By Matt Johnson
If you don't live in Corpus Christi, you may not have heard the good news from election night. Coastal Bend Sierra Club Chair Jim Klein has won a seat on Corpus Christi City Council!
Jim is a longtime Sierra Club member and leader with the Coastal Bend Sierra Club. He campaigned on the need for government transparency, diversifying an economy that protects the environment rather than threatens it, growing social services, and shelving desalination plants that people are bearing the costs of for the fossil fuel industry.
It is amazing to see someone so committed to environmental justice, and who has volunteered so many hours to civic engagement and activism, take the next step and run for office.
I asked Jim after he won the at-large seat how he felt about it, and he had this to say:
"I am proud to represent the people (rather than corporations) of Corpus Christi. This electoral victory has been very much a team effort and I will need Sierra Club members' help moving forward. We face big challenges to the human and environmental health of this region. Pulling together we can meet those challenges. Thank you folks for your support. Onward!"
Corpus Christi is at the epicenter of the fight for a livable climate. This is a win not just for the residents of Corpus Christi but all climate justice advocates across Texas!
I hope you feel the same way I do that Jim's victory is incredibly inspiring. Having an environmental justice advocate on the dais means that more transparency and values-driven decisions that affect so many people's lives are possible.