Make Austin a Solar Leader Again!

austin, once a leader on solar power, has fallen behind other cities like san antonio. 

Clean Water Action and our allies at Solar Austin support the Austin’s current goal of producing 200 MW of power from solar farms by 2020. But we also want to see the City add an additional 300 MW of solar on rooftops in the city of Austin. Here's why:

• rooftop solar does not require millions of gallons of water to produce energy like coal, natural gas and nuclear do -- a vital consideration in this time of record drought
• rooftop solar creates local jobs for solar installers
• rooftop solar builds wealth in the community by putting money back into the pockets of people who have panels installed on their homes and businesses
• rooftop solar saves the city money, since some of the up-front capital comes from the building owners themselves
• energy produced locally makes our city less vulnerable to brownouts and blackouts that can occur on hot summer afternoons, when solar panels are most productive
• energy produced locally avoids line losses that occur when moving energy over long distances, and avoids the costs associated with erecting and maintaining hundreds of miles of transmission lines

It's time for Austin to get serious about solar energy again!

Thanks to pressure from concerned citizens and groups like Clean Water Action, the City of Austin is considering taking steps proposed by the Austin Water Utility that would lower per capita levels of water consumption from 170 gallons per capita per day (GPCD) to 140 GPCD by 2020. This is the level recommended by the Texas Water Development Board. Faced as we are with population growth, recurrent drought, and a changing climate, we are likely to be facing serious water shortages unless we take further steps to conserve water.

Tell the Mayor and City Council To Say No To A Nuclear Future

The City of Austin is being lobbied to purchase power generated by two new nuclear reactors that New Jersey-based NRG wants to build at the South Texas Nuclear Project (STNP) in Matagorda County. NRG needs a commitment from Austin so it can borrow the billions of dollars necessary to build these expensive new reactors.

The law that is supposed to protect us from the health effects caused by toxic chemicals is not working.

The Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) does not prevent us from being exposed, every day, to chemicals like formaldehyde, lead, and asbestos. These are cancer-causing chemicals and also result in reproductive problems and many other diseases.

For more information visit Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families