We’re really in a fix. Gas prices are rising precipitously, with no end in sight. As of this writing, gas was at $146 a barrel – more than 104 percent higher than a year ago.
As a result, fuel costs are causing a ripple effect throughout the economy because virtually everything we buy is made from petroleum or transported by a vehicle that uses oil. Too many families are making hard choices about whether to put gas in the car or food on the table.
What’s a blogger’s worst nightmare? It might be getting a subpoena, demanding information that would help identify anonymous posters to a site.
It happened to Ben Smith, co-founder of Room 8, a site where people post items about New York politics. Earlier this year, Smith got a subpoena from the Bronx DA’s office, which demanded the IP addresses of the blogger “Republican Dissident” as well as several other anonymous posters who used news reports about investigations as a jumping off point to criticize Republican officials. When Smith asked why the DA wanted the information, prosecutors refused to say. To make matters worse, the DA’s office required that the subpoena be kept secret, claiming that disclosure of its existence could impede an investigation.
Smith called Public Citizen, which agreed to represent him pro bono.
From Public Citizen’s Texas office:
Everything’s bigger in Texas, including greenhouse gas emissions. If Texas were its own country, it would be the 8th largest greenhouse gas contributor in the world. Texas has a special place in the US economy as its gas tank and its powerplant, but with energy prices skyrocketing, we can no longer afford to let things stay as they are.
Luckily, with every challenge comes opportunity. This week the Texas Public Utility Commission will meet to discuss and possibly decide on upgrading the power grid infrastructure to make sure that we can build new clean, renewable sources of energy in West Texas (where all the sun and wind is) and get it to the people in the major population centers in East Texas.
Wind power in Texas is now a cheaper source of electricity than fossil fuel alternatives. Building newer transmission lines, a so-called “electric superhighway,” is the best way to quit our addiction to fossil fuels. Texas citizens can make their voices heard by going to leaderslisten.org and signing on to the online petition sponsered by State Rep. Mike Villareal.
Want to learn more? Read our press release about our news conference this morning, or read the study and policy paper here. You can also watch a video about renewable energy in Texas and how we can save $1.2 billion dollars here.
