Channelview residents are pushing back against LyondellBasell’s plan to buy pollution credits that would let it expand its chemical complex along the Ship Channel, even though the area is already in “severe nonattainment” for ozone pollution.
In a conference room at San Jacinto College’s North Campus on Tuesday, some residents shared their frustrations about the credits, which are commonly bought and sold by polluters in Houston. A company that reduces its emissions can sell excess credits to other companies.
The goal is to improve the region’s overall levels of ozone: Each time pollution permissions are sold, they shrink. But critics say the credits allow shuttering plants to profit off their old permits, while moving ozone precursor emissions to petrochemical hubs like Channelview…