ISSUE

We’ve asked so little of our state reps when it comes to organized constituent engagement. A disaster of this magnitude calls for engagement that goes beyond taking an occasional phone call. These state reps were elected to look out for us, and we deserve answers and accountability for the human suffering caused by Texas officials.

MAKE A CALL

Texans! Call your state senator and representative and demand a town hall in your district to address the failures of the Texas state government, as well as to share future plans to protect us from these predictable, repeated failures.

Find your representatives here or here.

You can say:

“Hi, I’m a constituent of {Senator/Representative} {name}. My zip code is _____. When is the next town hall {Senator/Representative} {name} is planning in our district to address the failures of the Texas state government during last week’s winter storm crisis?”

BACKGROUND

Texans are currently faced with multiple and overlapping crises. A global pandemic has caused unemployment and homelessness.

Communities of color continue to suffer from racial injustice. And the “big freeze” of February 14-18, 2021 made it clear that our crumbling public services and infrastructure are especially vulnerable to extreme weather events fueled by the worsening climate crisis.

It is no coincidence that some leaders in Texas are attacking the Green New Deal, which so far exists only on paper, and have tried to falsely blame wind turbines for the results of their failed policies of “small government” and “free market” radicalism. Their unwavering support for fossil fuels will only exacerbate the climate crisis and lead to more disasters in the future.

It is time that Texas and our state leaders take climate change seriously. We need to prepare and mitigate its effects that are already happening here in Texas and affecting Texans. Public infrastructure needs to be winterized, for example, to prevent a future collapse. We need to transition away from oil and gas which failed us last week in order to prevent the climate crisis from worsening and Texas from falling behind economically.

It is time for the Texas Legislature to step up for Texans.

ISSUE

Speaker Phelan called for a joint committee hearing this Thursday, 2/25 at 9 am with the State Affairs and Energy Resources Committees. Your input is vital to helping the committees understand the widespread impact of the power outages.

Right now, the hearing is only allowing invited testimony. If you have expertise in the energy sector, you can contact the committees and request to be invited.

We can also push the committees to open up the hearings to public testimony. You have a few ways to provide comments before the hearing begins. We encourage you to use them all!

WRITE AND CALL

Write: Provide a public comment to the Texas House here. And to the Texas Senate here.

Call the State Affairs (512-463-0814) and Energy Resources (512-463-0774) committees and your State Representative and Senator to share your freeze experience, provide written testimony, and push for public testimony at their hearing on Thursday.

When calling committees to push for public testimony:
“Hi, I’m a resident of Texas and I’m calling today to request the committee open its hearing to public testimony. The people of Texas were impacted severely by the power outage event last week, and our legislators need to hear from us so they can reach a better solution for our state. [tell your story here] Thank you for your time. My zip code is _____.”

When calling your State Representative or Senator:
“Hi, I’m a constituent and am calling today to help you understand my experience last week so you can better inform your work in the coming weeks and months. [tell your story here] So much of last week’s blackout was avoidable. Please push for common sense measures to be put in place so Texans never again have to go through what we went through. Thank you for putting your constituents first. My zip code is _____.”

MORE INFO

ISSUE

While last week’s disaster in Texas is still fresh on our legislators’ minds, we must give testimony, loudly and collectively, to the human cost of Texas officials’ neglect.

WHO SHOULD ACT

Every Texan affected by last week’s freeze / disaster!

SUBMIT TESTIMONY

Submit written testimony for the joint hearing of the House Energy Resources and State Affairs Committees on the causes of last week’s blackouts: https://comments.house.texas.gov/home?c=c450

HERE’S THE BACKGROUND

Texans are currently faced with multiple and overlapping crises. A global pandemic has caused unemployment and homelessness. Communities of color continue to suffer from racial injustice. And last week it became clear that our crumbling public services and infrastructure are especially vulnerable to extreme weather events fueled by the worsening climate crisis.

It is no coincidence that some leaders in Texas are attacking the Green New Deal, which so far exists only on paper, and have tried to falsely blame wind turbines for the results of their failed policies of “small government” and “free market” radicalism. Their unwavering support for fossil fuels will only exacerbate the climate crisis and lead to more disasters in the future.

It is time that Texas and our state leaders take climate change seriously. We need to prepare and mitigate its effects that are already happening here in Texas and affecting Texans. Public infrastructure needs to be winterized, for example, to prevent a future collapse. We need to transition away from oil and gas, which failed us last week in order to prevent the climate crisis from worsening and Texas from falling behind economically.

It is time for the Texas Legislature to step up for Texans!