The Executive Committee of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club has adopted and/or reaffirmed the Chapter’s priorities for conservation action during 2008 and 2009.

In pursuit of these priority issues and other conservation action goals the Lone Star Chapter is committed to environmental justice for all Texans and is dedicated to promoting environmental education in our schools, homes, and communities.

The Chapter conservation priorities are those issues that will receive the most significant commitment of both Chapter staff and volunteer time and resources over the next two years. In pursuing these priority issues the Chapter is working closely with a wide range of organizations and interests committed to environmental and public health protection and sustainable resource management. The five conservation priorities for 2008 and 2009, along with the specific goals under each priority issue area, are as follows:

Clean Air & Water

Smart Energy Solutions

A Texas Land & Wildlife Legacy

Responsible Transportation Choices

Water for People & the Environment

Clean Air & Water
• Reduction of toxic and other harmful emissions from industrial plants and electric power generating plants
• Prevention of air quality deterioration by new coal-fired power plants
• Strengthening of the state’s water quality protections for surface water and groundwater, including adoption of tougher limitations on wastewater discharges (for example, in permits for concentrated animal feeding operations)
• Enhanced enforcement of air and water pollution control laws


Smart Energy Solutions
• More efficient use of energy by Texas consumers, agricultural producers, businesses, government entities, and institutions
• Increased reliance on renewable energy sources to meet power needs, including the responsible promotion of solar and wind energy
• Opposition to the expansion of nuclear power, including addressing threats to the environment and public health from all aspects of the nuclear power cycle from uranium mining to radioactive waste management and disposal

A Texas Land & Wildlife Legacy
• A dependable and ongoing source of funding for acquisition, maintenance, and management of Texas state & local parks
• Preservation and restoration of coastal wetlands, riparian corridors, wildlife habitat, and other critical ecosystems
• Protection of state and federal public lands, including Padre Island National Seashore, Big Bend National Park, Big Thicket National Preserve, and our national forests
• Sustainable populations of nongame, endangered, and threatened species

Responsible Transportation Choices
• Reform of the Texas Department of Transportation in the sunset review process to promote a comprehensive and environmentally sound state transportation policy
• Expansion of funding and other support for mass transit and other transportation alternatives to the heavy dependence on vehicles
• Opposition to the development of the Trans Texas Corridor and support for alternative means of meeting transportation needs in a manner that better protects rural values, avoids habitat fragmentation, and promotes smart energy solutions


Water for People & the Environment
• Preservation and provision of instream flows and freshwater inflows to bays and estuaries necessary to maintain healthy fish and wildlife populations
• More efficient use of water by Texas consumers, agricultural producers, water suppliers, businesses, government entities, and institutions through conservation and drought management
• Management of the state’s groundwater resources on a sustainable basis