystalline solar cells have been demonstrated to have nearly three times the efficiency of current silicon technology and because they are also a thin-film technology, the cost of production could conceivably be like that of the CIGS panels.

A company named Vertigro in Texas is capitalizing on the Green Rush. Ever since MIT scientists showed that microalgae could grow in and eliminate CO2 exhaust from industrial plants into edible algae, companies have been working feverishly to put it into production in reducing CO2 emissions and as a replacement for gasoline. Biodiesel production from the lipid oils in microalgae is expected to make 100k gallons of oil per acre, per year. Since CO2 is vital to the growth process and is also given off if the oil is combusted, it is believe that a near zero net CO2 emission would result from the full generation / usage cycle. ( http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Biodiesel_from_Algae_Oil ) ( http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2008/02/01/solutions.fuel.from.scum.cnn ).

Local governments need to promote zoning measures to increase population density and reduce the need for driving vehicles. Public transportation must be properly designed with connections from rail, plane, buses to pedestrian districts and bike trails.

It is clear that government incentives and grass roots activism can change politics in Texas and combined with these exciting new technologies, we could rapidly change to be a world leader in clean, non-emitting, renewable energy production.

HS) Texas has the image of people driving big trucks and I can see that being a fact while visiting here. Is environment a consideration for people in here when they buy cars, light bulbs, and conduct their other activities?

GPTX) Sadly, there is a cultural attitude in Texas which reinforces the purchase of SUV's and trucks. While pick-up trucks are utilitarian on ranches here, many Texan's purchase these light trucks when they could make use of smaller vehicles. Some Texan's have purchased hybrid vehicles and other high efficiency, low emission vehicles, but more needs to be done to make shopping for fuel economy paramount in every buyer's decision. While one might expect that the high gas prices would impact light truck sales, this data suggests that that did not happen last month. (
http://www.nasdaq.com/econoday/reports/US/EN/New_York/motor_vehicle_sales_1/year/2008/yearly/01/index.html

).

While living in France, it was hard not to notice the difference in the average vehicle size. France taxes vehicles based on their size of motor and hence their fuel efficiency, and that combined with the much higher gas prices helps encourage a focus on buying fuel efficient vehicles. This model works great in Europe and it should be adopted in the U.S. Currently, loopholes in our tax code reward small businesses owners for buying vehicles over 2 tons. This was originally created to help farmers but it has been abused by many non-farm business owners. This must be stopped.

HS) Have you seen any changes in attitudes in the recent years? Are there polls that suggest any shift in attitudes? How does Texas compare to other states in the US ? Are there polls that show how Texans view the issue of global warming?

GPTX) Please see 1 and 2. I am not aware of a poll which details a global warming attitude shift although, people do generally understand that change in our behaviors are necessary to help mitigate the problem.

HS) Governor Perry has called Al Gore’s mouth “the leading source of carbon dioxide”. How representative in your view is this kind of thinking among the political leaders in Texas ?

GPTX) Perry represent the George Bush means of dealing with environmentalism -- allow free reign for devastation for profit. This economic model allows for pollution to cause countless deaths and health problems, and assumes that free market economics will magically correct the problem in the future. It is short sighted. We must look at the entire cost of producing goods including their pollution and waste and their cost to the society must be factored into the price of the goods to ensure that such shortsightedness does not result in say, us having mercury laden lakes and fish as is currently the case. Unfortunately, corporations to counter Global warming by instilling doubt through misrepresentations and lies about the scientific findings.

HS) NPR reported recently that currently there are 35 states in the US that have climate action plans in place or under consideration. Is anything like this in the making in Texas ?

GPTX) Local towns like Austin Texas have made the commitment to meet the challenge but there is not a statewide initiative

HS) Can you briefly describe the history of the Green Party in Texas: When was it founded, what are the connections to other Green Parties in the US, how many members do you have – and if you can give an idea of how your membership is developing?

GPTX) Please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Party_of_Texas for the history. We currently do not have a membership and this is in part due to the misconception that members needed to be officially affiliated with the party as per the legal definition. We realize that that restriction is not necessary and plan to kick off a membership drive in the next couple of days. We have a maillist of over 4k emails.

HS) On your website I found this:
Green Office Holders in Texas :

George Rice - Texas Water Board, District 3

Enrique Valdivia - Texas Water Board, Edwards Aquaifer Authority Board District 7

- - - What are your goals in the upcoming elections – where do you see yourself on the political map, say, five years from now?

HS) I saw the five presidential candidates you have… are they all Texans? What kind of support do you expect for them?

GPTX) Of them, only Kat Swift is currently a Texan. The rest currently live in other states. Cynthia McKinney has come to Texas twice and her campaign has been very supportive of growing the party and our petition drive. Kat Swift spoke yesterday at the Meet The Candidates Forum in Austin Texas. The other candidates are likely waiting to see how our ballot access drive goes.

HS) Why is there no media coverage of these candidates?

GPTX) While the air ways are supposedly the property of the US people, all parties are not given equal access. While Cynthia McKinney has more experience as an elected official than both Barrak Obama and Hillary Clinton, the media almost never mentions her existence. They give the rest of our candidates even less coverage.

HS)You mentioned your activism in getting clean water to Marlin… what other activities have you had, what kind of successes?

GPTX) We helped fight the coal plants and had a limited success. We helped fight against the toll roads and won a limited time moratorium on further construction of Phase II roads around Austin. Greens started AustinImpeach.org and helped gather signatures for city council resolutions to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

HS)You mentioned the issue of coal plants – tell me a little more about it: what was your involvement and what were the results?

GPTX) We joined other groups ( http://www.stopthecoalplant.org/ ) in lobbing against the coal plants and 8 of the proposed 11 were canceled.

12)Although Texas is known to be a big polluter, it also is a big wind energy producer… is this perhaps a sign of things to come, that the state is becoming more environmentally friendly?

GPTX) Combined in answer to #1.

HS)What else would you like to say?

GPTX) We certainly appreciate your interest in publicizing the emission problems that remain in Texas! Also, thank you for giving us this opportunity to respond to your questions and to be a part of your article.