As the magnitude of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico becomes increasingly clear, national conversation has turned to preventing future environmental disasters. And as the series of Congressional hearings on the spill continues, public outrage over the continued failure to enforce environmental regulations by certain federal agencies continues to grow.

It’s a time to rethink environmental regulation–how it’s done, by whom, with what type of oversight.

Incredibly, Texas has the opportunity to do just that in the coming year in its review of the state’s environmental and energy agencies.  Unlike the event-driven reviews of federal agencies and departments in response to the Big Branch Mine tragedy in West Virginia and the BP Deepwater oil spill, the review of Texas environmental and energy agencies is already under way as part of the state’s 2010-2011 Sunset review process–the standard assessment of agency effectiveness.

What this means is that the state of Texas is already looking at the agencies charged with protecting our waters, keeping our air clean, regulating oil and gas drilling, and maintaining a healthy environmental for all Texans, today and in the future.  We are fortunate that, in Texas, we do not have to wait for a catastrophic accident to discern how well our state agencies are performing their jobs and to advocate for changes that will make them stronger and more effective.

There have been many articles published about these accidents and how they might have been averted. There will be many more. What’s clear from reading them is the overwhelming regret that safer measures were not taken. As Texas approaches the 2010-2011 Sunset review, from agency self-studies and Sunset staff evaluations to public hearings before the Sunset Commission and final passage of legislation reauthorizing the agencies, we should remember just how important effective environmental protection and regulation really is. And if and when we begin to hear the familiar criticisms that too much regulation costs too much, we should remind our critics that too little regulation can cost far much more.

With six days left in the 81st Session, the time has come for all Texans to take immediate action in support of clean air and clean energy.

SB16, SB 545 and SB 541 are on the House Major State Calendar today. As we’ve said on this site repeatedly, this is great news. However, midnight tonight is the deadline for the House to pass Senate bills on second reading. The Alliance for a Clean Texas asks all Texans who want clean air and clean energy to call their representatives immediately and ask them to vote for these three crucial bills.

In the final six days of the 81st Session, the Alliance for a Clean Texas urges all Texas lawmakers to take up clean air, renewable energy, green jobs and other important environmental issues that will make our state healthier and more sustainable. There are still many opportunities for the Texas Legislature to act on behalf of all Texans. It’s time to put the health and future welfare of our state first and make the commitment to clean air and clean energy by passing these three bills.