SD 11: Joe Jaworski On Clean Air, Energy

[This is Part II in a three-part series on SD 11 candidate Joe Jaworski. Part I may be found here; Part III will go live on Capitol Annex at 2 p.m.]

We’ll do some of this portion of the series in a “Q & A” format:

Capitol Annex: What do you see as among the biggest issues facing Senate District 11?

Joe Jaworski: Without question, the quality of the air we breathe. We’ve got three of the worst counties on the EPA list down here: Galveston, Brazoria, and Haris. We’ve got lots of refineries, lots of commuters. More importantly, we’ve got the combination of lots of refineries, the port of Houston, and cars. We need to have a serious effort in the Legislature to address this, and to have our legislators vote ‘people’ and not ‘PACs.’

We need to let the Senators and Representatives and Governor sign legislation that will direct the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to enforce measures that work in other states. Simply creating emission maximums for these plants isn’t enough. I believe we need to take another look at putting an effort back into investigating tailpipe emissions. You wouldn’t drive your car on the road–and you wouldn’t be able to–if it were falling apart, because it is unsafe. That should apply when it’s belching black smoke. At age 45, I’m comfortable in adopting a philosophy of saying, ‘hey, we need to worry about the younger generation, and their health and their future.’

We need to have legislation filed and debated on these issues and let the scientists come forward and give us their opinions on the best way to do it. We need to change the laws on the books, but we can’t do that until we have Senators and Representatives show some true grit on the floor and pass real legislation.

Capitol Annex: What about clean energy issues? In the last 8-10 months, that’s been a big topic, from Governor Perry’s fast-tracking of the coal power plants and the TXU situation, what are your thoughts on that.

Joe Jaworski: Well, for one thing, my hat goes off to Texas Business for Clean Air. I love that they have pulled together a group of environmentalists and businesses and it’s kind of a new day with that consortium.

Texas has always been a leader in energy production. Texas calls itself the number one state in that, which is ironic since we’re number 49 or 50 in so many other things. But, Texas could be a leader in terms of alternative energy sources and clean energy. It makes sense environmentally and it makes sense for those in the energy business.

We need less old style coal plants and more clean energy generation.

At 2 p.m., Capitol Annex will feature the final installment in this series of posts, which will include information on Jaworski’s campaign and district demographics as well as his throughts on fund-raising, stem cell research, education and other topics.