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[Election] Are you registered to vote at your current address with your current name? Is everyone in your family? Work cohort? Please help spread the word that Tuesday, September 23rd is National Voter Registration Day. Registration is easy and only takes only a few minutes, so join the crowd and pick up a voter registration application at any public library or government office. You can also download the application here>>

And don't worry if you don't know much about the candidates yet. The Austin EcoNetwork will continue helping you out with that, keeping you up-to-date and informed about each of the 78 candidates. We've built an incredible Candidate Q&A Tool to that we will reveal next week that will let you see candidates' answers to environmental questionnaires. If you want to help sponsor our election education initiatives please call me at512-850-5895!

Oh, and by the way, October 6th is the last day to register to vote for the November 4th election, so don't delay!
 

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[Volunteer/Election]Austin EcoNetwork staff and allies are working hard to make sure candidates are briefed on eco-issues, their stances are organized in a way that is useful to voters and we help elect a slate of City Council members who are.

For anyone eager to learn more about the candidates running for Mayor and city council we have a variety of election-related volunteer opportunities available. A bunch of them can be done from home too! Email Brandi to start a dialogue and explore ways you can get involved.
 

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[Energy/Election] A series of candidate forums on issues related to Austin Energy kicked off last week with a forum covering Districts 6 and 10. Matt Stillwell and Jimmy Flannigan from District 6 were in attendance and Tina Cannon, Mandy Dealey, Jason Meeker, and Margie Burciaga were there from District 10. The discussion between them was incredibly substantive and hit on several key issues that are going to be increasingly important as a new batch of city council members take office. These included a discussion over the best path to take in order to wean Austin Energy off of fossil fuels and a debate over which energy efficiency programs will best serve the city's dual affordability and environmental goals. You can watch a video of the entire forum here>>

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[Energy/Election] There are four more candidate forums about energy issues coming up this week, so you have no excuse not to go to at least one! Here are the dates, districts, and times:

• Districts 2 and 3 – Friday, Sept. 19th from 6pm to 8:30pm at the Austin JATC Electrical Training Center
• Districts 1 and 7 – Saturday, Sept. 20th from 12:30pm to 3pm at the Northwest Recreation Center
• Districts 4 and 9 – Monday, Sept. 22 from 6pm to 8:30pm at the First Unitarian Universalist Church
• Districts 5 and 8 – Tuesday, Sept. 23 from 6pm to 8:30pm at TreeHouse

 

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[Energy] We've been saying it for years now, and 

the evidence is finally starting to build in support of what seems like an inevitable truth – the old electric utility model needs to change. As KUT reports, this year's relatively cool summer reduced Austin Energy's estimated revenues by $16.5 million. That's because the utility makes 40 percent of its annual revenue in June, July, August, and September, and this year, all of those months except for August have seen lower than average AC use and peak electricity demand.

This story is a perfect illustration of the hard realities of even the most progressive utilities. They make money by selling a product, and if consumers buy less of it (whether that be because of a cooler summer or due to conservation and efficiency efforts), the utility is forced to raise customer rates in order to get themselves out of a tough financial situation. If Austin really wants to be a leader in energy efficiency, these are the types of problems that are going to have to be dealt with.

 

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[Energy] Speaking of energy efficiency, Austin Energy is continuing to push 

forward with its own initiatives to reduce energy use with new LED streetlights. As KXAN reports, the utility has replaced 13,000 of its 56,000 street lights with LED bulbs. The new lights conserve the energy equivalent of 360 homes, saving 4 million kilowatt hours per year, and preventing the emission of 2,700 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. You can watch a video of KXAN's story here>> 

 

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[Climate Change] The largest climate march in U.S. history is taking place this weekend in New York City, but that doesn't mean that us Texans don't get to have any fun. Austin is hosting a solidarity march on Sunday,September 21st from11am to 3pm at the State Capitol building. The march will begin on the south steps of the Capitol and then continue down South Congress Avenue, onto West 6th Street, to Lavaca, to 11th Street to complete the loop back to the Capitol. Anyone is welcome to participate, so start making your signs, and get ready to march. More info>> 
 

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If your company/org is not yet a partner or you are a partner and want to play contact Brandi today!
If you are not an AEN partner you can start your own team for the Green Cup Challenge to compete too! Bring it!
 

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[Water] The Lower Colorado River Authority approved new amendments to its Water Management Plan earlier this week that are being lauded by the Sierra Club and National Wildlife Federation for slightly improving conditions in Matagorda Bay. A press release issued by both environmental organizations reads:

"The revisions to LCRA’s Water Management Plan are minor, but we support them because as compared to the previous LCRA staff version they provide slight improvements to the way water is managed for Matagorda Bay. The revisions would redistribute the limited water available for the bay to the times when it is most stressed, and reduce the lengths of period of extreme high salinity. We applaud the stakeholders who attended LCRA meetings over the last three weeks for finding ways to make better use of the limited amount of water available for agriculture and the environment under the limited framework previously adopted by the LCRA Board." You can read the entire press release here>>

 

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[Transportation] Plans to bring the currently illegalridesharing companiesUber and Lyft out of the shadows moved forward this week with an announcement from Austin City Council Member Chris Riley. At a press conference on Monday, Riley announced that he will be proposing a resolution at next week's city council meeting that will immediately allow companies like Uber and Lyft to start operating legally. He said that his resolution can serve as a sort of stop-gap measure, until a more permanent solution can be agreed upon after a council-approved stakeholder process is complete. You can watch the video of Riley's press conference here>>

 

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