Texas oil companies want feds to pay for climate protection
Houston - The burning of fossil fuels is the driving force behind climate change, and now the companies responsible want the federal government to help pay to protect them from the consequences to the tune of about $12 billion.
In Harris County, Texas, voters are going to the polls on Saturday, one year to the day after Hurricane Harvey ravaged the Gulf Coast of Texas. Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 storm, creating a disaster of epic proportions in southeast Texas.
For the voters in Harris County, to cash in on matching federal funds, they have to decide on a $2.5 billion bond referendum for critical flood control projects.
For Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, the vote is one of the most important decisions residents there will make. "We can’t afford to wait any longer. We cannot afford to get this one wrong," he said during a press conference earlier this month.
With Harris County residents, passing the referendum will mean an increase of 1.4 percent in property taxes, in the broadest sense, a small amount to pay to protect your home and livelihood. And Harris County is not the only municipality asking voters to back bond sales to cope with climate change.
Much more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/texas-oil-companies-want-feds-to-pay-for-climate-protection/article/530288#hv69577
Hurricane Harvey, which flooded these homes near Lake Houston, Texas, in August 2017, cost $125 million and was the second-most expensive hurricane in US history WIN MCNAMEE, GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
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