Stand Tall With Julia

"This is too big for the insiders, too big for the lawyers and lobbyist that dominate this place," says progressive syndicated columnist Jim Hightower.  "This is so big that it has to go to the people, and this is why we are going to the top leadership, to get them to take it to the people."

  

Photo: Max Anderson

     This past Monday, Debra Medina, We Texans, Julia Trigg Crawford, Lamar County landowner, and Texas progressive Jim Hightower spent time with legislators at the Texas capitol to discuss eminent domain abuses.  They want to secure public hearings for Texans immediately following this Special Session -- in communities starting with East Texas -- who have suffered from the abuse of eminent domain in the Lone Star State.
     Crawford is the manager of Red'Arc Farm.  Her grandfather bought the 650-acre farm in 1948. She is currently in litigation with TransCanada, the company behind the hotly contested Keystone XL pipeline, after they seized part of her land claiming eminent domain.  TransCanada received the rubber stamp of approval from the Texas Railroad Commission after saying that the KXL will be a 'common carrier.' Crawford says, "We don't believe a Canadian corporation, transporting a product made in Canada, has the right to take a Texans land."  Landowners face significant obstacles in part because Texas eminent domain laws do not provide due process for individuals until after their land is seized.

Photo: Max Anderson

     A grass roots 'cross partisan coalition' is forming to have public hearings for local citizens to voice their concerns.  Hightower says, "Our legislative leaders have been weaker than Canadian hot sauce when it comes to standing up for farmers... against a multibillion dollar Canadian corporation who is coming in and taking the land of farmers. It is a mockery of our democracy."
     The trio is at the capitol to urge that hearings for an Interim Study begin immediately in East Texas along the route of the TransCanada/Keystone XL pipeline. This pipeline is due for completion sometime early next year. In addition to concerns about the use of eminent domain, the House Land & Resource Management, Business & Industry, and Energy Resources committees have all heard additional concerns that landowners, together with towns, cities and counties along the route, may be inadequately prepared for emergency measures needed if there is a pipeline breach.  The fact that the pipeline is carrying diluted bitumen under high pressure, which poses particular dangers to health, safety and our water supply, has somehow been lost in the eminent domain shuffle.

Photo: Max Anderson

     The Keystone XL pipeline will cross the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer, which serves 10-12 million people, and other Texas waterways along its path to refineries in Port Arthur and Manchester.  This is raising serious concerns about preserving the integrity of our water, especially with the recent news of 'anomalies' found in newly laid pipe in East Texas. Public hearings and full discloser are a necessity if we want the people to have a say.