Dewhurst talks about the TTC and water supplies
Dewhurst identifies key legislative issues
9/7/06
Kerry Curry
Managing Editor
Dallas Business Journal
Copyright 2006
Clean air, highway congestion and water supplies are among the key issues that legislators will need to grapple with during the 2007 state legislative session, Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Thursday.
The session begins in January.
Dewhurst was the keynote speaker Thursday during a Greater Dallas Chamber luncheon event in downtown Dallas.
"(Highway) congestion is going to affect not only the economy, but our quality of life," Dewhurst said. "We've got to get you home quicker."
Responding to a criticism about the route of the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor during a question-and-answer period, Dewhurst assured the audience that the route is not yet finalized. An audience member criticized the state's proposed route, which bypasses Dallas and Fort Worth and runs through East Texas.
The Trans-Texas Corridor is a planned multiuse, statewide network of transportation routes that is expected to incorporate existing and new highways, railways and utility rights-of-way. It is being designed to carry passenger vehicles, trucks, and freight and commuter rail. It also is expected to provide infrastructure for utilities, such as gas and oil pipelines, telecommunications fiber and transmission lines for electricity.
"We want to make sure from a business standpoint that Dallas and Fort Worth is not bypassed ... yet still be able to move people around the state," Dewhurst said.
Dewhurst also said he's got concerns about air pollution affecting the Dallas and Houston areas. Both metropolitan regions do not meet federal Clean Air Act regulations, and it's unlikely that Dallas will reach compliance by an upcoming 2010 federal deadline, he said.
Dewhurst said he'll support "cost-effective reductions (in air pollution) to keep our economy running."
On water, Dewhurst blasted the state for failing to plan for adequate water supplies for its future. The state, he said, will have a water deficit in 35 years if it doesn't begin spending money on new water supplies.
"Here we are in 2006; we've made virtually no investment in water since 1995," he said.
kcurry@bizjournals.com | 214-706-7124
© 2006 The Associated Press: www.dallas.bizjournals.com
9/7/06
Kerry Curry
Managing Editor
Dallas Business Journal
Copyright 2006
Clean air, highway congestion and water supplies are among the key issues that legislators will need to grapple with during the 2007 state legislative session, Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Thursday.
The session begins in January.
Dewhurst was the keynote speaker Thursday during a Greater Dallas Chamber luncheon event in downtown Dallas.
"(Highway) congestion is going to affect not only the economy, but our quality of life," Dewhurst said. "We've got to get you home quicker."
Responding to a criticism about the route of the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor during a question-and-answer period, Dewhurst assured the audience that the route is not yet finalized. An audience member criticized the state's proposed route, which bypasses Dallas and Fort Worth and runs through East Texas.
The Trans-Texas Corridor is a planned multiuse, statewide network of transportation routes that is expected to incorporate existing and new highways, railways and utility rights-of-way. It is being designed to carry passenger vehicles, trucks, and freight and commuter rail. It also is expected to provide infrastructure for utilities, such as gas and oil pipelines, telecommunications fiber and transmission lines for electricity.
"We want to make sure from a business standpoint that Dallas and Fort Worth is not bypassed ... yet still be able to move people around the state," Dewhurst said.
Dewhurst also said he's got concerns about air pollution affecting the Dallas and Houston areas. Both metropolitan regions do not meet federal Clean Air Act regulations, and it's unlikely that Dallas will reach compliance by an upcoming 2010 federal deadline, he said.
Dewhurst said he'll support "cost-effective reductions (in air pollution) to keep our economy running."
On water, Dewhurst blasted the state for failing to plan for adequate water supplies for its future. The state, he said, will have a water deficit in 35 years if it doesn't begin spending money on new water supplies.
"Here we are in 2006; we've made virtually no investment in water since 1995," he said.
kcurry@bizjournals.com | 214-706-7124
© 2006 The Associated Press:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Thursday, September 07, 2006
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