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Houston as Microcosm - Focus on the Environment

Houston, Texas: "space city" and "oil capitol of the world." Is this modern city a model of growth and economic development or a national sacrifice area and an urban environmental war zone?

This is the question that "Houston as Microcosm" tries to address. We will focus on some of the major environmental issues facing the city. These include the fate of Galveston Bay, Houston's water quality and supply, environmental assaults on minority communities, and the legal responsibilities and liabilities associated with environmental tragedies.

For the people of Houston, environmental issues extend beyond a concern about the quality of life here and how we feel about our community's desirability as a place to work, play, raise our families, make life-long friends, and grow and develop professionally and personally. We recognize that any discussion of the environment also has to be a discussion about the economy.

Take, for instance, the fate of Galveston Bay. Not only is Galveston Bay the playground for the nation's fourth largest city, it is also the foundation of a recreational and commercial fishing industry that pumps over $1 billion each year into Houston's economy. Maintaining the environmental quality of Galveston Bay means continued economic dividends for the Houston area.

Houston's water quality and supply problems are similar to those facing other cities. The Houston Ship Channel, known locally as Buffalo Bayou, has made a comeback. Water quality has improved and aquatic life has increased. The billions of dollars spent cleaning up this body of water mean that a river walk through downtown Houston can add to the economic well-being of the city. This is contingent upon continued progress cleaning up industrial and municipal water pollution and resolving the problem of contaminated urban run-off.

Meanwhile, Houston is in the midst of a monumental battle to determine its water supply for the next 40 years. The city can either continue to drain all surrounding rivers and lakes and risk destroying Galveston Bay, or it can be visionary and enter the 21st century using its existing water resources efficiently and relying on other water supplies already present but underutilized. Will the city's major water supply, Lake Houston, continue to improve, or will it be allowed to collect waste and degrade as it did in the late 1970s and early 1980s?

In the United States, people of color suffer disproportionately from the cutting edge of technology and progress. In Houston, it is no different. The section on minorities and the environment looks at why and where waste dumps have been placed in Houston, and shows that they are located among those least able to fight to protect their health. We will see how this kind of thing can be stopped in the future. Will Houston continue to dump poisons on its poor and politically weak?

Finally, the presentation on legal responsibilities and liabilities springing from environmental tragedies tells the story of how, ultimately, the free market's residuals or externalities, its waste and pollution, cripple a community's industries if they are not disposed of safely. Ironically, dumping comes back full circle to economically bite the polluters. That is why good environmental sense is equivalent to good economic sense.

Moderator:

• Dale Gorczyski, a city council person, is the environmental conscience of Houston's government. His masters degree in public health makes him the ideal choice to moderate this section of "Houston as Microcosm," since he combines technical expertise with knowledge of the political reality that he lives every day.

Other Speakers:

• Barbara Link is director of the Citizen's Environmental Coalition in Houston, Houston, TX.

• Jack Matson is a professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Houston, Houston, TX. He has been a consultant to numerous industries and municipalities in the Houston area on waste water and water resource problems. He proudly wears the title "Dr. Mega-Doom" as he educates those around him about the need to protect Lake Houston. He will speak on "Houston Water Quality and Supply."

• Robert Bullard, formerly a professor of sociology at Texas Southern University, now teaches at the University of California at Riverside. He is the author of Invisible Houston, a book about the black experience during Houston's recent oil boom and bust days, and the forthcoming Dumping in Dixie. He will speak about the "Environmental Assults Against Minority Communities."

• Sandy Gaines, Professor of Law, University of Houston, Houston, TX; is particularly interested in air quality issues. He puts his professional experiences into practice by acting as a consultant for local environmental groups about political and legal problems related to environmental issues. He will speak about the "Legal Responsibilities and Liabilities Springing from Environmental Tragedies."

• Joseph Goldman, International Center for the Solution of Environmental Problems, University of St. Thomas; studies climate changes in Houston, and works on the sustainable design of urban living centers.

Go to the first work shop in the series on Houston as Microcosm: "The Global City."

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