TexPIRG Winter Update

Happy December! After a very busy summer and fall, I’m looking forward to the slower pace of the winter holiday season, and time for reflection and memory-making with my loved ones. Thank you for your support of TexPIRG throughout the year.

I’m pleased to share with you some of the important work that TexPIRG has been doing since our last update: We published an Op-Ed in the Dallas Morning News opposing Dan Patrick’s intention to increase the number of natural gas plants in Texas, we’ve called for an immediate halt to the I-35 expansion project, we worked with AISD on a resolution to switch to electric buses, we organized voter registration outreach and a get out the vote campaign targeting community college students across Texas, and we’re working to protect children’s safety and health with our annual report and press conference on toy safety.

Please enjoy these recent highlights, and happy holidays!

Sincerely,

Ted Siff

Co-founder, TexPIRG and Board Member, TexPIRG Education Fund

On Sunday, the Dallas Morning News published our Op-Ed about Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s stated 2023 legislative priority of building more natural gas plants in Texas, despite skyrocketing consumer energy costs and a lack of improvement in the stability of our power grid. During the 2021 winter storm, every source of power generation struggled under the extreme cold, but none more than gas, and we think there are better, cleaner, and more affordable ways to make our grid more reliable.

In November, TexPIRG Education Fund held a press conference with Representative Lloyd Doggett and representatives of the Escuelita del Alma to highlight key findings in our annual Trouble in Toyland report. The press conference focused on three main areas of concern: the continued availability of recalled toys, counterfeit toys that often don’t meet U.S. toy safety standards, and the role of parents and caregivers in keeping our children safe.

This fall TexPIRG Education Fund received funding to conduct a voter registration outreach campaign and get out the vote campaign at community colleges in Texas. Our volunteers became deputy voter registrars, held non-partisan voter registration tabling events, and spoke to classes at Austin Community College in person and over Zoom to encourage students to register to vote. In a single week, TexPIRG Education Fund’s Gracie Coates and her volunteers registered almost 200 students in Travis County to vote. In the weeks between the registration deadline and election day, the effort shifted to phone banking and text outreach to get out the vote, and over 30,500 contacts were made throughout the state.

In our last update, we discussed the lawsuit that TexPIRG, along with Environment Texas and the Rethink35 campaign, filed against the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) over its harmful plan to significantly expand Interstate 35. When TxDOT announced plans to begin construction of the southern portion of the project, we called for an immediate halt to the I-35 Capital Express Project while we wait for a hearing in the case.

In October Austin ISD approved a resolution to phase out diesel-fueled school buses, which are linked to significant health risks to school children, and switch entirely to clean, electric school buses by 2035. TexPIRG worked closely with other orgs and with the AISD Board of Trustees to get the resolution passed, and we’re thrilled that Austin ISD will be the first school district in Texas to make this commitment to our children’s health and safety. Austin ISD held a press conference October 17 to announce the decision, with many community leaders voicing their support, including U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett.