SD 10: Brimer Attempts To Divert Attention Away From His Anti-Environment Record

Former Fort Worth City Councilwoman Wendy Davis challenged Kim Brimer’s record on clean air today, as he held a hearing at the University of Texas at Arlington in a thinly veiled attempt to recast himself as an advocate for clean air and take political advantage of the abysmal air quality in the region he has represented for 20 years.

“Tarrant County families are worried about the dirty air they are breathing, and they deserve more than Kim Brimer’s shameless election-year pandering,” Davis said. “With ailments like childhood asthma more than doubling in frequency over the past 20 years, I consistently hear from parents and grandparents expressing their frustration with my opponent’s inaction and continued lip service to this issue.”

Brimer voted to oppose efforts to combat air pollution as recently as the 2007 legislative session:

•Brimer voted against requiring regulators to target efforts to combat air pollution in the worst-affected areas (SB 1924).

•Brimer voted against requiring the TCEQ to inform the public about areas where toxic pollution was unsafe and to explain what the agency was doing to reduce pollution in those areas. (SB 1924)

•Brimer voted to limit the right of a municipality to regulate air pollution through ordinance (SB 1317)

More from Davis’ campaign:

“No amount of smoke and mirrors, not even the smoke from his cigar, can hide Mr. Brimer’s record of consistently voting against air quality. If he thinks a few last minute changes in hardened policy stances are going to win him the election, he is just proving how out of touch he is with the voters of Tarrant County,” said Davis’s campaign manager Matt Latham.
Davis said she would work to implement many of the same reforms she helped bring to Fort Worth during her nearly nine years as a City Council member. During that time, Davis voted to require the City of Fort Worth and all of its road-building contractors to use only “green cement,” or cement that comes from kilns using newer, cleaner production technology. Davis believes that the Texas Department of Transportation should make the same commitment, placing financial pressure on cement kilns to clean up their emissions.

Davis also has a record of supporting efficient transportation and land-use planning, helping to alleviate traffic and thus reduce ozone-forming emissions. A former chair of the North Central Texas Council of Governments Regional Transportation Committee, Davis oversaw the current commuter rail system that saw a ridership of 2.5 million in 2007.

Davis was recently endorsed by the Sierra Club, one of the environmental advocacy organizations participating in today’s hearing.

This, of course, is the latest in a campaign that Brimer has tried to keep away from issues as he’s sued to keep Davis off the ballot, and done his best to divert attention from his record. He’s still not willing to debate Davis.

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Technorati Tags asthma, Governments Regional Transportation Committee, Kim Brimer, Matt Latham, Sierra Club, Tarrant County, Texas, University of Texas at Arlington, Wendy Davis

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