The bottomline: we didn’t make the kind of progress on clean energy and clean air issues we had hoped to make. ACT bills faced two hurdles that could not be overcome this session. The first was strong industry opposition that both slowed the process (especially getting bills voted out of committee) and undermined the bipartisan support these measures had going into the session. The second was a legislative session that was behind from the beginning and ultimately derailed by a partisan stalemate in the House.

It’s important to note that bills did indeed pass that will continue to move Texas toward a cleaner, healthier future. Over the coming weeks, we’ll take a look at each of the 2009 issue areas in-depth and publish an assessment of how we fared on each. By the end of the month, ACT plans to publish a 2009 Legislative wrap-up.

Today, it’s worth taking a look at where ACT’s high priority bills ended up. First, the good news. Two of the ACT’s nine high priority bills are headed to the governor’s desk. HB 821 (TV producer takeback recycling) and SB 184 (greenhouse gas registry study) passed to engrossment in both chambers. ACT would like to thank everyone who worked on these bills – both this year and in years past laying the foundation for their success.

As for the other seven bills: frankly, last Friday, three more high priority bills seemed poised to make it: SB 546, SB 545 (as an amendment) and HB 300 (TXDoT sunset). However, SB 546 failed in the conference process, taking SB 545 with it. HB 300 died when the Senate chair of the Transportation Committee threatened to filiabuster it. Obviously, members of the ACT issue teams did everything possible to keep these bills alive – particularly SB 545. But Sine Die came without a solar bill headed for Gov Perry’s desk, without the increase in energy efficiency goal recommended by the PUC’s Itron Study, and without needed improvements to make TXDoT a more environmentally-sound agency.

SB 16 became ensnared in a tremendous amount of industry push back, particularly against future air permits requiring ozone impact analysis and cumulative impact studies. After a considerable delay in voting the bill out of House Environmental Regulation, the House Calendar committee finally placed SB 16 on the House Major State calendar on May 23. But by that point, the House had ground to a halt and SB 16 failed to be passed by the midnight deadline on May 26. Eventually, parts of SB 16 were amended onto other legislation, but between the stripping of non-germane amendments and the abrupt adjourning of the Senate last night, most of them died as well.

HB 280 was made the companion for SB 546 by the House on May 14th, so it essentially shared the fate of SB 546. And HB 1553 – the climate adaptation plan bill – was voted out of House Envirnonmental Regulation but was not placed on the House calendar.

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.

The challenge: not only is time short (there are only seven days left in the session and 36 hours until all Senate Bills must pass 2nd reading in the House) – the Texas House has come to a virtual standstill over the last four days. The time has come for all Texans to ask their representatives to put aside the partisan issues that are keeping them from taking up the business of our state. There are many extremely important issues that remain undecided at this time. The Alliance for a Clean Texas believes that clean energy is one of the crucial issues that the House must take up before the midnight deadline tomorrow.

Texans want to breathe cleaner air. They want their water to be used sustainably. They want their state to remain a world leader in energy innovation and production. They want their children to grow up to in a state where the jobs of the 21st century economy are plentiful. They want to be proud of their state – for its historic leadership in energy, for its great gifts of natural resources, and for its unique ability to lead our nation (and our world) into a cleaner, healthier future.

Call your representative right now. Ask her or him to vote for both solar bills. To stop stalling. To take action. This person is your representative in Austin. It’s time for all of us to act on behalf of our state. As we all know, what we do in Texas matters. Let’s show the world that Texas is ready to lead the way.

On the renewable energy bills front, SB 545 has been sent to the House Calendars committee. SB 541 has beed reported favorably by the House Committee on State Affairs; the committee report has not yet been filed. ACT has two urgent recommendations on behalf of these bills:

1. ACT urges the House Calendars Committee to place SB 545 on the calendar for Major State Affairs at its next meeting.
2. ACT urges the House Committee on State Affairs to take all necessary steps to have the committee report on SB 541 in the House Calendars Committee before its next meeting.

Two more ACT high priority bills are poised to move to the next step. HB 821 (producer TV takeback recycling) was heard in Senate Business and Commerce yesterday afternoon and passed out on a 9-0 vote.  It is now eligible for the Senate Intent calendar; ACT will continue to follow this bill and let supporters know if and when calls to the Lieutenant Governor’s office might be needed.

Finally, SB 184, Senator Watson “no regrets” greenhouse gas bill was reported favorably from House Environmental Regulation yesterday. The next step for this bill is for the committee report to be sent to the House Calendars Committee.

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.

ACT would like to thank Senator Watson for his leadership in renewable energy this session. This afternoon, he strongly advocated for this bill as a measure that will help Texas meet the challenges on the horizon in the energy industry. We couldn’t agree more.

Please call your senator today and ask him or her to support SB 541.

SB 541 is one of the two essential renewable energy bills ACT supports this session. (The other bill, Senator Fraser’s SB 545, has been passed by the Senate and is now in the House Committee on Energy Resources.) Passing both bills is essential to making Texas the national leader in solar. SB 541 would establish solar and other renewable energy on a utility scale, as was done for wind. SB 545 would establish a statewide goal for distributed generation such as rooftop solar – the essential component to making Texas the leader in the booming solar manufacturing industry.

How important is adopting an RPS for solar to jumpstarting the solar industry in Texas? Even Luke Bellsnyder, executive director of Texas Association of Manufacturers, acknowledges as much, despite his association’s opposition to these two bills. Here’s what he said to The New York Times on Monday:

solar advocates “tell us constantly that panel manufacturer X or Y was looking to Texas, but decided to go to other states because they have a better R.P.S. or better incentives for production.” (R.P.S. refers to “renewable portfolio standard,” which is a target for renewable energy production.) “I want solar manufacturers to come to Texas,” Mr. Bellsnyder added. “If we’re going to expand and have solar on the grid, as I think we can acknowledge, then let’s make sure they’re coming here.”

Please call you senator today in support of HB 541. Let’s do for solar what we did for wind – and make Texas the energy leader of the 21st century.

Here are three of the renewable energy bills ACT supports:

SB 545 – Senator Fraser: relating to the creation of a distributed solar generation incentive program.
This bill creates a five-year incentive program, administered by electric utilities, for commercial and residential customers to increase the amount of distributed solar generation installed.  The incentive program would be funded by a nominal monthly fee on residential, commercial and industrial customers. The program would generate an estimated $50 million per year and lead to ap-
proximately 70 MWs of on-site renewables by 2015.

HB278 – Representative Anchia: relating to energy demand and incentives for distributed renewable generation.
This bill creates incentive programs, administered by electric utilities, for commercial customers, residential customers, and homebuilders to build on-site solar and geothermal generation. It also sets the goal of an additional 2,000 MWs of generating capacity from distributed renewable energy sources to be installed by the state by 2020, and at least 1,000 MWs by 2015.

SB 541 – Senator Watson: relating to incentives for Texas renewable energy jobs and manufacturing.
Seeks to create renewable energy manufacturing jobs in Texas by giving extra credit for electricity produced by equipment that is made in Texas.  The bill increases the goal for renewable energy and seeks to expand on Texas’ success with wind power, by setting a 3,000 megawatt goal for non- wind renewable generation in Texas

It’s a big week coming up. Wednesday’s Earth Day. The Senate’s going to vote on SB 545. Time to go solar, Texas!