Comments from the Chair

Come to our 50th birthday party

The Alamo Group of the Sierra Club was founded in 1968. We are planning a 50th Anniversary celebration on Friday, July 27th from 6 - 9 p.m. at the Laurel Heights United Methodist Church. See our announcement below for details. This will be indoors to escape the severe heat that caused postponement of the event.

It will follow our tradition of potluck. I again thank, especially, Jerry Morrisey and Loretta van Coppenolle for their hard work on this event. And we can thank Rachel Cywinski for arranging the location and Elizabeth Jackson at UMC for allowing us to use their space. We are very appreciative. Please watch for upcoming notices about this event.

Plastic bag ban banned

It has just been announced that the Laredo ban on single use plastic bags has been struck down by the Texas Supreme Court. This makes unenforceable similar municipal ordinances across our state (we have tried — unsuccessfully — to get a similar ban in SA for almost a decade).

Single-use bags kill livestock and wildlife, clog storm drains and worsen flooding, damage recycling equipment and make recycling more expensive. SA River Authority spends hundreds of thousands of dollars cleaning this trash from our water ways.

In addition, plastic bags are reaching our oceans and causing massive pollution. All the fish we eat is laced with microscopic plastic, because plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they just break up into smaller fragments until they come into our own bodies in our food.

We must take action now:

1. Each of us needs to stop using these single use plastic bags and tell our friends and family members to do the same, and
2. Join the campaign to get large retailers like Walmart and HEB to stop providing free plastic bags (here is a Texas Campaign for the Environment link), and
3. Take the Plastic Free July pledge, and
4. Gear up for political action this Fall to:
1. elect better environmental stewards to the Texas Legislature, and
2. lobby the 2019 Texas Legislature Session for passage of legislation banning these bags statewide.

The petrochemical and plastics industries are the big winners in this decision, and can continue making lots of money off filling the world with their toxic junk. Here are some “fast facts about plastic”.

Climate Action & Adaptation Plan

The San Antonio Climate Action & Adaptation Plan (CAAP) is trying to address our coming extremes of heat, drought, flooding etc.  Atmospheric CO₂ is now over 410ppm, compared to 315ppm in 1958.

Previous hopes, when James Hansen testified about global warming to Congress in 1988, of maintaining “350.org" are long gone. This new level is the highest, and most rapidly reached in at least 800,000 years. It is now expected levels will reach 500ppm by mid century.

Previous plans (including the Paris Agreement) were based on slower CO₂ rises and more rapid human action to reduce fossil fuel emissions. Our own Texas Tech Climate Scientist, Katharine Hayhoe, is quoted as saying: “we are continuing full speed ahead with an unprecedented experiment with our planet, the only home we have.”

Due to the success of the fossil fuel industry in sowing doubt and delay we now must not only stop CO₂ (and methane) emissions completely, but find ways to absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere on a massive scale. You can follow CO₂ levels at CO₂.Earth.

Rally around our climate activism

We will continue to work with our San Antonio government in its CAAP process, Please check out our work with the city and our Climate Action SA Coalition. This is our best chance to change the direction of our city from endless sprawl to smart growth.

This process is moving quickly, and final plans will be delivered to City Council by early next year. Substantial business push back and foot dragging is already occurring, as many put short term profits before family health and community good.

The current COSA government is serious about changing our sprawl trajectory, and we need to rally all our forces to support their efforts, and sometimes push them past their comfort zones, to change our urban future to one of smart streets, viable transit, infill development, heat island mitigation, clean renewable energy, energy and water conservation, low impact development, zero net waste, food policy  provisions for urban farming, and all with environmental justice to those who have borne the brunt of many of these deleterious changes so far. It is also vital we regionalize these efforts to our indwelling and surrounding communities and counties.

Milestone: the first CPS Energy public input session

CPS Board Members held a “Public Input Session” June 13th. This was the first ever (to my knowledge) such an event, with all Board Members present (except the Mayor due to the poor scheduling at the same time as City Council’s Citizens to be Heard segment).

Most of the “Citizens Advisory Panel” (CAP) were also present. Again, a first to my knowledge. Many CPS staff were in attendance. About 45 citizens spoke out at this forum, allotted 2 minutes each.

Close to half the speakers were business interests speaking in favor of CPS “Flexible Path” energy plans. The rest were citizens calling for more aggressive planning to:

1. shut down all CPS coal plants much faster than 2042 or beyond (we advocated by 2025),
2. shut down all fossil fuel energy production including natural gas by 2030,
3. expand renewable energy much faster, and
4. push energy conservation, efficiency and demand management much faster.

I also called for a change in finance models for our utilities to decouple sales from profits, so conservation and efficiency are not seen as drags on revenue. Unfortunately, there was little to no opportunity to meet informally with Board and CAP members. And unfortunately, this event is supposed to occur only annually, so I do not believe it satisfies the need for effective ongoing community input with our utility. Furthermore, the time and location made it a very difficult meeting for the public to attend, especially with the downtown rush hour gridlock worsened by multiple sites of construction and street closure.

EPA continues reign of environmental terror

The EPA continues to wreak havoc on the legal framework protecting our environment. July 17th is the day we expect EPA to announce ozone classification for Bexar County. Our local and state officials are lobbying for a “unclassifiable” designation, rather than a “marginal non-attainment” classification, due to the huge financial implications of “marginal non-attainment”.

They argue that we are already on track to be in attainment with the 2015 ozone standards, while Texas of course continues to argue that those same 2015 standards are “illegal”. The assumptions of continued ozone improvement falsely — in my opinion — attribute these gains to our (in my mind negligible) efforts, rather than to federal auto emission and other standards, standards which are currently being gutted by this Administration and likely will lead to a rapid halt in progress and worsening air emissions.

by Terry Burns, M.D., Alamo Group Chair

Celebrate 50 Years of the Alamo Group!

We will have a gathering of members and friends, past and present, to celebrate 50 years of environmental victories, activism, advocacy, outings, meetings and parties of the Alamo Group of the Sierra Club.

Friday, July 27th
6 to 9 p.m.
Laurel Heights United Methodist Church, 227 W Woodlawn Ave, 78212
(This church is on a VIA bus route and ample parking is available)
RSVP on our website
Map

Important notice

Contrary to our previous announcement, please do not bring alcoholic beverages to the party.

We will be serving a meat dish and non-alcoholic punch at this potluck dinner and party. Please bring a potluck dish to share with other partiers.

Those with surnames from A to L can bring vegetable side dishes. Those from M through Z can bring salads or healthy dessert items. We also ask attendees to bring reusable plates, cups, glasses and utensils as good environmental stewards.

We hope you will join us in celebrating 50 years of the Sierra Club in the San Antonio region! And be sure to bring along your photos or documents pertaining to the Alamo Group's history so we can wax nostalgic about the good old days.

Any questions and suggestions for speakers or music for the event can be directed to Jerry Morrisey at (210) 382-2614. Note that our regular July meeting/potluck has been canceled and replaced by this special event.

Sierra Club Youth Outdoors Needs You!

Imagine the smile from a kid who, for the first time, has gently touched a butterfly, encountered a dung beetle toiling up the trail, or watched in wonder as millions of Mexican freetail bats emerge from the Bracken Bat Cave. You can help make that happen for local youth who have little access to the outdoors.

Sierra Club Youth Outdoors — now in its 5th year — needs volunteers and leaders to help create more outdoor experiences for low-income kids sorely in need of nature.  Most outings are on Saturdays (and sometimes Sundays).

If you like kids, can hike a moderately challenging trail — or if you're less fit but would like to prepare lunch and help herd our group — we want to hear from you.  Especially in demand are nature experts, young men who can be role models for boys who may not have one at home, and strong backs to help carry the gear.

Young people are the future of the Sierra Club — and the planet.  Help us develop that next generation of conservationists.  Come kick the tires some Saturday — with just one smile from a kid dipping a toe in the Guadalupe for the first time, you'll be hooked. Contact SCYO Chair Anne Pearson, 210-408-6321.

Redwoods National Park

On the Pacific coast in Redwoods National Park; the view near Enderts Beach. August 2017.

A small corner view of the Sister Rocks, on the Pacific coast in Redwoods National Park. August 2017.
Here is the park map; Sister Rocks is 1/4 of the way down the coast from top of the map.

by Kevin Hartley, Alamo Group Outings leader

Youth Outdoors at the Botanical Center

What could be better than lunch fresh from the garden? Well, nothing really!

Thirteen youth from Inner City Development joined Sierra Club Youth Outdoors to harvest, prepare, cook and feast on nature's bounty on June 23 at the San Antonio Botanical Garden's new vegetable garden under the direction of Chef Dave Terrazas.

They learned learned about the joys and challenges of growing your own fresh produce.

Best of all, they sampled new and strange things like red amaranth and purple basil in an artistic salad and eggplant atop pizzas each made from scratch -- including the dough.

Thanks to Chef Dave — educator, executive chef, gardener and Air Force veteran for a fun and healthy day at the garden.

by Anne Pearson, Chair, Sierra Club Youth Outdoors

CPS’s “Flex Plan” Endangers Public Health

CPS Energy’s Public Input Session last Wednesday evening was important for San Antonio. For the first time, CPS’ Board heard public comments about San Antonio’s future energy sources early enough for our public energy utility to change course. We need a plan that best serves the public good.  The current so-called “Flex Plan” fails to meet that goal.

We praise CPS Energy for its past promotion of renewable energy and improvements in energy efficiency and conservation.  The Plan continues some of that emphasis, including the closure of the two oldest coal plants this year.  However, the Plan relies on other costly coal-fired plants through 2040.

We are deeply concerned that neither CPS representatives, nor the Express-News have acknowledged the real total costs of energy produced from coal. Total costs include harms to our community caused by high levels of air pollution and greenhouse gases. CPS Energy’s coal-fired plants are the foremost point-source of air pollution and greenhouse gases in the county.

High levels of air pollution harm our health.  Fine particulates and ozone (aka smog) -formed when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, together react with sunlight - in the air cause not only breathing problems (especially asthma), but also heart attacks, strokes, and lung cancer. Greenhouse gas emissions trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere, leading to dangerous weather extremes, like deadly heat waves and flooding.

Air pollution costs dearly. San Antonio’s children are hospitalized for asthma at a much higher rate than most Texas cities. That costs real money, but the costs of children’s lost weeks of schooling or the emotional costs of frightening attacks are also very high.

CPS plans to run the older Spruce I power plant until 2030, but that’s too late for the 6-year-old who, due to air pollution, may miss so much schooling that he can’t graduate with the class of 2030. And all of us – adults, children, and children yet unborn – will have to breathe dangerous air pollution from Spruce II power plant through 2040 if the Plan is not improved. Today’s residents should not have to pay for coal-fired plants with their health and very lives.

These human costs must be factored into the CPS plan.

Greenhouse gases are a yet-more serious threat to public health.  Because they accumulate in the earth’s atmosphere, they will continue causing harm long after new emissions stop. CPS facilities produce a large proportion of San Antonio’s greenhouse gas emissions.  Hidden costs of fossil fuels’ contribution to climate change are already extremely high.  Think: costs (including loss of life) due to hurricanes Katrina and Harvey. Then, realize that – due to increasing climate chaos – future hurricanes are likely to be more devastating.  San Antonio public health is threatened by future deadly heat waves, heavier flash-flooding, and severe droughts.

Unless CPS makes the transition to renewable energy much more quickly than the “Flex Plan” proposes, it will be nearly impossible for San Antonio to be “Climate Ready.”  This, too, needs to factor into the CPS plan.

To best serve the public good, CPS Energy must close all coal-fired plants as rapidly as possible, use less polluting sources of energy, and increase conservation efforts. It should not, however, make the residential rate-payers bear most of the cost-burden of the transition to smaller-scale, distributed production of renewable energy.  We should expect more from the industries and businesses that use the most energy.  Ask those businesses to co-invest in local renewable energy and to pay for most of the energy they buy from CPS at the actual cost of the more-expensive energy from coal-fired plants.  Set the fixed part of CPS rates at a high enough level that CPS revenue is stable, even when consumption drops due to widespread energy efficiency and conservation measures. 

A forward-looking plan needs to take the hidden, human-costs of air pollution and greenhouse gases into account.  San Antonio deserves no less. A healthy San Antonio economy requires healthy San Antonians.

Editor's note: this op-ed was published in the June 27, 2018 San Antonio Express-News

by Vince Fonseca, MD, MPH
Associate Professor, Preventive Medicine
UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine
(formerly the State Epidemiologist of Texas)
and
Meredith McGuire, PhD
Trinity University Professor (emerita), Sociology and Anthropology
(Medical Sociologist, co-author of textbook Health, Illness, and the Social Body)

Endangered Species Habitat Clear-cut

Developers of the Mansions at La Cantera apartments have clear-cut old growth trees from large swaths of land not far from Crownridge Canyon Park. Crownridge Canyon is a natural area which was purchased with taxpayer money to protect the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.

Machinery clearing trees for the "Mansions at La Cantera"

According to information from the City, dozens of old growth cedars, prime habitat for the endangered Golden-cheeked warbler, were destroyed. In his story City says developer who clear cut trees was following rules, Express-News reporter John Tedesco notes that "it’s unclear if Hiles (the developer) conducted recent surveys to determine if warblers were nesting in the area". What's more, the land is in an area known to have endangered karst invertebrates.

In addition to the heritage trees, several hundred mature oaks and other protected trees were bulldozed. Nonetheless, the project exceeds requirements in the 2006 version of San Antonio's tree preservation ordinance.

Maps show the entire tract is over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. Watch this video to see the tree destruction firsthand.

by Richard Alles, Forests/Trees Conservation Leader

Outings: The Call of the Wild

Visit the Alamo Sierra Club Outings page on Meetup for detailed information about all of our upcoming Sierra Club Outings.

The Alamo Sierran Newsletter

Richard Alles, Editor
Published by The Alamo Group of the Sierra Club, P.O. Box 6443, San Antonio, TX 78209, AlamoSierraClub.org.
The Alamo Group is one of 13 regional groups within the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.

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