Editor’s Note: This column was submitted to the Texan by a member of the UT community.

State government should protect the rights, health and safety of all Texans. When officials fail to live up to that promise and side with corporations, someone needs to stand with the people.

In the Lone Star State, the Texas office of Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power, has prioritized holding corporate polluters accountable, addressing the climate crisis and speeding the transition to renewable energy.

It is work that has distinct significance in a state like Texas.

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Our state is home to many large oil and gas companies whose interests are entangled with the state government and its leaders. We have seen state lawmakers crank out subsidies for an industry that can have adverse health effects on Texans — often in some of the most vulnerable communities, such as those along the Houston Ship Channel and the Gulf Coast. This industry wants to keep us dependent on polluting fossil fuels for as long as possible, worsening the climate crisis.

Rather than embracing clean, renewable energy sources, some of Texas’ top officials have prioritized protecting the same interests that fund their campaigns while ignoring how the public is impacted. 

That is where Public Citizen steps in to hold the state government accountable when its judgment is clouded by the dirty emissions produced by the fossil fuel industry.

For example, in the current session of the Texas Legislature, we are advocating for people-focused reforms of several state agencies.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is our state’s environmental agency. Too often, though, the commission sides with industry over the health of marginalized communities that endure harmful pollution where they live. We need a state environmental agency that truly works for our communities.

We also advocate for reform of the Texas power grid managers, the Texas Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The 2021 Winter Storm Uri disaster left millions of Texans without power and vulnerable to below-freezing temperatures. The grid’s managers can avoid a repeat of this disaster if they embrace common-sense solutions, including investing in energy efficiency.

Public Citizen also pushes for local reforms. This year, our office succeeded in the years-long efforts to close the last coal plant owned by the largest municipally owned energy utility, San Antonio’s CPS Energy. The J.K. Spruce power plant on the city’s south side is the single most significant source of pollution in San Antonio. In January, the CPS Energy board agreed to stop burning coal at Spruce by 2028. We hope this is a precedent-setting event for other cities and their utilities — like Austin Energy, which owns a stake in the coal-burning Fayette Power Plant — to transition away from dirty coal and to cleaner energy sources. 

Public Citizen aims to realign the path of the government when it strays from its duty to the public. Corporations have their lobbyists. The people — me, you and our communities — need advocates too.

De La Paz is a journalism junior and the Spring 2023 communications intern for the Texas office of Public Citizen in Austin.