Posted by Jamie in Green Leaders | 0 Comments
Environmental initiatives in Texas
The state where everything is big is also currently one of the U.S. states whose notoriety for being a major contributor to environmental degradation has become just as big. Texas is one of the states that depends heavily on fossil fuels for their energy production. Moreover, Texas seems to be lagging behind other states as far as practicing responsible waste management is concerned. These and other problematic environmental practices, coupled with the state’s large population and high degree of industrialization, form a major threat to the environment.
Fortunately, responsible Texans have made efforts to reduce the emission levels of the state through several initiatives. However, these initiatives don’t seem to have enough support to ensure that they continue into the future. As such, a lot of these efforts to reduce Texas’ contribution to the destruction of the environment have failed to create major impact throughout the entire state. Nevertheless, such efforts increase the awareness about responsible energy consumption and lobbying for environment-friendly legislation still continue up to this day.
Several independent organizations in Texas engage heavily in initiatives to create positive environmental impact in the state. The following are a list of those organizations that continue to pursue this ecological objective.
Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE)
According to the official TCE website, TCE is all about “informing and mobilizing Texans to protect the quality of their lives, their health, their communities and the environment.” They engage in information campaigns to make sure that locals are given the opportunity to learn about how they can develop a sustainable environment through proper practices.
The TCE collects funds for its projects through donations. However, the future of TCE as a major moving force in improving the environment of the state is not so bright. While it generates a reasonable amount of money to be able to run its initiatives, TCE also faces great opposition from various camps with interests of their own – most of which are not sympathetic to the ecological cause.
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TECQ)
The Texax Commission on Environmental Quality is a public agency devoted to the evaluation and implementation of environmental and ecological policies throughout the state of Texas. Aside from implementing these laws, they also serve as environmental watchdogs to ensure that industries and everyone else in Texas comply with the local state laws pertaining to the environment.
Recently, the focus of the TECQ’s projects has been the quality of the air in the state. Studies done in the past decades have revealed that the quality of the air that Texans breathe has declined through the years. The TECQ has responded to this alarming situation by enforcing newly-made laws that were also passed to ensure that this urgent environmental issue is addressed properly.
The Texas Environmental Center (TEC)
The Texas Environmental Center is one organization that focuses primarily on creating programs related to environmental education. They intensively use new media in their programs to cover audiences throughout the state as well as the entire USA. They deal with issues such as the maintenance of natural water supplies and flood safety.
The TEC has also established partnerships with companies that allow them to engage in more programs related to their cause. The list of their programs, the issues they support and the companies that they have established partnerships with can be found on their website.
Challenges
While such active efforts are being made in Texas to reduce the environmental damage that the state incurs, there are a lot of challenges that face this cause.
First of all, local environmental policies in Texas are far less stringent than most states in the U.S. This could be due to the fact that major businesses in the state – oil companies, in particular – spend heavily on lobbyists to ensure that their business interests are taken into consideration when laws are drafted. This means that ultimately, environmental issues are political issues, since local policies affect how people will utilize their environment for their own interest.
Secondly, awareness of how individuals affect the environment is still minimal compared to other states. This means that in spite of the efforts being done to educate Texans on the matter, the momentum that both public and private non-profit environmental groups have achieved still needs to increase if they want to make the impact significant enough to be noticeable and effective.
Additional Resources:
The Texas Campaign For the Environment
Take Care of Texas, a program initiated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The Water Environment Association of Texas deals directly with water management issues.
Related Posts
