Editor's Note:
We did something a little different for the final Lone Star Sierran of 2017.
It's a short month because most of us will be taking a much-needed break before a big year ahead, so we wanted to take this time to turn inwards and share some of our reflections on what has been for most a draining year, and what hopes, fears, or expectations we have for 2018.
Enjoy!
Matt Johnson:
Communications Manager
I don't know how many times I nearly broke down in my car listening to tragic news this year. I'm sure it was a lot. Listening to an update about a 5-year old child in Sutherland Springs who is still in the hospital recovering from gunshot wounds, the injustices Puerto Rico has endured after Hurricane Maria, the people with broken bodies blocking Congressional offices in a drastic effort to prevent lawmakers from sabotaging their healthcare. Honestly, I couldn't hold it together some days. Amidst the torrent of tragedy, however, my wife and I welcomed our second child into the world in July. Though raising an infant and a toddler is extremely challenging, we're very lucky and privileged. We get to see him smile, to see the sweet sibling relationship blossom, and to witness our daughter grow into a precocious toddler. Our kids dissipate the dark clouds that hover over us, if only for a little bit each day.
I want to be honest with myself about the year ahead. The enthusiasm behind the resistance to Trump's agenda and corporate polluters is strong and will gain steam as the primaries and general election draw closer. However, as most people know, negativity and division are hallmarks of political campaign communications. It's going to get ugly. Division and hate are bred from fear and ignorance. I've had enough exposure to these things, internally and externally. I choose to stay positive. Division between neighbors does not have to be the inevitable end result from ideological disagreements. To stay positive we need to exercise the most fundamental communication tenet: respect. Folks won't get to have those frank political conversations on the porch they yearn for (you know, the ones where you end up realizing you share a lot of values with someone you thought was different from you?), if they forgot how to slow down and listen to someone they suspect disagrees with them.
I yearn for those connections both personally and in my professional work. When honest and respectful conversations happen, a shared understanding can develop. More people can then realize their struggles are bound together, and can open a space to work together to improve their lives. This can and should happen between organizations as well - between environment and social justice groups, immigrant rights and women's rights, education and healthcare. Connections are there, we just have to be intentional about it and stay positive. The communications work we do at the Lone Star Chapter can seem pretty removed from these moments, but it's a driving force behind what we do, and I am eager to bring it to a new level in 2018.
Thank you so much for reading and staying engaged!
Larisa Manescu:
Communications Coordinator
2017 felt rushed, frantic, disheartening, exhausting. Time is always hard to quantify, but everyone seems to agree that this year went by too quickly and brought an onslaught of bad news.
2017 was all that, but for me, as a relatively new addition to the Sierra Club (I joined the Texas team in late July!), it was also a year of tremendous personal growth and re-discovering purpose. Despite the polarized political climate threatening to dampen my inner optimist, I'm grateful for the close relationships and lessons learned from the people I have the privilege of working with everyday. Sometimes certain aspects of communications work, like the fast-paced nature of press statements, can feel reactive instead of proactive, but I find solace in the bond I've developed with my co-workers (who I'm so grateful to be able to call dear friends) that will only grow deeper roots in 2018.
I do fear that we may get used to celebrating the bare minimum when it comes to political victories, like Doug Jones winning the Alabama Senate seat, and that's not how we hold power. I've heard the conversation over and over again this year: How do we change people's minds when there appears to be no common ground? When deeply rooted beliefs and values just don't line up? Part of my job is to frame an issue in a way that different values still line up on the same "side."
But I can't help but hope that the arc of history bends toward justice, even if it feels painstakingly slow or like we're taking 10 steps backward for every step forward. Instead of seeing my work as fundamentally changing minds, I see it as mobilizing, lighting a fire inside the hearts of those who are already on the same page, or at least in the same book. The rug is being pulled back more than ever on systematic oppression (with movement moments like Black Lives Matter and Me Too) and it's exposing that we're our own worst enemies, that the world isn't divided into the binary categories of "good" and "bad" people. That is a scary truth to reconcile with, but it's also an incredible opportunity to understand that we are capable of shifting the larger forces at play if we commit to sustained self-evaluation and work to obliterate the status quo that has kept people silent and powerless.
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Jennifer Walker:
Water Resources Program Manager
As the year draws to a close and we all get ready for a well-deserved break with friends and family, I find myself reflecting how important to work we do at Sierra Club is. Spend a day with us at our office in Austin and you will be blown away by the talent, passion and creativity swirling around, working to make Texas a better place for all Texans (seriously - spend a day with us, we would love it).
I know I'm biased, but I think that I have the best job of all. I get to work to ensure that Texas rivers have enough water in them to support the habitat of fish and other wildlife. Just like us, Texas critters need places to swim, nest, feed and grow their families. Our rivers and bay provide all this and more.
I do not do this work alone... my coworkers and colleagues at other organizations, Sierra Club members and volunteers, and nature lovers all over the state, are working towards the same goal.
I grew up camping and playing along Texas rivers, bays, and beaches. My sisters and I listened to frogs at night, caught tadpoles, built fires, looked at the Milky Way, built forts and had many adventures. This is still a huge part of our lives and we love sharing this tradition with our kids. If we didn't have parks to camp in or water in our rivers this tradition would be impossible to continue. It is so important and it brings us all together.
I am proud of the work of the Sierra Club to protect these special places. It isn't easy and the challenges are substantial; however, it is too important. I see people everyday putting their heart and souls into this work and I know that there is no way that we will not do a lot of good.
How am I going to spend my Christmas break? I am going to hang out with friends and family, go see Star Wars, visit the Hill Country, and say hello to my favorite rivers. I am going to rest and recharge and come back ready to do what I can to protect and preserve Texas' special places in the New Year.
Enjoy your break and see you in 2018.
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Drew O'Bryan:
Although news may have seemed pretty dismal this year in general, the expansion of clean energy gives me hope going into 2018! Wind power in Texas hit an all-time high in 2017, providing over 25 percent of all electricity production in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market during the month of March and 17 percent of all electricity production in 2017. Aswind continued to jockey with natural gas and coal as a top producer in Texas, solar power established itself as a price-competitive way of generating power.
I recently wrote this month about two new solar programs in Central Texas , run by Austin Energy and Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC), which are saving customers money and paving the way for an equitable renewable energy future. In PEC's case, the savings benefit every single customer that enters the community solar program. With solar now staking its claim as a true competitor with traditional electric generators, we can expect to see it follow in wind's footsteps in the near future.
Clean energy aside, my favorite memory of the year was seeing the total solar eclipse from on top of a mountain near Thermopolis, Wyoming. It was the moment where I felt most in tune with the planet and the natural beauty we are all working to preserve. Recognizing that I was one of millions of people staring up at the sky that day was a fantastic reminder of how we can all appreciate the wonder our fragile planet has to offer.
It's almost unbelievable how quickly our state is transitioning away from coal power with help from renewables. It's no coincidence that a wave of clean power is coming online during the same time that Luminant Energy is preparing to retire
three major coal plants. But the transition from fossil fuel generators that run at all hours (or close to it) to more intermittent sources like wind and solar does mean that we will need a more complicated system to handle daily changes in electricity production. Luckily, energy storage has begun its own rapid development. 2018 will be a fascinating year to see how well storage pilot projects around the globe can compliment wind and solar power,
including the SHINES program in Austin.
I'm hopeful that 2018 will continue along 2017's trajectory for clean energy. If Texas is honest about "letting the market decide" where our energy comes from, then solar, wind, and energy storage are no-brainers for our energy future as prices continue to fall and projects world-wide show us just how well the transition clean energy future can function. We'll continue working to make sure that utilities and rulemakers are ready for that transition and that Texas can lead the nation on our way there.
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Kristal Ibarra-Rodríguez:
Volunteer Coordinator
Moving away from Puerto Rico 6 years ago was, at the time, accompanied by the narrative of choice. It was something the young and spirited do in their 20s, assuming that my home would be there waiting, no matter what, upon return. The turn of events that Hurricane Maria has brought to an island already in economic crisis quickly shifted this mindset as more family and friends see no choice but to pack up and leave and I brace myself for the notion that returning home becomes an ever growing yearn further from reality.
And yet, I'm heading home this Christmas to an island without electricity, certain to return to Texas in 2018 illuminated up with the energy of my land and my people.
Texas is the last place I expected to end up in my journey through the diaspora. But I've been here 8 months and counting, embracing the opportunity to visit great spaces throughout this beautiful land. From perennial springs neighboring Austin to beaches in the Rio Grande Valley, no experience of the outdoors has come unaccompanied by learnings from people working towards just and healthy communities, and more abuelas have welcomed me into their home than I ever came across when living in other parts of the continental US.
There are many parallelisms one could draw from a Puerto Rico in economic crisis and a Lone Star State severely lacking environmental and labor regulations, not the least apparent in the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Maria, both a reflection of inadequate government preparedness, poor zoning, lack of climate resiliency and devastating environmental injustices. (Not to mention that six Texas republicans voted against disaster relief package that would provide aid to those affected by both Harvey and Maria!)
But I see in Texas the chance to change power dynamics in a way that would resonate widely though the US and the world. If a state with such deeply rooted ties to the fossil fuel industry can deconstruct its thinking and shift toward renewables led by motives beyond profit, I want to be a part of that. So, this will do as home base for now, and I am excited to build community alongside people who challenge the perceived need to rely on dirty fuels and, more importantly, who denounce the indisputable connections between this system's negligence towards the land and the struggle inflicted upon our most vulnerable communities, often direct recipients of toxicity and pollution.
Donate To The Lone Star Chapter When 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!
