11 Jan “Austin has a Dirty Secret” … news: 1/10/10

Via facebook, I’ve been made friends with over 700 Austinites who share my interest in Austin’s energy future. "Austin has a Dirty Secret" is a diverse citizen group focused on shutting Austin’s coal plant asap and replacing it with affordable, clean alternatives… This week’s newsletter focuses on the upcoming vote by City Council, re: our city’s energy plan. Thanks for reading, (Chris Searles)

The newsletter:

capital city politics
My team has had the privilege of meeting with all members of City Council at least once over the last 5 weeks. Our message: shutting the coal plant asap is an imperative for climate, global leadership, local affordability, Texas’s health, the environment, and local economic development. I feel we’ve been successful in updating some people’s paradigms, but there’s a lot of fear at City Hall around this issue, so…

clean energy for austin dot org
A new coalition, led by some of the world’s best environmentalists (our friends right here in Austin) is off to a GREAT START. After having been @ City Hall and seen the resistance to "bold leadership" at City Hall re: climate and quitting the coal plant, I whole-heartedly support Clean Energy 4 Austin’s strategy, which is…

clean energy’s strategy
Support Austin Energy’s plan, with provisions to examine shutting the coal plant within the next 2 years, plus eight other positive recommendations. As the Interfaith Environment Network says, we support Austin Energy’s current plan "as a minimum" response to the world’s climate crisis…

climate urgency
Speaking of climate, climate, climate — i posted a piece over the holiday that’s had over 350 views. You may want to check it out? http://www.austinpost.org/content/bringing-copenhagen-home-austins-climate-urgency-pt-1

climate leadership
Our petition to City Council, calling for renewal of Will Wynn’s 2007 comittment to world-leading climate protection is growing! We’re about 85% to our signatures goal, please consider checking out: http://tinyurl.com/austinclimateleadership

this is our moment
So, City Council’s vote re: the coal plant is on the horizon. Please check out our awesome friends and compatriots @ "Clean Energy For Austin" http://cleanenergyforaustin.org/ and consider joining the coalition, as I have. (Likely you’ll be more hearing about this from trailblazers Sarah Mac & Matt Johnson, very soon.)

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also,
See what the City has going, re: climate protection, next Fri/Sat (for free). Some great folks working here, for all of us: http://www.austinclimateexpo.com/
 

and: 
This Week’s Dirty Secret: 24,000 Jobs
In the Austin energy planning scenario known as "Quit Coal 2014" (Austin would shutter its coal plant during the year 2014, investing heavily in rooftop solar and energy efficiency through the year 2021) … 24,000 local jobs would be created from the solar component, alone. Austinites would literally spend billions of electricity dollars investing in its people, its economy, its leadership, its planet — instead of keeping a clunker coal plant chugging…hmmm….

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