Greg Abbott and his allies are yet again going after the ability of municipalities to govern themselves, this time by trying to take away our ability to protect our trees. Right now, the Texas Legislature is considering several bills to stop cities from protecting its trees. Over 90 municipalities in Texas have passed ordinances to preserve trees because trees help cool our cities, improve air and water quality, reduce erosion and flooding, enhance property values, and improve our quality of life. Still, developer friendly politicians in the Legislature want to make it easier for developers to cut them down.
Event: Resist the Wall Procession and Rally in the Rio Grande Valley August 12th On August 12 religious leaders from different faiths will lead border residents and visitors from across the country in a sunrise procession in opposition to the proposed border wall that would slice through communities here in the Rio Grande Valley. The procession will set out at 7:00 am from Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in the border town of Mission, Texas and end at Historic La Lomita Mission, the still-active Catholic shrine that gave the town of Mission its name. The Mission is located behind the levee on which the Trump administration wants to build the levee-border wall and so would be cut off from the rest of the United States, if the wall is built. "Saving Laguna Madre" is a web mini-series with stories of the Rio Grande Valley's resistance to the three proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals: Annova LNG, Rio Grande LNG, and Texas LNG. These massive industrial terminals are slated to be built next to the homes of our Laguna Madre communities: Long Island Village, Port Isabel, Laguna Heights, and Laguna Vista, Texas. In the episode "Our Home," we meet Stefanie Herweck a local volunteer organizer with the Lower Rio Grande Valley Sierra Club who gives us a breakdown of the LNG process; from extraction by fracking in the Eagle Ford Shale, transmission by pipeline, liquefaction at the export terminal, and transportation overseas. The episode also includes clips of the community as it looks now, without the presence of LNG or any fossil fuel industry or refineries.
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We're Looking For New Lone Star Chapter Ex Comm Members! Know A Good Fit? Is It You? Esteemed members, It's that time again! We are currently receiving requests and nominations for the Lone Star Chapter Executive Committee. If you know of or are a dedicated Sierra Club member that would be a good fit for the position, contact our Nominations Committee by emailing Kristal Ibarra, Volunteer Coordinator, at Kristal.ibarra@sierraclub.org for details.
In 1946, shortly after her mother was murdered in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, Margret Hofmann fled Nazi Germany and arrived in the United States. She hitchhiked across the country and rediscovered the peace that was stolen from her early life in Yosemite National Park. She then moved to Austin, Texas, with her husband, Otto, and became one of the greatest community leaders to serve the Austin community, quickly becoming known as the "Tree Lady." Though Hofmann passed five years ago, she left us with a precious environmental legacy in the form of the Austin city tree ordinance: a law that protects historical trees from being destroyed by developers. Now, Greg Abbott wants to come after that legacy.
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Austin Energy has taken another step toward a 100% clean energy future after reaching an agreement with energy storage company Younicos on a battery system capable of powering more than 1,500 homes for two hours each day. The project is the next step in Austin Energy's Sustainable and Holistic Integration of Energy Storage or "SHINES" project. The project is supported by U.S. Department of Energy funding and a grant through the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP), and seeks to make Austin a model for the energy system of the future.
At Texas Sierra Club, we stand with immigrants, we stand with refugees, and we know that the same policies that villainize and alienate immigrants also perpetuate environmental racism and environmental damage. We are proud to stand behind migrants and refugees, to amplify their stories, and to fight side by side for their dignity and their rights.
Photojournalist Verónica Gabriela Cardenas launched her Traveling Soles photojournalism project in the summer of 2014 when the HRC opened. That summer, she photographed 250 pairs of shoes from the HRC in various places around the Rio Grande Valley. At the time, 250 represented the largest number of people that had arrived at the center in a single day. In the weeks after Donald Trump was elected in November 2016, that number grew to 433 in a single day. Check out this incredible Cardenas in which she "aspires to humanize and individualize the migrant experience by sharing just a fragment of their journey."
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Beautiful shot of a supercell in Central Texas by the amazing @taylorpryorphotos.
Fun fact: A supercell thunderstorm is the rarest of all storms and produces severe weather events (i.e. tornadoes, high speed winds, and hail)
Do you have a photo you'd like to share with us? Please send it to Larisa Manescu at Larisa.Manescu@sierraclub.org.
We'd love to share it with our growing Instagram community. Be sure to follow us @TexasSierraClub. Last month, the Austin City Council held a public hearing and adopted a "Solar-Ready" amendment to its energy construction code. The new amendment, which passed with a 9-1 vote, will require all new commercial and residential development to be capable of hosting solar panels. Austin is the third city in Texas to adopt a solar-ready requirement for new construction, but the first that will cover both residential and commercial developments.
Donate To The Lone Star ChapterWhen you donate to the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter, you support local efforts to: - Protect wild and treasured places, from the Big Bend area to the Big Thicket
- Keep our air and water clean
- Ensure adequate water supply for people and environment
- Ensure a clean energy future
- Reduce climate disruption
- Keep pressure on politicians and corporations to ensure safe and healthy communities
Your financial help allows us to meet the challenges of protecting and preserving our treasured Lone Star state! |
