The great state of Texas is embarking on a political maelstrom like few things the state has ever seen. In 2010, long time US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison will be leaving her post in Congress and running for Governor.
That leaves a great big US Senate seat open in one of the largest, richest, and most dirty-energy dominated states in the country, and ReEnergize Texas has decided to start putting climate and energy at the center of the race from the very beginning. We’ve interviewed the two top contenders to emerge for the Senate spot so far – Democrat Bill White (Houston’s Mayor), and Republican Michael Williams (Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission which primarily regulates oil, gas, coal, and uranium).
Here’s the first part of our interview with Bill White:
The second part of the interview can be found at our website along with other video and coverage of the ReEnergize Texas Summit and our bid to get T. Boone Pickens (he does a lot of business in Texas) to sign the Power Vote pledge last fall.
Video from our interview with Michael Williams will come out next week, as will videos from the Summit including from US Rep. Lloyd Doggett and the “father of Environmental Justice”, Dr. Robert Bullard. Stay tuned!
This is really great citizen media and accountability work. You guys are modeling best use of these techniques to make a difference. I am impressed.
This is a great example of how approachable politicians can be, and the power of youth. I am curious why you didn’t press him on more specific targets, though. I find that failing to engage politicians around the specifics of policy makes it harder for us to hold them accountable. (Otherwise, putting up a single windmill can count as fulfilling one’s commitment to ‘clean energy’).