Dallas Breath Is Lyfe Community Kicks Off 2018 With Community Arts Event
One of the nation's top polluters - the Big Brown coal plant - ceased operations this month, a massive public health win for Dallas communities and Texas in general, brought on by the persistent organizing of frontline communities. Community organizing can and should look like a song, a dance, a reverberating poem that speaks truth to power. Here's a blog recap of our Dallas Organizer Misti O'Quinn "Educate & Activate" event last month , which gathered the Breathe Is Lyfe community at Pan African Connection in South Dallas to celebrate clean(er) air and energize for the work ahead.
(Photo: Vanessa Ramos)
March 8 - Brownsville - RSVP To Public Meeting: No Air Pollution Permit For Rio Grande LNG!
All hands on deck! On Thursday, March 8, join the Lower Rio Grande Valley Sierra Club in telling the TCEQ to REJECT a permit for the Rio Grande (LNG export terminal to pollute the Valley's air. This is an opportunity for the public (you!) to make on-the-record comments and concerns about what liquefied natural gas (LNG)'s disastrous impact would be Valley communities and environment to the TCEQ. We'll have fact sheets with talking points available in both English and Spanish.
What's Next For Denton And Its 100% Renewables Goal?
Great news! Earlier this month, the City of Denton voted to revise the city utility's energy plan to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2020, becoming the second city in Texas to make the commitment (Georgetown was the first). However, the work did not end with the 6-1 vote on February 6. The transition to an all-renewable energy portfolio for the city of 133,000+ residents requires addressing their existing fossil fuel assets - some old, some brand new, and strong programs and policies that include local renewable energy development like community solar and energy storage projects.
From The Rio Grande Valley: Activist Jackelin Treviño Reflects On Border Wall Organizing
As people around Texas and the nation hear news update after news update about the latest status of political squabbling in Washington over border wall funding and a Clean Dream Act, we want to center the perspective of our Rio Grande Valley volunteers, friends, co-workers, and activists that have been working around-the-clock to make their voices heard.
Jackelin Treviño is a RGV activist and Sierra Club volunteer who has been collaborating with a team of volunteers and other allies to mobilize against the human rights and environmental disaster that is the border wall. To her, the campaign against the border wall isn't just "close to home." It is home.
Austin Passes Resolution To Deny Doing Business With Any Company Involved With Trump's Border Wall
Some good news! Joining the likes of San Diego and Tucson, Austin passed a resolution in late January to limit any city business with companies involved in the construction, design, or maintenance of Trump's Border Wall. Our Communications Intern Katie Aplis traded a morning of scouring the news to be a part of the news in action, attending her first press conference at Austin City Hall hours before the resolution passed.
Read her reflection on the experience here.
Last Call For Public Comments By March 9: Say No To Offshore Drilling!
In early January, Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke released a draft offshore drilling five-year plan that proposed an unprecedented expansion of offshore drilling into nearly all of America's waters. Over the past couple of months, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has been hosting "public hearings" in coastal states.
(Photo by Al Braden)
Farewell To Jennifer Walker, Our Water Resources Programs Manager!
Our dear co-worker, friend and Texas Water Extraordinaire Jennifer Walker just had her last day with the Lone Star Chapter last week. The Austin office is definitely feeling her absence, but we're excited for her transition to the National Wildlife Federation (conveniently just across the street from us.)
Read her reflection on her almost two decades with the Sierra Club here.
TOP FB HIGHLIGHTS
"#ClimateChange is not just about polar bears. It will affect North Texas profoundly." Texas is particularly vulnerable to a changing climate. It's time to LISTEN and ACT on scientific consensus.
Y'all, Texas has the earliest primaries in the country - and early voting starts today [sic]! Texas Tribune put together this handy resource. [Early voting ends this Friday, Mar 2.]
Congratulations to #Denton on adopting a new energy plan that will meet all the city's energy needs with renewable energy by 2020!
Today, #ATX joined with cities like Tucson and San Diego in adopting a resolution to oppose the border wall and identify ways to ensure the City doesn't do business with companies involved with border wall construction.
Your presence is NOT welcome (same goes for Cornyn or Cruz, who may be joining Pence). Stop perpetuating the myth of a dangerous border and racist falsehoods about our border communities.
(Photo Credit: Dallas Morning News)
San Antonio Moving From Paris Agreement To Community Climate Agreements
Have you heard of Climate Action SA?
With the guidance of Sierra Club San Antonio Organizer Greg Harman, alongside countless environmental justice and social justice community leaders, this coalition has been demanding that San Antonio leadership - including CPS Energy, UTSA and the Office of Sustainability - stand up for climate justice and prioritize community input as it rolls out the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (which kicked off in December 2017).
SC Organizer & Longtime Environmental Justice Activist Bryan Parras On Houston's Harvey Recovery On Democracy Now!
When #Harvey hit the nation's largest refining and petrochemical complex six months ago, Texas' environmental agency - TCEQ - ordered the shutdown of air monitors around major pollution sites.This lack of accountability means that we STILL don't know what chemicals were released and how much toxic air pollution has affected Houston's frontline communities.
This week, Democracy Now! hosted Sierra Club Houston Organizer Bryan Parras and other environmental justice leaders to talk about what's missing from Houston's city-led recovery plan six months post-Harvey.
TOP TWEETS
Earlier this week, @EPAScottPruitt suggested climate change might be good b/c civilizations flourish when it's warm. Share this video or create your own & tag #EarthToPruitt to let him know what we already know is a scientific consensus AND directly felt by our TX communities.
A @TexasTribune overview of what has - and hasn't - been spent so far on #Harvey relief, covering public and private funds.
Texas is particularly vulnerable to a changing climate. "#ClimateChange is not just about polar bears. It will affect North Texas profoundly." - @KHayhoe #DFW
Community organizing can & should look like a song, a dance, a reverberating poem that speaks truth to power. #Dallas @BeyondCoalTexas Organizer Misti O'Quinn's "Educate & Activate" event last month gathered @breathislyfe community to celebrate clean air.
Today, #ATX joined with cities like Tucson & San Diego in adopting a resolution to oppose the border wall & identify ways to ensure the City doesn't do business w/ companies involved w/ wall construction. Let's organize to get more city councils to do the same. #NoBorderWall
It's Chapter Awards Time: Nominate An Environmental Activist By March 16!
In 2017, we won a historic legal victory against Exxon over thousands of violations of the Clean Air Act, distributed more than $170,000 to community-based local relief efforts after Harvey, and helped to prevent Governor Abbott and the Texas Legislature from grabbing more power away from local communities that want to protect trees. None of this work, and so much more, could have been accomplished without dedicated volunteers working tirelessly, work that often goes unnoticed. Every year, Texas Sierra Club makes it a point to recognizes volunteers for their outstanding work and achievements.
Got questions? Please contact the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter Office in Austin at 512-477-1729, or Kristal Ibarra-Rodriguez, Volunteer Coordinator, at 939-216-9699.
TOPS ON INSTAGRAM
Today the Austin Sierra Club announced their support for #PaidSickDays for #Austin's workers:
"We believe that a healthy environment is inseparable from and interrelated with healthy communities, and that a lack of access to paid sick days, often disproportionately affecting people of color and low-income workers, weakens our communities. Just as we fight for clean air, clean water, and a stable climate, we fight for strong and resilient communities."
@gregoriocasar's #PaidSick ordinance is being voted on by #ATXCityCouncil TOMORROW (note: this ordinance PASSED!)
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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!
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!