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Texas on the Front Line
The outcomes of struggles around the questions of energy in Texas are posed to have a significant impact not only for the residents of the state and Gulf Coast, but for energy policy on a national level. Texas, in 2006, was the staging ground for the resurgence of the coal industry seeking to fast-track permits for 19 new plants. Currently, the first proposal to expand nuclear power in 30 years is being pushed in Texas, where uranium is being labeled the ‘new Texas gold’ and abandoned mining operations are reopening and expanding. The Gulf Coast is also the hub of the refinery industry with 57 oil refineries, hundreds of petrochemical plants and oil rigs and a growing infrastructure for liquid natural gas. The human and environmental toll is enormous.
At the same time, Texas is posed to be the leader in the wind and solar industry, with a vast abundance of each of these renewable sources. Residential energy expenditures could be lowered by 40% in San Antonio through energy efficiency measures.
Climate Justice
Climate justice is a movement from the grassroots to realize solutions to our climate and energy problems that ensure the right of all people to live, work, play, and pray in safe, healthy, and clean environments. We envision a just transition to a future free from fossils fuels that protects the most vulnerable from the impacts of climate change.
10 Principles for Just Climate Change Policies in the U.S.
1. Stop Cooking the Planet
2. Protect and Empower Vulnerable Individuals and Communities
3. Ensure Just Transition for Workers and Communities
4. Require Community Participation
5. Global Problems Need Global Solutions
6. The U.S. Must Lead
7. Stop Exploration for Fossil Fuels
8. Monitor Domestic and International Carbon Markets
9. Caution in the Face of Uncertainty
10. Protect Future Generations
Nukes are NOT a Solution
City Public Service (CPS), San Antonio’s municipally owned utility, has entered into a partnership to build the first nuclear reactors in almost 30 years. SWU has taken the lead in this struggle and garnered community and statewide support to fight this proposal and expose the fiscal, human and environmental dangers associated with nuclear power. SWU is organizing rate-payers to oppose nuclear power and demand a clean, green energy future. SWU seeks to secure funding for energy efficiency measures across the city and investment to create GREEN jobs.
Victories
- Trainings & workshops on energy, fossil fuels and climate change
- Brought grassroots voices on Climate to the United Nations
- Defeated a proposal for new fuel storage tanks
- Organized against new coal-fired power plants
- Launched a rate-payers union to demand accountability from CPS
- Created links between organizations along the Gulf Coast
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