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Posts Tagged ‘Texas Impact’

Texas needs to still care about the Stimulus

Posted in Good Government, Texas Legislature, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 23, 2011 |

The emblem of the American Recovery and Reinve...

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), or "the stimulus" provided funds for a broad range of priorities, but did Texas spend the money wisely?

Public Citizen has been a member of a coalition that has attempted to bring more sunshine, more transparency, and more good government to the implementation on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as “The Stimulus.” Two years since its passage much of the funding appropriated has been spent, but there is still more to do. Our groups yesterday released a report “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over: The Texas Legislature and the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act” which can be found at http://www.txstimulus.com.

It is worth noting that the txstimulus.com website was originally used by a select committee in the Texas Legislature charged with keeping an eye on how Texas spent ARRA funds.  Bee Moorhead in an interview with the Texas Tribune explained what happened to the website and all of that information the committee had been collecting:

During his days as select committee chairman, (Jim) Dunnam (chair of the select committee) set up a website — txstimulus.com — to provide documents and information on stimulus spending, culled from the committee’s hearings and correspondence with the Texas congressional delegation. In March, the domain, which was registered in Dunnam’s name, lapsed, taking all the information it contained therein.

Enter Bee Moorhead, executive director of Texas Impact, a statewide interfaith organization, and the new owner of txstimulus.com. “Legislative committees can use the internet really effectively, and there are great examples of committees doing that this year,” said Moorhead, citing efforts of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, “but those websites contain government information, and they can’t just be handled like some individual’s blog.”

The coalition also released a set of recommendations to help Texas improve its transparency. #4 is my personal favorite and one of my pet issues, but all are important. These recommendations are explored more in depth in the press release accompanying this post, which is available in full after the jump.

1. Draw down the unemployment dollars.

2. Keep a legislative eye on the game till it’s over.

3. Move the low-income weatherization program from TDHCA to SECO.

4. Modernize Texas’ Freedom of Information Act.

5. Make the Texas Fusion Center’s budget transparent.

6. Require more project-specific information on TxDOT projects.

7. Be ready for more funding.

8. Target ARRA energy efficiency dollars to areas of greatest need.

9. Build on ARRA health infrastructure investment.

10. Protect the integrity of all state government-related websites.

Included in our report are in-depth analysis of spending on transportation, weatherization, energy efficiency, health care, and others. I highly recommend you read this important piece of research, or at least bookmark it for future reference.  Please to enjoy.

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Come out tomorrow (Oct 24th) for the International Day of Climate Action!!

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on October 23, 2009 |

Tomorrow – October 24, 2009 – will be the largest day of climate action in the history of the world, and something you don’t want to miss. If you do not yet have anything planned for 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action, please join one of the 4641 events happening around the world. In 171 countries, people will be marching, planting trees, singing, gathering in museums and churches, throwing Frisbees, flying kites, attending black-tie galas, and more, all in the name of bringing awareness to climate change.

There is a lot of talk about the number 350, which is the “number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide—measured in “Parts per Million” in our atmosphere.” On a global level, we have already passed it, but if we work hard we can get back on track. Get out there tomorrow and show Obama that as U.S. citizens, we mean business. The timing could not be more important. With the Climate Change bill being deliberated in Congress and the Copenhagen conference around the corner – now is the time to put pressure on our law makers, and to show the rest of the world that we care.

Checkout the interactive map to find an event near you, and spread the word to all your friends – no matter where they live – there is bound to be an event nearby! Tomorrow, there are almost 50 events taking place in Texas alone, including:

There are just too many events to list here – so you gotta check out that map! And remember, spread the word to all your friends…everywhere.

If you will be in Houston tomorrow, come join Public Citizen’s Andy Wilson and pastor Brian McLaren at Texas Impact’s Advocacy Camp, a day-long workshop about getting involved not only with climate change, but also issues of immigration and healthcare.  (Even though this is sponsored by Texas Impact, Andy promised he won’t preach too much Jesus at you.) We hope to see you there!

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Van Jones Officially “Green Jobs” Special Advisor to Obama Administration

Posted in Consumers, Efficiency, Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 10, 2009 |

This just in from the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON – Author and activist Van Jones will be a special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation in the Obama administration.

Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said in a release Monday that Jones will start work next week to help direct the administration’s efforts to create jobs and help the environment. Sutley said Jones will work on “vulnerable communities.”

Jones founded Green for All, a national organization that promises environmentally friendly jobs to help lift people out of poverty. He wrote the New York Times best-seller “The Green Collar Economy.”

Anyone who heard Van Jones’ keynote address at our Texas Energy Future conference knows what fantastic news it is that this man now has the ear of the President and the White House Council on Environmental Quality.  At the conference Van Jones gave an amazing speech to a packed house on the potential of the new green economy.  For a taste of the kind of green jobs messaging the Obama Administration will hear from now on, check out this trailer — courtesy of Texas Impact.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvGRWZDShPc]

For the full speech, check out the streaming google video after the jump.  (more…)

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Public Citizen and The Texas Observer: Voices in the Same Choir? Come sing along!

Posted in Global Warming, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 28, 2009 |

choirThe Texas Observer just ran an article on the top ten issues the Texas Legislature should address this session. Anybody want to guess what number two was?

If you guessed climate change… you’ve probably been reading this blog.  And you’d be right!

The Observer expects for Texas leaders to more amenable to climate change action than they have been in years past. Their reasoning?

Congress and the Obama administration have signaled that major federal climate change legislation is in the works. “The Obama package will give Texas a choice: lead or get left behind,” says state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso. “Luddites need to move away and let leadership take the day.”

The article continues:

As the nation’s top emitter of carbon dioxide, Texas arguably has the most to lose and the most to gain from federal action, says Bea Moorehead, executive director of Texas Impact, an interfaith advocacy group. States that move sooner to cut their greenhouse-gas emissions will have an easier time adapting to a carbon-restrained world. Advocates like Moorehead want to build on the successes Texas has had with wind power and energy conservation by pushing incentives for the solar industry and expanding efficiency standards. Such measures, they say, will create jobs and cut air pollution while replacing sources of greenhouse gas.

I was particularly excited about this article because we’ve been singing the same tune in informational handouts to all your legislative members.

If you agree that this is the message your legislators need to hear, loud and clear… TELL THEM SO.  We can print out brochures and hand them to legislative staffers, and the Observer can print articles on what they think the legislature ought to be doing, but ultimately, politicians respond to what their constituents want.

This is a novel idea, I know.  You’re thinking; “But Sarah, I’ve been wanting politicians to pursue a whole host of progressive policies for years, and they haven’t happened.”

Well, have you every straight up asked?  Politicians aren’t mind readers, you know.  Sometimes we’ve got to count ourselves lucky if they are readers at all.  So if you want them to know what you want, you’ve got to tell them.  When you contact your legislators, they take it much more seriously than a small record of your personal opinion.  As few as five personal letters can key a legislator in that an issue is important.  Just ten letters can lead them to think they’ve got “constituent trouble” and cause them to support or vote against a particular bill.

Visit the website Who Represents Me? If you know your address, it will only take about 30 seconds to know who your legislators are as well.  Write them a letter.  Or pick up the phone and give them a call.  You probably won’t get to speak with your rep directly, but you can definitely ask for the staffer that works on energy and give them your two cents.  Make your voice be heard!

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