TEXAS POLITICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Many critical questions about natural resources held in the public trust are decided by our state government. Typically, the Texas government has been loathe to make major commitments to protecting the environment: the state spends only 0.6% of its budget on environmental programs, less than 1/3 the average among the 50 states, and has set aside only 3% of the state's area as public land.

This low interest in the environment is at odds with the state's citizens, who've consistently polled as strong supporters of the environment. A summer 2000 poll by the Tarrance Group indicated that 74% of Texans believe that laws protecting the environment were not strong enough or were not enforced strictly enough. The difference between public opinion and legislators' voting records may be due to the success of special interests in presenting their views and candidates. With the high cost of campaigning in such a big state ($121 million was spent in 1998 state campaigns), large industry contributions play a big role in campaigns (there are no caps on contributions by businesses or PACs in Texas and only 0.7% of campaign donations came from small individual sources) and appear to affect some key votes and legislators

It's unclear now whether voters will eventually grow frustrated by the Legislature's unwillingness to listen to their concerns, or if special interest contributors will eventually balk at the high cost of maintaining access to elected decisionmakers, or if industry will remain convinced that their investment in politics continues to provide a good return.