Environmental Rights Movement

The United States is continually one the highest energy producers in the world and with that one the biggest polluters. In light of this there are many government regulations and laws that limit companies pollution and emissions to help keep America clean, but sometimes that is not enough. Sometimes the regulations might not be enough and that's when people come together to join for a common goal of saving our earth and protecting others safety and heath. A great example of this is in Houston, Texas where a group of concerned citizens came together to stop the looting and polluting in and around the Houston area and other surrounding Texas cites. They call themselves CLEAN meaning "The Citizens League for Environmental Action Now." Their goal is to "provide Houstonians with scientific evidence on the health effects of air pollution. They offer solutions to improve Houston's air quality that will benefit Houston socially and economically. They encourage the public to speak out on these issues. The group was primarily started by 20 or so individuals from all different walks of life that came together for one common goal, and that's cleaning up the area and educating others. One can join directly from their site if interested in getting involved with the group. Their main activities consists if contacting elected representatives and proposing bills of legislation be made that call for action to be made on environmental issues dealing with climate change, energy, air pollution, public safety, energy efficiency and conservation, and vehicle emissions.

A current issue the group has taken action on is the TXU coal plants that the state has put up in central Texas to meet the high energy demands of the rapidly growing area. As with many plants and industries the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TECQ) approved the plants to be opened although dangerous emissions to people's health far outweigh the energy boost to the area. Each year the plant is expected to emit