In October, the Houston Sierra Club (Sierra Club) provided comments to the City of Houston (COH) twice on its Resilient Houston Draft Outline. Mayor Sylvester Turner is pushing to prepare this Plan so the COH is more resilient in its operations as climate changes. Comments were sent to Ms. Marissa Aho, Chief Resilience Officer, for the COH.
Thanks go to Sierra Club member Ken Kramer, who lives near Chappell Hill, Texas, for stepping into the breach when an initial deadline approached. He provided the basis for the first set of Sierra Club comments. Some of those comments stated:
1) The COH should closely coordinate its Houston Climate Action Plan with the Resilient Houston Plan so that they complement and do not conflict with each other.
2) Use of green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and parks and recreation which address various water issues such as flood mitigation and water quality, result in multiple benefits and should be implemented.
3) There should be a focus on equity so that all people and their communities are truly resilient and benefit economically.
4) Bayous are valuable assets and resources for Houston because they provide for water management, recreational amenities, tourism appeal, and connectivity in transportation.
5) The COH must have a true commitment and a much more aggressive and comprehensive effort on water conservation.
6) There should be an expanded use of renewable energy and increased transportation options.
7) Focus attention on air quality issues which particularly affect many low-income and people of color neighborhoods.
8) Avoid major infrastructure projects that have been proposed for storm surge, since many of those projects are questionable, could work at cross-purposes to other components of the resiliency approach, are highly controversial, and would suck resources – financial and otherwise – from actions to achieve the other goals of the Resilient Houston Plan.
The second set of comments was submitted later in October and in part stated:
1) The COH should read, study, and adopt the thesis of the book, “The Geography of Risk”, by Gilbert M. Gaul. This book tells a story about how the coast has trillions of dollars of real estate and other investments that are threatened by human actions and government subsidies via climate change, erosion, and sea level rise.
2) The COH should request input on the Resilient Houston Plan from all civic clubs or similar groups.
3) Inventory environmental justice communities and prepare a specific suite of programs to assist them in bettering their lives and preventing gentrification of their neighborhoods.
4) Focus COH dollars on the provision of low-and-moderate-income housing.
5) Accelerate tree planting, but provide a focus on planting native trees, vines, shrubs, grasses, and herbaceous plants rather than exotic plant species.
6) Use tax delinquent properties for neighborhood parks, community gardens, and urban farming.
7) Acquire the last large, undeveloped parcels in the COH and restore and use these as “nature parks”. One location for a “nature park” is the southeastern side of Lake Houston and around Sheldon Lake State Park.
8) Water and land resources should be managed to ensure that impermeable surface is reduced and vegetation and water-soaking mechanisms are increased.
9) The COH should hire more people for the Bureau of Pollution Control and Prevention to address air, water, and land pollution.
The Sierra Club will continue to follow the preparation of the Resilient Houston Plan and the Houston Climate Action Plan. The Sierra Club is looking for volunteers to form a “Climate Justice Committee” so that climate change and environmental justice can be addressed in the Houston Sierra Club’s region. If you are interested in serving on this committee contact Brandt Mannchen, 281-570-7212, brandt_mannchen@comcast.net or Evelyn Merz, elmerz@hal-pc.org, 713-644-8228.
Photo courtesy of Amil Kanji. Amil Kanji's Instagram is here: https://www.instagram.com/amillionairee/