G&R Episode 76: Texas Freezes Over, Pt. 3! Environmental Justice in Houston w/ Organizer Bryan Parras

Our series on the climate and political crises in Texas continues!  

In this episode, as today's guest put it, "the energy capital of the world shut down for a week" and we have a must-listen interview on it. 

We talk with powerhouse environmental justice organizer Bryan Parras (@hightechaztec) in Houston, TX about the impact of the Texas polar vortex and the subsequent political crisis.  We talked about the terrible impact on poor, especially nonwhite,  communities by companies which are not regulated by the GOP-controlled state government; the big impact on renters who lost power and water; the daily environmental hazards of living in certain neighborhoods; and the impressive work of County Commissioner Lina Hidalgo, who's the most  effective progressive elected official in the country. We get into, as Dr Robert Bullard recently said, “the inequity that’s piled on top of the inequity.”  

Originally from Houston's East End, Bryan is an environmental justice organizer and advocate and co-founder of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS).

At the end of the episode, on the theme of environmental justice, we also pay tribute to Appalachian coal fighter and land defender the late Larry Gibson on the occasion of his birthday. 

We're also excited to extend a warm welcome to folks finding out about Green and Red through the co-sponsor of this episode-- Rising Tide North America (RisingTideNA).

Read more//

• Immediate Aid for Vulnerable Texans (http://bit.ly/2PMQmV6)
• Gizmodo: Texas Oil and Gas Plants Quadruple Air Pollution as Systems Freeze Up (http://bit.ly/2OhJbUi)
• TEJAS' website: https://www.tejasbarrios.org/
• Larry Gibson, Foe of Mountaintop Mining, Is Dead (http://nyti.ms/2PKSE7c)

Texas mutual aid efforts//

• TEXAS MUTUAL AID RESOURCES  (http://bit.ly/3serWS6)
• Donate to Mutual Aid Houston: https://www.gofundme.com/f/mutualaidhou
• Rio Grande Valley Mutual Aid: https://linktr.ee/Rgvmutualaid
• Austin Mutual Aid: https://linktr.ee/austinmutualaid
• Mutual Aid in North Texas (including Dallas-Ft. Worth): https://bit.ly/3drVZSo
• DFW Mutual Aid:https://linktr.ee/dfwmutualaid
• San Antonio Support and Shelter: https://twitter.com/dox_gay/status/1362464855601594369
  

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This is a Green and Red Podcast production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott (@sparki1969). “Green and Red Blues" by Moody. Editing by Issac.