TGIF… are the weeks getting longer? Sometimes it feels like they are. On the other hand, time is flying, with my younger son about to graduate in just two weeks (!!!).
Good thing the EcoRight is here to ground me and Week En Review to anchor my week!
This week’s must read: Seven ways climate change is already hitting Texas (Texas Tribune) Perhaps it’s this week’s podcast guest (see below) or the fact that my older son is in San Antonio, but the article, which outlines the main ways Texas is impacted by climate change now, caught my eye.
“For decades, scientists warned that human-induced climate change could put communities in danger around the world,” the article notes. “More intense climate and weather events beyond natural climate variability have already damaged people and nature. Those threats are becoming increasingly evident in Texas.”
Here are just a few examples:
- Texas is getting hotter, even at night
- Hurricanes are growing more powerful
- Sea levels are rising along the Texas coast
Read the full article for a clearer picture.
EcoRight Speaks, season 4, episode 14: Sarah Davis from Clear Skies Texas
It was worth the wait for this conversation with Sarah Davis, my new best friend I haven’t met in person yet. She’s the director of Clear Skies Texas, an organization founded in 2021 by seven prominent conservative Texas women concerned about the environment and climate challenges, as well as their political ramifications. They were inspired by polling of likely conservative and right-leaning voters, which determined that many conservative women and younger conservatives not only believe that climate change is occurring, but that action is needed to both secure Texas’s role as an energy leader and provide a clean, safe environment for future generations.
Clear Skies Texas provides resources, education and leadership on this issue for all Texans.
A successful attorney and former State Representative for Texas House District 134 in Houston, Sarah is of counsel with a national law firm and her clients include individuals, local businesses, and Fortune 500 companies. She is a delight and I cannot wait for you to tune in!
Also, consider giving Clear Skies Texas and Sarah a follow on Twitter!
First time on a podcast! Thanks so much @chelseah_writes for having me and allowing me to talk about @clearskiestexas ! https://t.co/v1ZENC4xK4
— Sarah Davis (@SarahforHD134) May 17, 2022
Coming up next week: Congressman Byron Donalds from Florida’s 19th District. Bob Inglis joins the conversation, which drops on Tuesday, May 24th!
Talk Dirty to me: Online Poll
Each month, republicEn asks our members 3 questions to learn about the EcoRight community.
After taking a month off in April, we’re glad to be back with a May poll inspired by republicEn member Ashley Z. in New Mexico. Ashley tells us, “I tend to talk about climate change with my liberal friends, but not my conservative friends, even though I’m too conservative for my liberal friends AND I consider conservation a conservative value. And that feels weird.”
Are there others out there like Ashley? Let’s find out! Click here.
Flashback Friday: Our team was circulating this 2008 New York Times editorial—An Emissions Plan Conservatives Could Warm To—co-written by Bob and economist Art Laffer in December 2008. Their message remains true today (though I’m finding it depressing that 14 years later, we are still fighting this fight) in particular, this line: “We need to impose a tax on the thing we want less of (carbon dioxide) and reduce taxes on the things we want more of (income and jobs). A carbon tax would attach the national security and environmental costs to carbon-based fuels like oil, causing the market to recognize the price of these negative externalities.”
(We don’t say negative externalities anymore because it makes the eyes glaze over but you get the point.)
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No events for us next week, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t here working hard with and for our EcoRight community.
Until next week…