Clean Water Action
Working with individual states across the nation, environmentalist organization Clean Water Action serves as a grassroots lobbying force dedicated to tackling climate change.
This is an excerpt from an article written by myself and several other students from the University of Texas at Austin.
“Are we going to have enough time?”
Working with individual states across the nation, environmentalist organization Clean Water Action serves as a grassroots lobbying force dedicated to tackling climate change.
“Climate change feels so massive to people that it becomes intimidating,” said David Foster, the Texas director of Clean Water Action. “People don’t know what they can do about it.”
In 1972, the same year the Clean Water Act was passed, Clean Water Action was created to promote what the organization deems a “community quality of life.” For Texas, this means prioritizing environmental issues relating to the fossil fuel industry and access to clean water. For Foster, this means finding a way to unify Texas communities under the common goal of bettering the environment.
“Texas is not necessarily hospitable for advancing environmental causes,” Foster said.
According to Foster, Texas’ reliance on the fossil fuel industry has increased political polarization of environmental policy.
His main concern is whether or not the world will have enough time to tackle these tough problems. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we must cut greenhouse gas emissions by over 50% in order to prevent warming above 1.5 degrees Celsius before the year 2050.
Fracking, a relatively new way to extract oil and gas from the ground has become a highlighted issue for CWA because of its potential to emit large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
“Once upon a time both major parties cared about the environment,” Foster said. “Drinking water is not a partisan issue. It shouldn’t be.”
Today, over 5 million Texans get their drinking water from groundwater sources, which is susceptible to contamination by fracking. CWA’s goal is to protect the rights of those Texans.
In order to do so, CWA is currently working on campaigns to elect government officials who emphasize the importance of environmental integrity. According to Foster, nine out 10 Austin City Council members have been elected with the endorsement of CWA.
Moving forward, the organization hopes to promote a more unified vision for the future of Texas as it relates to the environment. Foster said this starts with the role of the individual to take part in the future of Texas’ climate.
“I think the decisions that we make as individuals are very significant,” Foster said. This can’t just be focused on politics.”
