TX SD 10: Kim Brimer’s Environmental Record Is Abysmal

Vince Leibowitz | Oct 24, 2008 | Comments 4

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Kim Brimer would like Tarrant County families to believe he has worked to clean up the air over North Texas, but in reality a look at his 20-year record reveals a man much more concerned with protecting the rights of polluters than his community.

From the campaign of State Sen. Candidate Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth):

“If you want to know where Kim Brimer’s loyalties truly lie, just look at where he gets his money – from big polluters,” Davis campaign spokesman Bernie Scheffler said.

For example, Brimer took money from the Lyondell Chemical Company PAC, whose Houston Refining LP was fined nearly $400,000 this week by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for 27 air and water violations between 2006 and 2008 (documentation attached).

Brimer voted to oppose efforts to combat air pollution three times in the 2007 legislative session alone:

· 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)

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 proven 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 has been endorsed by the Sierra Club and the Texas League of Conservation Voters, which on a recent legislative report card wrote, “Sen. Brimer’s historical record on conservation issues is abysmal.” (source: www.tlcv.org)

Brimer, of course, isn’t the only one who talks a good game on the environment and has a poor environmental record. State Rep. John Davis (R-Clear Lake) has the same problem, and took money from Lyondell, too.

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