September 5, 2017
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Texas felt the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey this week, which brought unprecedented flooding and displaced so many of our loved ones.
We've been working around the clock with frontline organizations in aggregating resources for people to contribute to the recovery effort, which will require organized and compassionate action in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.
Every cent we raise is going to community-led relief efforts to ensure a just and equitable Harvey recovery.
This was a big hit, but the love and support we have in our community is bigger.
Stay strong, Texas.
Every cent we raise is going to community-led relief efforts to ensure a just and equitable Harvey recovery.
This was a big hit, but the love and support we have in our community is bigger.
Stay strong, Texas.
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We loaded up an 12-seater van in Austin with SierraClub staff and volunteers, as well as other environmental activists, to meet up with the Sierra Club Borderlands team, the Lower Rio Grande Sierra Club, and hundreds of local and out-of-town protestors in the Rio Grande Valley.
Here's a recap of the border wall resistance weekend, along with next steps in the fight for justice in South Texas.
You can also take action here to stop any funding for the border wall.
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"This is a win for Austin ratepayers and a win for the environment. The City Council adopted recommendations that continue to make Austin Energy a leader on green energy, help us end the life of dirty fossil fuel plants, and ensure important budgetary commitments to solar and energy efficiency programs that help all Austinites."
Here's our full statement on Austin City Council's 10-1 vote this month to adopt working group recommendations paving the way for a clean and just renewable energy future for the city.
Need more context on the working group recommendations?
Conservation Director Cyrus Reed wrote a blog prior to the vote on Aug. 17 wondering if Austin would "go big on clean energy."
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The Lone Star Chapter is pleased to announce the newest addition to our family, Larisa Manescu!
A month ago, Larisa joined our communications team as Communications Coordinator, which includes managing our social media platforms, developing monthly newsletters, contributing content and editing expertise to our website, producing videos, and supporting message development across multiple campaigns, among other duties.
A month ago, Larisa joined our communications team as Communications Coordinator, which includes managing our social media platforms, developing monthly newsletters, contributing content and editing expertise to our website, producing videos, and supporting message development across multiple campaigns, among other duties.
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- This must-read The Intercept investigative piecebrilliantly weaves the needle of environmental justice.
- We're losing powerful change-makers to an administration that refuses to acknowledge reality.
- Sierra Club's "Beyond Dirty Fuels" Houston Organizer Bryan Parras has been reporting (and living and working) out of the city's East End about a very real concern in #Harvey's aftermath.
- The Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge saw almost 700 visitors standing hand-in-hand against division yesterday.
- Austin van crew heading to the Rio Grande Valley for a weekend of #NoBorderWall resistance!
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We've spent the past couple of months organizing to defend local control of trees because tree ordinances serve both historical and environmental purposes.
But things in the Legislature got confusing towards the end of the session.
If you were left wondering what exactly happened with HB 7 and what exactly the bill Abbott ended up signing into law on Aug. 17 does, here's a simplified overview of the complex journey that the tree bill embarked upon during this special session.
But things in the Legislature got confusing towards the end of the session.
If you were left wondering what exactly happened with HB 7 and what exactly the bill Abbott ended up signing into law on Aug. 17 does, here's a simplified overview of the complex journey that the tree bill embarked upon during this special session.
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- SC #HTX Organizer @HighTechAztec on @democracynow about #Harvey's potential catastrophic damage in fossil fuel city.
- Unprecedented rainfall expected to continuethrough the week. Stay strong, #Houston. #HurricaneHarvey
#Harvey - Thank you, @indivisibleATX, for this thoughtful statement + organized action for #Trump's #Harvey #atx visit today
- Ghost forests, dead trees along swaths of coastline invaded by rising seas, are visible reminders of #climatechange.
- As Keystone XL’s fate is decided, activists descend on Nebraska
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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.
In this third story in our "Stories from the Border" series, Neeraj Saksena Mashru talks about his experiences volunteering at 'La 72,' a shelter for Central American immigrants and refugees who have crossed the border into Mexico.
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TOPS ON INSTAGRAM
It's hard to beat the awe inspired by a Texas sunset, but what about a Texas storm?
#Repost @taylorpryorphotos Hill Country Monster...
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Do you have a photo you'd like to share with our growing Instagram community?
Tag your photo with @TexasSierraClub or send it over to Larisa Manescu at larisa.manescu@sierraclub.org.
Our Clean Energy Organizer (and San Antonio Resident) Greg Harman envisioned an evening of music, poetry, and refreshments where community members could discuss "Extreme Heat: Survival Strategies for a Hotter San Antonio."
The event was a practical response to growing suffering caused by rising temperatures and the urban heat island effect, where denuded, asphalt-rich sections of typically low-income and historically disempowered communities may be several times the temperature rise of surrounding parts of town.
Read more about the evening and stay tuned for similar events to come, San Antonio.
Read more about the evening and stay tuned for similar events to come, San Antonio.
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Al Gore's Coming To Texas For #GridNEXT Conference in Georgetown
BREAKING NEWS: Al Gore is set to be a keynote speaker for the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Alliance's 2017 GridNEXT Conference in Georgetown, Texas on Oct. 23-24, and we're a sponsor!
For some context, Gore's most recent film, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, opened nationwide in early Augustand features his visit to Georgetown, which has become one of the largest cities in the United States (and first in Texas) to meet 100% of its power needs from renewable energy.
More info on the conference here.
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Federal Judge Rejects Exxon's Request to Reduce Record Setting $20 Million Clean Air Act Penalty
In another stinging setback for ExxonMobil in a long-running environmental enforcement case, a federal district judge in Houston denied ExxonMobil's motion to reduce the size of the $19.95 million penalty the judge had ordered in April to punish the company for committing 16,386 days of violation of the federal Clean Air Act at its Baytown, Texas, refinery and chemical plant.
Read more
Read more
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Donate To Help The Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter Support Community-Led Harvey Recovery Efforts
The Sierra Club has chosen to focus our efforts on behalf of those most impacted by this tragedy.
We are committed to collaborating with community partners serving neighborhoods and small towns across the Gulf Coast who are bearing the brunt of the hurricane and its aftermath to ensure all funds we raise are distributed through processes based on our values of equity and justice.
For more info on the values behind our Harvey fundraising, give this blog a read.