Sierra Club comments on the Trans-Texas Corridor

"The Tier I development and evaluation process has not been 'rigorous' and there has not been a 'proactive agency and public involvement program' because the public has spoken overwhelmingly that it does not want the proposal but the proposers still push the proposal. There is no 'balance' in meeting the purpose and need and minimizing the potential for environmental effects because there is a conflict of interest in pushing the proposal forward.

This leads the Sierra Club to the believe that instead of preparing a factual and unbiased DEIS [Draft Environmental Impact Statement]the proposers are attempting to mislead and mold the opinions of the public and decision-makers by misinterpretation via language of what really is at stake and exists in the I-69/TTC project area. This is the very antithesis of what an EIS is supposed to be and do. Such actions call for a withdrawal of the DEIS and a total reanalysis that is based on factual evidence and narrative and not manipulative and self-serving language that predetermines the outcome of this proposal.

The effects of current actions are not considered in the analysis of whether I-69/TTC should be constructed. For instance, global warming and the effects it is having and the generation of greenhouse gases that roads cause; the increased cost of oil, up to about $100/barrel; the increased cost of gasoline which is $3/gallon now and if expected to go to $4/gallon this summer; the collapse of the housing market; the recession that is evident in the United States economy; the reduction in funds for roads due to funding two wars, etc. All of these and more current actions affect and should play a role in determining whether I-69/TTC should be built. But there is no discussion about how these actions affect the decision of whether to build I-69/TTC."

--Brandt Mannchen, Air Quality Issue Chair of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, in a letter stating the environmental group's official comments to the FHA and TxDOT on TTC-69

Read the entire letter on Sal Costello's blog.