Issue Position: Address Climate Change and Protect Our Drinking Water

Issue Position

We need State level leadership on Climate Change and especially protection of our drinking water. With overwhelming evidence that Climate Change is real and human-driven, we must act fast and with systemic reforms to preserve our land, air and water.

At the local level, Bastrop and Travis Counties have already experienced increased flooding, prolonged drought, wildfires and increased days of triple digit temperatures. And we are expected to double in population over the next 30 years bringing further loss of green space, straining our limited drinking water supply, increasing tailpipe emissions and increasing waste.

As with the Governor's failure to act in the face of COVID-19, the State has seemed content to simply react to the extreme weather when it comes. My long experience in Emergency Operations at the local level has taught me that such failures to acknowledge and address known risks will cost lives and livelihoods. State government must help communities become climate resilient.

Locally, we have become more climate resilient by:

Adopting the Travis County Climate Resiliency Plan
Converting County buildings to water and energy saving technologies
Assisting businesses in adopting climate resilient technologies through the Texas PACE program (Travis was the first county to adopt the program once passed)
Increasing parkland and trails throughout Travis County
Increasing busses and bikeways on our local roadway network
Rebating property taxes for local solar energy production
Water protection and availability has been a crucial part of my local climate resiliency work:

Supported the creation of the SW Travis County Groundwater Conservation District through legislation, local election and funding
Increased scientific monitoring and analysis of water quality, availability and use in the Trinity Aquifer
Negotiated public/private partnerships to bring drinking water to families in North, East and Southeast Travis County who had gone for years without running water in their homes
Built partnership with surrounding counties to collaboratively manage our water supply
As a lawyer, a Commissioner, and as the Chief Executive of the County I have challenged polluters to avoid or clean up their messes:

Prevented toxic sludge dumping in Southeast Travis County
Halted the expansion of waste dumps in Eastern Travis County
Pulled in a $3.1M settlement for polluters of Hamilton Pool
Joined suit against the Kinder Morgan Pipeline to safeguard the Trinity Aquifer
And, as the Senator representing Bastrop and Travis Counties I intend to:

Support and expand the PACE program
Support public transportation to cut auto emissions and leave more of our land for living on rather than driving on
Expand broadband so more people can telecommute to
Education
Training and jobs
Tele-medicine
Protect appropriate tax incentives for
Real farmers
Alternative energy
Replace the "occult" Rule of Capture with scientific data-driven distribution of water rights
Demand scientific data-driven statewide water planning that balances the needs of the entire state while preserving the Bastrop and Travis county drinking water for generations to come.
Hold industry accountable for threatening our land, our air and our water
Move state agencies aggressively to climate resilient technologies in buildings and services

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