texas-sized ike "threatens to devastate coast"

Houstonians and other Gulf Coast Texans are either evacuating or preparing for the storm of a lifetime as Hurricane Ike hurtles towards the Texas coast line.

A massive Hurricane Ike sent white waves crashing over a seawall and tossed a disabled 584-foot freighter in rough water as it steamed toward Texas Friday, threatening to devastate coastal towns and batter America's fourth-largest city.

Ike's eye was forecast to strike somewhere near Galveston late Friday or early Saturday then head inland for Houston, but the sprawling weather system nearly as big as Texas was already buffeting the Gulf Coast and causing flooding in areas still recovering from Labor Day's Hurricane Gustav.

Because of its ominous size, storm surge and flooding were the greatest threats. In unusually strong language, forecasters even warned of "certain death" for stalwarts who insisted on staying in Galveston; most had complied, along with hundreds of thousands of fellow Texans in counties up and down the coastline. But in a move designed to avoid highway gridlock as the storm closed in, most of Houston's 2 million residents hunkered down and were ordered not to leave.

This is the second time this month we'll be keeping the Gulf Coast in our thoughts and prayers, and hope you'll do the same. (Like he did for Gustav, Rick Noriega has created a handy resource site for those affected by Hurricane Ike.)

kentucky elects democratic governor, big cities elect mayors

We focused on Texas elections, but big news was made across the country last night as the nation's faithful voters took to the polls.

The AP and MSNBC tell us that the Republican governor of Kentucky, Ernie Fletcher, lost his re-election bid to a Democrat, Governor-Elect Steve Beshear. Fletcher's first term was marred by scandal.

Beshear cruised to a 20-percentage-point victory in Kentucky after a campaign in which he repeatedly reminded voters of accusations that Fletcher directed the hiring of political allies for jobs protected by the state's merit system.

"Tomorrow begins the time when I call on every person in this state to come together with us, join hands with us, because together, folks, we can make Kentucky a much better place to call home," the 63-year-old Beshear told supporters.

On a different note, Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, a Republican, sailed to re-election victory last night. Barbour defeated his Democratic opponent by twenty points after a campaign that focused on his deemed successful Katrina recovery efforts in the state.

Elsewhere, big cities came out to vote for mayoral races.

Houston re-elected Mayor Bill White. In Baltimore, Sheila Dixon became the first black woman to be elected mayor. Philadelphia chose a new mayor, Michael Nutter, that promised to reduce gun violence. Pittsburgh chose to keep the youngest mayor of a big city in the nation, 27-year-old Democrat Luke Ravenstahl. San Francisco re-elected scandal-plauged Mayor Gavin Newsom, who admitted this year to cheating on his wife and having a drinking problem.

Perry Wants Another Decade to Solve Air Quality Crisis

Lightseeker at Texas Kaos spotlights Houston's failure to come up with a plan to meet federal air quality standards. It seems Governor Perry once again has requested a little more time to meet requirements for ozone emissions. He thinks, oh, another decade might do it.

Texas officially asked the federal government Friday for an extra nine years to meet health standards for ground-level ozone, to comply with the law by 2010, saying that it would be "practicably impossible" for the eight-county Houston-Galveston region to comply with the law by 2010.

The request marks the latest postponement in the decades-long saga to clean up Houston's smog and seeks more time than both the county and city wanted. If granted, the city would be the last place in the state and one of the last areas in the country to meet health guidelines for the lung-irritating pollutant.

Houston's first federal deadline to meet ozone standards was in 1975. The new deadline would be June 2019 [emphasis added.]

That would be the same governor who showed his commitment to air quality standards by trying to fast track eleven coal burning power plants. Like our former governor turned president, Perry believes in kicking our problems further down the road.

And lest we feel too smug about Houston's status, don't forget who's number eight on the list of worst polluted cities. How many more years do you think Perry is gonna suggest to solve our problems?

See also More Debate on TXU Emissions and An Air Quality Primer.