23 Apr EcoBits April 23rd – April 30th, 2015: TxLege Updates, Ending Climate Change Now, and SH 45SW
[Climate Change] This weekend, the kids are taking action. A local Girl Scout troop has organized a Children's Climate March for this Saturday, April 25th from 9am to noon. For weeks these ambitious girls have been working hard to organize a kid-friendly climate action that gets the attention of politicians throughout Texas and across the country. Learn more about the march here>>
Last month, AEN Editor Amy Stansbury produced a podcast about the girls, who want to save Santa Claus and the North Pole from climate change. You can listen to the podcast here>>
[Climate Change] What would it take to put an end to climate change? A group of people in Austin, and across the country, think they have found the answer. It's called the Paris Pledge and it is a movement to demand that delegates to the upcoming UN Conference on Climate Change commit to the following three outcomes:
- Full Decarbonization by 2050
- Implementation of carbon pricing as the key driver
- Establishment of a global citizens' engagement network
Janis Bookout, a former Austin EcoNetwork team member, has gotten involved with the campaign and wrote a wonderful blog explaining her personal decision to fight climate change with the Paris Pledge.You can read her blog, entitled, "Inventing the Game to End Global Warming," here>>
[Food] Ronda Rutledge knows sustainability. As the Executive Director of the Sustainable Food Center and a founding member of the city’s Sustainable Food Policy Board, Ronda has made a career of making sure Central Texas has a strong and lasting future. So what exactly does that future looks like?Find out with AEN blogger Timothy Boston's latest story>>
[Food/Gardening] Connect deeply with nature and learn about her intricacies with the 2015 Summer Intensive Permaculture Design Course from the Austin Permaculture Guild.
The course is designed to expand your working knowledge of sustainability and permaculture design. You will be camping on the 2-acre property, at the Whole Life Learning Center, with a group of like-minded and inspired individuals, sharing in community, education, and wholesome food. In this enriching environment you will learn all of the skills necessary to holistically and creatively design a sustainable homestead, farm, or business that will be resilient and regenerative.
The course runs from June 1st – 14th and the cost covers camping, 3 meals a day sourced locally and organically, hands on projects, and classroom instruction from two experienced instructors, Theron Beaudreau and Taelor Monroe. This two week intensive immersion in permaculture design will earn you a PRI certified certificate in permaculture design. Learn more>>
[Water/Transportation] Major u
The USFWS has warned that if built, SH 45SW could have negative effects on the golden-cheeked warbler, the Barton Springs salamander, the Austin blind salamander, and Flint Ridge Cave.
But despite Eckhardt's request, CTRMA has said that all work on SH 45SW will continue as planned and that they do not believe the final engineering plan will run afoul of concerns raised by USFWS.
To learn more about the complicated back and forth discussions about this project, as well as how to get more involved, visit the Save Our Springs Alliance website>>
Over the next three months, MobilityATX will guide several online and face-to-face discussions to solicit the best ideas from the community about ways to fixAustin's traffic problems. Afterwards, they will present those ideas to city council and other decision makers that have the power to put them into action. They're calling them crowdsourced public policy solutions, but it won't work without the crowd, so get involved today>>
Exciting update – The first MobilityATX livestream discussion is this Monday, April 27th at 2pm. Council member Ellen Troxclair, RideScout CEO Joseph Kopser, Downtown Austin Alliance CEO DeWitt Peart and AURA Board Member Brennan Griffin will all be speaking. More info>>
[Outdoors/Parks] Help an Austin park win $20,000 for renovations and improvements through Parks Build Community, an initiative funded by Disney, ESPN, ABC, and the National Recreation and Park Association. Three local parks are up for the big prize:
- Battle Bend Park Basketball Court Renovation – Upgrade the popular basketball court at Battle Bend Neighborhood Park with new backboards and rims, court surface upgrades, new benches and new high efficiency lighting.
- House Among the Trees at Zilker Park – There is nothing closer to nature than a house among the trees! Give Austin’s kids a chance to explore nature in a treehouse complete with swinging walkways, climbing ramps and split-level platforms.
- Nature Play at Dove Springs District Park – Help connect Austin’s children with nature through nature-based play. New nature-play features at Dove Springs Park will include a boulder tunnel, council ring and slide hill.
The park with the most votes gets the big prize, and voting lasts until the end of April. You can cast your vote here>>
Politics
[State] The city of Denton made headlines last year when voters approved a fracking ban within city limits. That ban is now being threatened by the Texas State Legislature. The Texas House of Representatives has already overturned it with a bill called HB 40 and the Texas Senate is poised to vote on it soon.
Several local organizations, including the Texas Campaign for the Environment and the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club, have been fighting hard against this bill, not just for what it will do to Denton's fracking ban, but for what it could do to local controlin places throughout Texas.
Local control is what enables cities and towns to pass their own rules and regulations on a vast array of different activities within city limits. These environmental organizations are warning that HB 40 could threaten hundreds of different protective ordinances in cities throughout Texas. Proponents of the bill rebuke that claim, saying that the bill still allows for certain types of local ordinances. You can learn more here>>
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