Small Lights in the Darkness: Recent Environmental Wins in Austin
By Kaiba White
These are dark times – for democracy, for human rights, for the environment. Even as fatal and costly climate disasters become more frequent, investment in the necessary changes to reduce and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions continues to lag far behind. That was true even before the federal government decided to reject climate change as harmful to people and pull funding from all manner of climate solutions. In Texas, where state financial support for climate solutions was already minimal, it’s up to local governments to lead.
We’ve been working to get the City of Austin to increase funding for climate work in the recently approved annual budget. Even with this budget being as challenging as it was, we made a few small, but important gains. We need a lot more, but forward progress is worth celebrating.
Here are some of the climate action items that Public Citizen and its partners pushed for in the capital city’s newest budget:
- Climate Revolving Fund: established and allocated $300,000
- Energy Program Manager: new position in the Office of Climate Action and Resilience to run the Climate Revolving Fund
- Sustainable Program Manager: new position in the Office of Climate Action and Resilience to implement sustainable purchasing practices for the city
- Electric lawncare pilot program: $323,000 for the Parks and Recreation Department
- Solar recycling: evaluating creating a fee for a comprehensive program to recycle solar generating equipment
- Local clean energy: $3.7 million, plus five new staff for clean energy programs at Austin Energy
- Water conservation: $1.4 million for water conservation and meter accuracy at Austin Water
- Litter abatement and furniture reuse: $619,000 for the Furniture Reuse Warehouse and six new litter abatement staff at Austin Resource Recovery
- City lands for climate projects: conduct and evaluation of city land for climate projects
- Austin Civilian Conservation Corps: $864,000
Now, some of the specifics for the above items:
Climate Revolving Fund Established
The creation of the Climate Revolving Fund was a victory in this budget, although significantly more funding is needed. This fund would pay for energy upgrades at city facilities, including energy efficiency improvements and solar energy systems. Those upgrades will reduce electric bills for the city, and those savings will return to the fund to pay for more energy upgrades. The fund was established by a resolution sponsored by Council Member Mike Siegel and co-sponsored by council members Ryan Alter, Krista Laine and Zo Qadri.
Siegel also successfully sponsored an amendment to allocate $300,000 to the fund. We hope that Council will use financing to provide the level of funding needed to accomplish this task (hopefully in the $20-30 million range) after staff report on an analysis of options for installing solar at city facilities in the next few months. That analysis was set in motion by a resolution sponsored by Alter in May. Other cities have used this model successfully and we’re hopeful that managing this fund will help elevate the role of the Office of Climate Action and Resilience in the city structure.
We’ll keep engaging until all city-owned buildings use and produce energy responsibly.
Office of Climate Action and Resilience Staff
A persistent barrier to more progress on some elements of the Austin Climate Equity Plan has been a lack of staff to do the massive amount of work needed. So, we’ve been advocating for more staff for the Office of Climate Action and Resilience (OCAR). At first glance, it may look like OCAR got 11 new staff positions (FTEs), but it’s really just two. That’s because nine are Urban Forestry employees. The division is transferring from Development Services to the OCAR. That’s good because of mission alignment and perhaps there will be some new skillsets that can cross collaborate, but all those employees have existing jobs.
The two new positions that OCAR got were thanks to an Alter amendment adopted by the City Council One position is an Energy Manager to run the Climate Revolving Fund.
The other position, Sustainable Program Manager. leads the development and implementation of a comprehensive sustainable purchasing program. Although purchasing of goods and services at the city and in the Austin community is responsible for far more greenhouse gas emissions than any other internal activity, including power generation and transportation, there is currently no staff person at the city whose primary job it is to strengthen the city’s sustainable purchasing program, as called for in the Austin Climate Equity Plan. The plan envisioned the city acting as a role model and convenor to help local businesses reduce emissions from product consumption. Despite sincere efforts from the few staff that have been able to spend part of their time on improving purchasing practices at the city from a sustainability perspective, this work has been moving forward much too slowly due to a lack of staff time. This new hire will have an important role.
Electric Landscaping Pilot
Gasoline powered landscaping equipment is extremely polluting. The small engines, especially two-stroke engines, are very inefficient and lack pollution controls due to a lack of regulation. The transition to electric equipment is well underway among residential customers, but it is just starting for commercial applications (including parks) that require higher powered equipment. Council Member Alter sponsored a budget amendment to allocate $323,000 to the Parks and Recreation department to pilot electric landscaping equipment. The fund will be used to purchase at least one riding electric mower and charging infrastructure. This pilot will most likely be at Zilker Park.
Solar Recycling Program on the Horizon
Solar energy is great, but disposal should always be thoughtfully considered with any product. Solar panels should be recycled at the end of their life to minimize environmental impact and keep materials circulating to make new solar panels. Currently, Austin Resource Recovery allows residents to take solar panels to the Recycling Drop Off Center, but only the first two can be left for free – after that there’s a per pound charge. That’s if you have a vehicle big enough to carry solar panels and the time to go to the drop off center. The city provides no programs for commercial customers. To address this gap, Siegel sponsored a resolution that directs the city manager to explore and evaluate the feasibility of a fee to fund a comprehensive solar panel recycling process. The resolution lays out the basic framework we’ve be advocating for – collecting a fee at the time a solar permit is issued and using those funds to pay for recycling services, hopefully including collection at the home or business. This model has worked well in several European countries.
Local Clean Energy
The Austn Energy Customer Energy Solutions programs include energy efficiency, solar energy, demand response, electric vehicle charging and, soon, batteries. Implementing these clean technologies is key to allowing Austin Energy to affordably phase out its use of fossil fuels. The incentive budget for these programs was increased by $3.7 million, in part to account for the upcoming battery incentive. Five new staff positions were also approved to support the demand response program, conservation programs, emerging technologies, and residential green building initiative.
Water Conservation
Conserving water is essential not only because we have a limited quantity for a growing population here in central Texas, but also because it takes energy – some of which comes from fossil fuels – to pump and treat water. Water conservation is both a climate adaptation strategy and a climate mitigation strategy (one that reduces greenhouse gas emissions). An additional $1.4 million was included in the budget to “execute a high-impact water conservation campaign and to boost its capacity to test water meters for accuracy.”
Picking Up Litter and Reusing Furniture
Litter isn’t just unsightly, it’s hazardous. The plastic we see on the side of the road, along creeks and elsewhere is ending up in our food, water, air and bodies. Litter abatement isn’t just beautification; it’s crucial for public health and every town and city should be taking it seriously. An additional $619,000 was budgeted for Austin Resource Recovery to add six positions to expand its litter abatement team and operate the new Furniture Reuse Warehouse, a place for Austinites to take the furniture that they no longer need and get used furniture they do need. Avoiding buying new products is an important strategy for reducing emissions.
Climate Projects on City Lands
Siegel sponsored a resolution directing the city manager to “evaluate existing City-owned lands for climate project usage, including but not limited to carbon sequestration, sustainable food production, and renewable energy generation.”
Austin Civilian Conservation Corps
The Austin Civilian Conservation Corps has struggled over the past year, but $864,000 was allocated to allow the city to continue the existing contracts with nonprofit partners for the coming year. Hopefully, the program moves to the Watershed Protection Department, where there is a more direct connection to conservation work than there is at the Economic Development Department.
Next Steps
This budget is just a step along the way. The new programs will require more action from Council – to set that Solar Recycling Fee and to allocate more money to the Climate Revolving Fund for solar on city facilities. We’ll continue to advocate and we’ll let you know when you can help.