ACT supports HB 3328, Chairman Keffer’s hydraulic fracturing fluid disclosure bill, and calls on House Energy Resources to pass it out of committee.  This bill would take a much-needed first step in making information about the chemicals used in fracking fluid public. Currently, the gas drilling industry is not required to register the chemicals used in fracking operations.  This bill would change that.  Interestingly,  Halliburton was nearly alone last week in its opposition at the committee meeting.  A bipartisan group of representatives has signed on as authors and co-authors this bill including Reps. Crownover (Vice Chair of Energy Resources), Burnam, Parker, Strama and Veasey. ACT agrees that increasing  transparency and protecting our health and our groundwater are in everyone’s best interest–throughout the state.  If fracking fluid is of concern to you, please thank these authors and co-authors and contact the members of House Energy Resources to let them know that you support HB 3328.

The next step for these three bills is to be placed on the House calendar. ACT urges the members of the House Calendars committee to place SB 545, SB 16 and SB 541 on the calendar before Sunday (the deadline for Senate bills to be heard in the House). The people of Texas expect their lawmakers to take bold action on energy this session. The Texas Legislature could make the 81st Session an historic one for the development of the next great Texas energy industries. While many traditional energy businesses and their allies oppose these bills, the people of Texas know that for Texas to be as strong in the 21st century as it has been in the 20th, it needs to stay ahead of the curve on all energy development.

Another ACT high priority bill reaches the next step in the legislative process tomorrow morning. HB 821, the producer TV takeback bill, will be heard in the Senate Committee of Business & Commerce tomorrow morning. An unusual committee referral (most recycling and landfill bills are referred to Senate Natural Resouces), ACT hopes that the members of Senate B & C can see the value of this timely bill that will help keep more lead, mercury and other hazardous materials out of our landfills.

ACT will continue to follow these bills and post updates on their progress. To receive action alerts from ACT, please sign up for our email list. And to follow bill progress in real-time, sign up to follow ACT on Twitter.

On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Business and Industry unanimously passed another major energy efficiency bill out of committee. SB 546 by Senator Fraser sets an aggressive goal for energy efficiency for the state: a 50% reduction in growth by 2015. This bill now moves to the full Senate.

Not to be left out, Tuesday saw activity on energy efficiency on the House side as well, but this time, it was in the form of a press conference. Representative Anchia and Representative Strama, joined by members of ACT’s energy efficiency team, called for the Texas House to pass energy efficiency legislation this session.

Representative Anchia’s omnibus efficiency bill HB 280 and Representative Strama’s HB 1391 provide the programs and financial incentives that will help Texas realize its potential in the cleanest energy source of all – the watt you never use. ACT urges the Chairman Keffer and the House Committee on Energy Resources to move these two bills (among many others) out of committee and onto the House floor in the coming week.