Hi everyone, I’m Brittany Dawn McAllister, and I’ve recently signed on to do Student Outreach with the Lonestar Chapter of the Sierra Club.

We’ve been doing some great things this semester and I’m excited and humbled to be able to share past news and upcoming events with you on the AEN blog.

On campus this semester, in partnership with the UT Campus Environmental Center, myself and Sierra Club interns have written guest columns to The Daily Texan, UT’s campus newspaper. We’ve made hundreds of phone calls to gather support for Clean Energy legislation. We hosted the first-ever student-led City Council lobby day in favor of divesting from the Fayette Coal Power Project. We even unanimously passed a resolution through our Student Government in favor of divesting from Fayette and moving toward a cleaner energy future.

Most recently, we participated in Austin’s Roll Beyond Coal Bike Ride, Hike, and Rally to show Texas and Austin that we are ready to move to renewable energy in full force!

The event was a smashing success. Over 100 people showed up on the City Hall Plaza to sign petitions to the EPA asking them to stop more coal plants from being built in Texas. Individuals also offered themselves up for photo petitions that we’ll send to Austin City Council and Austin Energy to tell them why Austin must roll beyond coal.

After hearing from such speakers as Councilmember Chris Riley and Cyrus Reed of the Sierra Club and Austin’s Generation Task Force, folks headed out on a bike ride or a hike to tour the places where our city already gets some of its clean energy. Then we all headed over for the after-party at Ghost Room. Key players in Austin’s environmental movement spoke and informed the audience of initiatives going on within and between their organizations.

We are so proud of not only the Austin event, but of the 4 other events across the state: in Alpine, Beaumont, Corpus Christi, and Dallas! All events had an amazing turnout. This proves that the people of Texas have had enough of dirty pollution and want more clean air and water for their families!

More pictures can be found here: http://s897.photobucket.com/albums/ac174/rollbeyondcoal/ and here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lonestarchaptersierraclub/sets/721576227183…

The work has only just began.

We have lots of ways for you to get involved.

First, continue to support our "Green Monday" phone banks for the rest of the fall– they’re held from 6-8 p.m. at our office at 1202 San Antonio. Free pizza, as always!

Next, stay updated by becoming fans of "Texas Sierra Club" on Facebook, and follow "TexasSierraClub" on Twitter!

Then, join us this Tuesday, November 10th for a special sneak-preview of the movie Coal Country starring Ashley Judd, at 7 p.m. at Spiderhouse!

As always, stop by our office and lend a helping hand!

I’ll make sure to keep you informed.

Talk soon!

–Brittany Dawn