News Archives - Climate Header
News Archives - Climate Mobile Header

Climate change is such a big, global, and kinda scary topic. That’s why we write climate stories with a local lens and a focus on what you can do to actually make a difference.

Earth Day Event: Come to City Hall to cheer as council passes the energy plan!

Time to clap your hands and say yeah!

The Austin Energy Resource and Climate Protection Plan (aka, the generation plan) is poised to pass on Thursday–Earth Day. We want to fill council chamber with supporters!

It has been a long time in coming. After almost two years of public input, this forward-thinking and adaptable energy plan, with lots of wind, solar, and energy efficiency, is up for a vote in the morning.

Wear green, put on a Clean Energy for Austin sticker, and cheer when Council passes it!

When: 10 AM

Where: Austin City Hall, 301 W 2nd St

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April 20, 2010

Easy Earth Week Action!

Wanna do something green to start off Earth Week? You can do this from your desk. Quick and easy:

  1. Sign up as a supporter for Clean Energy for Austin.
  2. Tell a friend or co-worker to sign on too!*

Austin City Council will vote on this forward-thinking energy plan this week! Clean Energy for Austin is a coalition that exists to support council passing this plan. Learn more at www.cleanenergyforaustin.org.

Public Citizen, Sierra Club, Environment Texas, Environmental Defense Fund, SEED Coalition and others endorse this plan but we need your help! Spread the word, and look forward to more easy actions as the week unfolds.

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April 19, 2010

Eco Networkers … Bang The Table!

hey, You! want to get involved in the Austin climate conversation? … a new online forum has just launched, with the goal of facilitating better community input, re: how Austin and Austinites can lead on climate protection.

It’s called BangTheTable.com/austinclimate and it’s about your sharing ideas.

The site is in beta form, but already features some skeletal FAQs, surveys, info, photos and other related stuff to help you get involved. Look for the site to grow in the coming months.

Thanks to hard working City employees like Larry Schooler, Amy Everhart, and the team at the Austin Climate Protection Program for getting this moving…

EcoNetworkers: bang the table!

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April 3, 2010

Field Notes: Mayor’s Climate Charrette (part 1)

"Charrette" refers to any collaborative session in which a group of designers drafts a solution to a design problem. While the structure of a charrette varies, charrettes often take place in multiple sessions in which the group divides into sub-groups. Each sub-group then presents its work to the full group as material for future dialogue. Such charrettes serve as a way of quickly generating a design solution while integrating the aptitudes and interests of a diverse group of people. — Wikipedia, 3/8/10

And so it was. Mayor Leffingwell revived the "Community Plan" portion of Austin’s 2007 Climate Protection Plan by sponsoring a day and half charrette at City Hall, March 4 & 5. The meetings, which were led by partnership between the Mayor’s and Climate Protection staffs, involved more than 60 local community leaders gathered at City Hall. Professionals, city employees and grassrootsers (like me) from diverse backgrounds (transit, water, real estate, big biz, commerce, low income, UT, etc) got together to first define a common goal, then branch off to lay out objectives and metrics for guiding and measuring future progress.

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March 8, 2010