Hundreds Gather At Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge For #NoBorderWall Rally
This past weekend, more than 600 people gathered in a field next to Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, the first target of Trump's proposed border wall, to celebrate the significance of the refuge to the RGV community and voice concerns over the disastrous human and environmental impacts of a border wall.
Speakers included our very own Valley Organizer Bekah Hinojosa, Representative Filemón Vela, and many others.
As Congress attempts to play political chess with our friends, family, and neighbors, keep updated on #NoBorderWall activities in the Valley through the Lower Rio Grande Valley FB page and the Save Santa Ana FB page
(Photo: Scott Nicol)
Denton could soon join Georgetown as the first two cities in Texas to commit to 100% renewable energy. As early as next week, Denton City Council could make a landmark decision which could set the standard for energy plans in Texas. The proposal is to meet all electric needs with 100% clean energy by 2020. This is a dramatic turn of events considering just two years ago the former city council voted to go 70% renewable energy by 2020, and build a new natural gas plant.
So what happened? The negotiation of the natural gas plant's contract even led to the resignation or leave of many city officials. With a new city council in place, Denton took a fresh look at the numbers and what they saw was an even stronger economic reason to invest in more renewable energy.
Get the scoop here.
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Our Dallas Organizer Misti O'Quinn hosted her first community event on January 20 at Pan African Connection in South Dallas - and it was an amazing night! After screening The Air We Breathe Tomorrow - a film about the effects of coal pollution on public health in Dallas - community activists and artists took turns on the mic, engaging the audience with poetry, song, and dance, united under the common theme that " Breathe Is Lyfe" and Dallas communities deserve clean air. Stay tuned for a blog and video recapping the event and the organizing work happening in Dallas right now to move beyond dirty coal.
(Photo: Activist/Poet Olinka Green recites a poem at Breathe is Lyfe/Sierra Club's Educate & Activate event on Jan. 20 in South Dallas)
It's been five months since Harvey hit. West St. Recovery, a Houston frontline organization that was born out of community and mutual aid in the days after the hurricane hit, is still helping to rebuild homes: "From an organizer's perspective, it feels really good to be participating in recovery efforts that center and attract folks who experienced the worst of a crisis themselves. We hope to continue incorporating more and more affected residents in our work. It's amazing to work so closely with people who have lost most of everything, are still in the throes of their own recovery, and are still so happy and willing to make time to help their neighbors." Read more about their work through the holidays from West Street Recovery Member Leah Ayer.
Austin: Speak Out Against Offshore Drilling At Public "Hearing" Feb. 6
This month, Trump unveiled a plan to hand 90% of America's coasts over to Big Oil - that means offshore drilling from Maine to Texas, and from Alaska down through California. We all know what disasters like BP Deepwater Horizon have already done to coastal communities in Texas. Oil and gas companies are already projected to be drilling for decades under current leases, and this plan would open up even more areas to drilling. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold a hearing in Austin on Feb. 6. This is your chance to show them how deeply unpopular and destructive this plan is.
Join us next Tuesday (Feb. 6) in Austin - RSVP here. (Defend The Gulf Graphic: Sierra Club RGV Organizer Rebekah Hinojosa)
Looking Strong, 2018! Rio Grande Valley, France Keep Pressure Against LNG
More than 80 organizations from across Texas, the U.S., and the world stood with our Rio Grande Valley communities by signing a letter to demand French bank Sociéte Générale to drop support for the proposed Rio Grande LNG terminal and the Rio Bravo Pipeline. We're still waiting to hear from the bank, but the global reach of the anti-LNG movement has our Valley community looking forward to continuing international mobilization to demand the bank to divest from these bad investments.
The Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter is pleased to announce the latest addition to our all-star team: Katie Aplis, our new communications intern! Katie will be writing original content for our website, supporting our social media platforms, and helping with media monitoring, among other duties and projects.
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Our water team staff members Ruthie Redmond and Jennifer Walker are playing a big role in organizing the Central Texas Water Conservation Symposium on Feb 1, 2018 (yes, that's tomorrow!). Our water team helps plan and host the annual symposium that highlights innovative water conservation programs at the utility-scale. The Symposium provides water utilities with the information needed to implement successful water conservation programs, effectively engage customers, and plan for the future.
The conference will feature state and national experts presenting on the the latest water conservation approaches, what's around the corner, and best practices for maximum efficiency gains.
Conference slides will be made available after the conference here.
Volkswagen Lied About Their Clean(er) Vehicles And Now They Gotta Pay: Here's What Texas Stands To Get From The VW Civil Settlement
Here's what happened: Volkswagen essentially had a scheme to cheat the U.S. government and public by building supposedly clean diesel and gas vehicles that met all modern emissions standards... except that they didn't. And they were caught. In one of the largest settlements in U.S. history, Volkswagen agreed to a massive settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ). Our Conversation Director Cyrus Reed breaks down how the funding is set to be distributed, where the Sierra Club would like to see the money invested, and how YOU can voice your input to the TCEQ. Learn more here.
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"The bottom line is that climate change, because of delayed action, is happening faster and more extremely than projected. Before Trump, the best-case scenario of emissions reductions allowed for significantly more than 2 degrees Celsius of warming. With dangerously extreme weather happening more and more frequently, and with abrupt changes plausibly already begun, now is not the time to be backpedaling climate policy." Chapter Executive Committee member Bruce Melton echoes the big picture message on our minds coming out of 2017 in this Truthout piece: We're facing increasingly frequent and more powerful climate disasters, yet our federal government refuses to even acknowledge climate change.
San Antonio: Tell Trump's EPA To Quit Dragging Their Feet & Clean Up Your Air!
In December, Trump's EPA announced proposed areas in Texas that do not meet clean air standards for ozone, commonly known as smog. Making these designations is a critical step in fixing the problem of dirty air, but the EPA punted on that decision for the San Antonio metro area, which means that it will take even longer to address the causes of our smoggy skies - the EPA isn't planning on making any decision until August! The EPA is only giving you, the actual people who have to breathe the dirty air, until February 5, 2018, to comment on the area's smog problem. Tell them what you think today!
Rebuilding Houston: Protecting People, Wildlife By Restoring Grasslands & WetlandsAbout the Texas Living Waters "Rebuilding Houston" series: This series features perspectives from Houston and the Gulf Coast about how the region could move forward after Hurricane Harvey in ways that favor wise financial investments, public safety, and the long-term health of our state's rivers, bays, and wildlife.
The authors are Houstonians who have long advocated for innovative, nature-based approaches to development, as well as storm surge and flood mitigation, in the greater Houston area.
(Photo: Jaime Gonzalez)
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BREAKING: Trump just proposed a path to citizenship for #Dreamers- in exchange for $25 billion towards his border wall, in addition to other strict changes in immigration policy that would result in more militarization of our border communities and more deportation of our friends, families, and neighbors. The White House is calling this a "dramatic concession." We say NO! --------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Tag us @texassierraclub or send it directly to Communications Coordinator Larisa Manescu at larisa.manescu@sierraclub.org. We'd love to share it with our growing Instagram community!
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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
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- Ensure a clean energy future
- Reduce climate disruption
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Your financial help allows us to meet the challenges of protecting and preserving our treasured Lone Star State!
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