After Week in Review‘s SXSW hiatus, our weekly blog update is back in action, keeping you posted on Public Citizen’s energy advocacy work.
Carol Geiger presented the interns a workshop on grant writing, providing an enormous amount of detail and critical distinctions between direct service, outreach, research, and education projects.
Ryan Rittenhouse went to Bay City to meet with the No Coal Coalition.
Andy Wilson finished a blog on how the commissioners at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) undermine the findings of their own staff in order to follow TCEQ’s mission statement that prioritizes economic development over protecting the environmental health of Texas. In April, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission will review the TCEQ to determine if the organization is effective and if it needs to be reformed. Public Citizen will be working to ensure that the public understands the sunset process and that Texans’ voices are heard.
Matt Johnson met with groups in Georgetown and San Marcos to talk about coordinating clean energy initiatives. Matt and Colin Meehan (with the Environmental Defense Fund) also met with Robert Goode to talk about the Austin Energy Resource and Climate Protection Plan.
Trevor Lovell and ReEnergize Texas secured the funding needed to help support two summer training programs in our region–one in Texas and the other in Louisiana. ReEnergize Texas will be working with the Sierra Student Coalition which operates summer training programs across the country. For more information visit ReEnergize Texas and learn about SPROG trainings near you.
Intern Mona Avalos has been busy preparing blog entries and continued to focus on water conservation issues. She wanted to direct your attention to the report “Sick Water” published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This report discusses the global water quality crisis and how the increase of the population will have a significant impact on water resources.
Intern Andrew Sauls continued researching the 15 greenest cities in the United States, focusing on electricity resources. He began by looking at Popular Science’s list of 50. Today, he also attended a webinar titled Energy Prices and Our Energy Future: Economics of New Nuclear and Renewables. Southern Alliance for Clean Energy hosted the online conference. Andrew wanted to share one powerful thought from the webinar: “Economic efficiency equates to environmental efficiency.”
Intern Patrick Reck finished revising an article about his theory of the Energy Triangle. The Energy Triangle is a theory to analyze energy policy conversations in order to present money and human labor as forms of energy in the same conceptual framework as natural resources. He also found Public Citizen’s missing Flip Camera (still stuck in the back of his computer), so he can continue the Get to Know an Activist series.
Tom Smitty Smith completed work on his time machine and is/has/will travel back in time to extend his vacation.
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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.
