Is it just me or do half the people here live in Texas

VoodooDali · Post by **VoodooDali** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 10:41 am

NEW JERSEY RULES!!!
We've got more superfund sites than all of you combined--love the game Fallout? All you gotta do is step outside to see where those graphics come from. We got the Jersey Devil, Big Red Eye (our Bigfoot), great wilderness areas in the northwest, kickass beaches in the south shores, seedy old Atlantic City (for a 1960's style casino experience), and I'm only 5 minutes away from Manhattan. I can see the skyline from here! Wanna know more--visit the Weird New Jersey website at [url="http://www.weirdnj.com"]www.weirdnj.com[/url]

NeKr0mAnCeR · Post by **NeKr0mAnCeR** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 10:47 am

NORTH POLE RULEZ!!!!

THEY HAVE SANTA!!!

hamstermutiny · Post by **hamstermutiny** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 11:29 am

Does anyone have an idea where the economy of Texas would rank if you remove the oil and defense industries?

Doltan · Post by **Doltan** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 12:11 pm

Here's some data that I though might add to the conversation. There are millions of factors that can capture whether or not a state is good to live in, so take this for what it is worth (i.e. not that much when you are choosing a state to live).

Gross State Product in 1994 (sorry, couldn't find newer data):
Rank, State, Amount (in millions of US Dollars)
(UNITED STATES 6,835,641)
1. California 875,697
2. New York 570,994
3. Texas 479,774
4. Illinois 332,853
5. Florida 317,829
6. Pennsylvania 294,431
7. Ohio 274,844
8. New Jersey 254,945
9. Michigan 240,390
10. Massachusetts 186,199

note that this isn't population adjusted, in which case even Illinois passes Texas in per capita GSP.

But, let's get to the real discussion of quality of life, since Gross State Product doesn't necessarily capture that. One good indicator of quality of life is the quality of the environment. Here is some data that I pulled from Environmental Defense.
Ranking states by environmental measures (data supplied by
Environmental Defense web site: [url="http://www.scorecard.org/ranking/"]http://www.scorecard.org/ranking/[/url] )

Total Release of Toxic Chemicals to the Environment
Rank, State, Amount (pounds)
1. NEVADA 1,168,194,863
2. UTAH 1,161,086,118
3. ARIZONA 961,850,920
4. ALASKA 433,017,781
5. TEXAS 288,240,148
6. NEW MEXICO 260,105,914
7. OHIO 253,881,127
8. PENNSYLVANIA 171,659,971
9. NORTH CAROLINA 151,602,186
10. LOUISIANA 146,854,218
...
13. ILLINOIS 137,583,906
...
28. CALIFORNIA 60,351,958

Air Quality: Exceedence of National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone
Rank, State, Person-days in exceedance of NAAQS
1. TEXAS 432,047,906
2. CALIFORNIA 265,744,703
3. NEW YORK 28,332,081
4. CONNECTICUT 25,987,041
5. PENNSYLVANIA 24,713,975
6. GEORGIA 22,578,361
7. MARYLAND 17,024,365
8. NEW JERSEY 13,592,943
9. NORTH CAROLINA 8,856,573
10. TENNESSEE 6,596,423
...
25. ILLINOIS 582,821

You guys can draw your own conclusions. Texas has a lot of things going for it, but everyone should know the facts. I've lived in 5 different states and visted nearly 40 of them, and I can honestly say that most states have at least something going for them (even New Jersey, where the natives disparaging of their state is refreshing).

[ 08-06-2001: Message edited by: Doltan ]

Happy Evil · Post by **Happy Evil** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 1:26 pm

Just remember, while pondering Doltans research figures, population and area (sq miles) should be considerd. Texas is 4.64X bigger than Illinois and has 1.68X the population. Plug that into some of those neat tables.
Hey!! lets point counterpoint forever!
I'm not arrogant, I'm an a-hole.

nael · Post by **nael** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 1:32 pm

i was shocked by nevada and utah beign so high on the pollution scale...i mean texas and alaska have the oil refineries. anyone know?

KillerKid · Post by **KillerKid** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 1:39 pm

i think the main reason that texas has alot of pride though is because of things like the alamo i mean what other state has an event so big in the history that only effects that state. i mean seirously you dont got an alamo in california now do ya or illionis and honestly i dont think we have an accent

ThorinOakensfield · Post by **ThorinOakensfield** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 1:43 pm

Originally posted by Weasel:
Alabama Moonshine, beaches, grass (Both kinds) trees, rockets, Weasel's .....what more could a person ask for????

Winter's are mild...Summer time isn't bad.

Plus Weasel.

Spring time has the trees, fall has the colors..

Plus Weasel.

No place near here to be a first strike zone for a nuke attack...

What a place

According to who. I'm not sure everybody wants to be in Weaselville.

NJ=Springsteen
And we're proud of him(i guess). No drugs no alcohol. Kept clean.

New Jersey's a great place. We got forests and houses where you can shoot deer in your backyard. The winters are cold, the summers are warm/hot. The spring is wet. The fall is dry. We got beaches full of sharks. We got backyards full of deer tick. We got cities filled with pollution. We're also probably the most densly populated state. But we're still just a massive suburb to New York.

ThorinOakensfield · Post by **ThorinOakensfield** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 1:45 pm

Oh wait we got the Yankees. Wait thats New York. I hate the devils, i hate the nets. But its still a good state.

ThorinOakensfield · Post by **ThorinOakensfield** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 1:46 pm

How come Buck hasn't moved this to SYM. We are waaaaaaay off topic.

Doltan · Post by **Doltan** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 1:58 pm

Happy Evil: good point about population. I tried to stress that in the headings. But we all know that statistics can be terribly misused, so I was really just picked out a couple of ones that I found interesting.

Originally posted by nael:
i was shocked by nevada and utah beign so high on the pollution scale...i mean texas and alaska have the oil refineries. anyone know?

I think the problem with Nevada and Utah is twofold: 1. The military is the major polluter, and most of the military's worst pollution occurs where no one lives (i.e. the deserts of Nevada and Utah). 2. Some pollution has been shipped from other states to those states. Mostly this hasn't occured on a large scale yet because Environmentalists from all over are fighting the shipping of hazardous waste.

By the way, Texas has a triple wammy: 1. The military pollutes horribly. 2. Refineries and chemical plants are poorly regulated, and pollute even worse. 3. There are a ton of people, which means large NOx and hydrocarbon emissions from motor vehicles.

Happy Evil · Post by **Happy Evil** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 2:21 pm

Doltan...agreed.

Dallas biggest problems are...

A) Auto emmissions / terrible traffic.
B) Two airports. One practically downtown.
C) Cement manufacturers.(South)Nasty stuff.
D) Everyone has to have a big-ass polluting SUV. Including me

Fits my ego.
E) Recent trends towards conservatism.
(Anti Tree Hugger/Pro Business)
F) Its freakin hot!

All good reasons to stay in and play BGII.

Also remember.....
Pride is not a virture. Its an emotion.
I can say stuff like that 'cause I'm old.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 2:37 pm

Hell this is really funny...seems like Texans are for the US, what Bavarians are for Germany...

Don`t you think it is kinda strange to go on about how much money your government spends on the armed forces in your state? Is that something to be proud of? Yikes....

(This ain't to annoy you....it's just something that makes me fall on the floor and laugh my ass off....

)

nael · Post by **nael** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 3:10 pm

as far as the armed forces polluting, that is a bit of a misnomer...Fort Hood has one of the most advanced nature conservation plan in the country. it has basically single handedly brought the golden cheek warbler to a high enough status that it will probably be taken off the endangered species list in a couple years.
texas main pollution problem is of course the houston area (golden triangle) which is the most polluted city in the country. but no one anywhere can really complain since they use cars and buses and what not.

and the point about the alamo is a good one. most states are very rich in their individual history and i don't want to take anything away from them, especially the 13 colonies, but think about this...how many of ya'll live near a six flags amusement park...that is completely based on texas history. we have a very strange history, afterall, we are the only state to have ever been a country and the only state in the union with the right to break apart into 5 new states. we are definitely a strange group of people. it's not just a state, it's a whole state of mind

Doltan · Post by **Doltan** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 3:45 pm

Originally posted by nael:
as far as the armed forces polluting, that is a bit of a misnomer...Fort Hood has one of the most advanced nature conservation plan in the country. it has basically single handedly brought the golden cheek warbler to a high enough status that it will probably be taken off the endangered species list in a couple years.

I wasn't necessarily talking about wetlands or habitat management -- I was instead referring to chemical pollution from military research, training, and inappropriate waste disposal -- but you make a decent point. The military, with it's central bureaucracy, can be tremendously quick to repond to changing political conditions (in this case, a better environmental awareness). Some consider the Army Corps of Engineers to be a shining example of effectiveness in accomplishing environmental remediation and preservation. But historically, possibly due to a lack of knowledge about the dangers, the military has been a horrible polluter. As evidence of this, I would refer anyone to the number and severity of military Superfund (CERCLA) sites that have been identified in recent years.

On the issue of habitat reclamation, an independent review just found that the Army Corp of Engineers is actually doing a very poor job of providing oversight for this process nationally (I'm sorry, but I couldn't find the reference for this). Although I don't know the specifics of Fort Hood, I would say be careful about believing the propaganda over beautiful song birds.

But now this is way off topic. Sorry about that. I've really enjoyed some of your comments (e.g. Happy Evil) about Texas.

Weasel · Post by **Weasel** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 4:03 pm

Originally posted by Doltan:


Gross State Product in 1994 (sorry, couldn't find newer data):
Rank, State, Amount (in millions of US Dollars)
(UNITED STATES 6,835,641)
1. California 875,697
2. New York 570,994
3. Texas 479,774
4. Illinois 332,853
5. Florida 317,829
6. Pennsylvania 294,431
7. Ohio 274,844
8. New Jersey 254,945
9. Michigan 240,390
10. Massachusetts 186,199

note that this isn't population adjusted, in which case even Illinois passes Texas in per capita GSP.

11. Alabama 182,134

Originally posted by Doltan:

But, let's get to the real discussion of quality of life, since Gross State Product doesn't necessarily capture that. One good indicator of quality of life is the quality of the environment. Here is some data that I pulled from Environmental Defense.
Ranking states by environmental measures (data supplied by
Environmental Defense web site: [url="http://www.scorecard.org/ranking/"]http://www.scorecard.org/ranking/[/url] )

Total Release of Toxic Chemicals to the Environment
Rank, State, Amount (pounds)
1. NEVADA 1,168,194,863
2. UTAH 1,161,086,118
3. ARIZONA 961,850,920
4. ALASKA 433,017,781
5. TEXAS 288,240,148
6. NEW MEXICO 260,105,914
7. OHIO 253,881,127
8. PENNSYLVANIA 171,659,971
9. NORTH CAROLINA 151,602,186
10. LOUISIANA 146,854,218
...
13. ILLINOIS 137,583,906
...
28. CALIFORNIA 60,351,958

49. Alabama 902

Originally posted by Doltan:

Air Quality: Exceedence of National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Ozone
Rank, State, Person-days in exceedance of NAAQS
1. TEXAS 432,047,906
2. CALIFORNIA 265,744,703
3. NEW YORK 28,332,081
4. CONNECTICUT 25,987,041
5. PENNSYLVANIA 24,713,975
6. GEORGIA 22,578,361
7. MARYLAND 17,024,365
8. NEW JERSEY 13,592,943
9. NORTH CAROLINA 8,856,573
10. TENNESSEE 6,596,423
...
25. ILLINOIS 582,821

You guys can draw your own conclusions. Texas has a lot of things going for it, but everyone should know the facts. I've lived in 5 different states and visted nearly 40 of them, and I can honestly say that most states have at least something going for them (even New Jersey, where the natives disparaging of their state is refreshing).

48. Alabama 10,982

Alabama the Beautiful.

Doltan · Post by **Doltan** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 4:07 pm

Weasel, did you make up those numbers?!? Yes, you have a very nice state. Is that all you wanted someone to say?

Weasel · Post by **Weasel** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 4:13 pm

Originally posted by Doltan:
Weasel, did you make up those numbers?!? Yes, you have a very nice state. Is that all you wanted someone to say?

Yes I did

Do I personally care what people think about Alabama? Nope...my ego is only so big. But as long as this continues...I will sit here and LMAO

It has gone from...My class is better than yours to my state is better..

Only in America.

nael · Post by **nael** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 4:28 pm

the fort hood stats are due to my father who gets his grants from the Nature Conservancy and Parks and Wildlife to conduct his research and studies on Fort Hood.
that's why i know a bit about it...

Weasel · Post by **Weasel** » Mon Aug 06, 2001 4:31 pm

States with Animal Waste

Number one on the list....Texas.
1. TEXAS 110,000,000
2. CALIFORNIA 55,000,000
23. ALABAMA 15,000,000

States with Reported Releases of TRI Chemicals to the Environment

15. ALABAMA 129,144,587

Emissions of Criteria Air Pollutants in 1996

18. ALABAMA 425,918

Health Risks from Criteria Air Pollutants in 1999

21. ALABAMA 2,336,980

States with Health Risks from HAPs

33. ALABAMA 400

Counties with Animal Waste

Alabama.
43. ESCAMBIA 140,000