Event Details — 4th Annual State of the Air

An event page includes the following details and a $25 registration link:

State of the Air
Friday, February 11, 2011
11:30am - 1:30pm
United Way Building
CRC Auditorium
50 Waugh Dr.
Houston, TX 77003
Free Parking Garage

$25 Registration here.

Since 2008 Air Alliance Houston has held its State of the Air event hosting a speaker or speakers presenting on a variety of topics involving the Houston region’s air quality and its impact our greater community. The State of the Air is a public event where industry, regulatory agencies, elected officials and citizens are welcome to hear the latest in air quality policy, science or technology. The next State of the Air will be held Friday, February 11, 2011 from 11:30am to 1:30pm at the United Way of Houston, 50 Waugh in the CRC Auditorium. To register go to this link.

For the 2011 State of the Air we are proud to have Dr. Al Armendariz, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 6, present his talk, “Clearing the Air: Reforming Air Permitting in Texas.” This timely topic follows recent decisions by the EPA to assume control over greenhouse gas permitting in Texas, the Sunset Advisory Commission’s recommendations on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the ongoing air permitting reform process involving EPA and TCEQ.

Prior to his appointment, for eight years Dr. Armendariz was a professor in the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where he received several outstanding faculty awards. For the past 15 years, Dr. Armendariz has worked in a variety of research and academic positions including, for a short time in 2002, in the Region 6 EPA offices. Before joining SMU, he was a chemical engineer with Radian Corporation in North Carolina. During and after college he worked as a research assistant at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Global Change Science at its Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratory in Massachusetts.

Throughout his career, Dr. Armendariz has spent countless hours volunteering his time to help the environment through various environmental groups and the Volunteer Center for North Texas. He has a proven track record of addressing complex environmental and public health challenges in everything from solid waste landfills to community and Tribal priorities.

Dr. Armendariz received his doctorate in Environmental Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Public Health where he was also selected as a Royster Society Fellow. He holds an M.E. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida. Al is a chemical engineer by training, with an undergraduate degree from MIT.

He is a third generation Texan, descended from Mexican and Mexican-American grandparents who settled in the border city of El Paso. Born and raised in El Paso, he graduated from Coronado High School in 1988. He has also lived in Houston, Albuquerque and New Orleans. Al currently lives in Dallas with his wife Cynthia, a public school teacher in Irving ISD, and two sons, Ferris and Simon.

In addition to our speaker program, we have presented the Clear Horizon Award to the person who has contributed the most to improving the quality of air and the health of the region in the past year. Past recipients have been former Houston Mayor Bill White; Casey Curry, meteorologist for KTRK Channel 13; and Larry Soward, former Commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Air Alliance Houston is proud to present the 2011 Clear Horizon Award to Allison Sliva, president of the No Coal Coalition, for her dedication and community leadership in the fight against the permitting of the White Stallion Coal Plant in Matagorda County.

Registration includes lunch and is $25 online and at the door.

To register go to this link.

For more information, contact

Cecilia Dykes, Outreach Director

713-528-3779 or email cecilia@airalliancehouston.org