The Gulf Between: Recent Episodes
Texas Living Waters Project
Climate change is magnifying long-running patterns of social inequity in the United States. From flooded neighborhoods to unaffordable bills, water is at the center of debates on climate justice and equity. This podcast explores unfolding water equity issues in Houston, the Texas Gulf Coast, and the state at large. Our team at the Texas Living Waters Project speaks to experts and community leaders who have spent years tackling water and environmental justice work in Texas and beyond. Each episode explores a topic critical to the region’s future including: community buyouts, water affordability, infrastructure inequity, ecosystem restoration, access to nature, indigenous communities, collective memory, and community engagement. The power of water to both sustain and destroy flows through it all.
These interviews are a first step into much larger, unfolding discussions. If you’d like to dive deeper into any particular topic, check out the accompanying blog posts and recommended resources posted to texaslivingwaters.org. Thank you for listening and welcome to The Gulf Between: Exploring the Past, Present, and Future of Water Equity Along the Texas Gulf Coast.
Are the beautiful state parks and waterscapes of Texas equally welcoming to all people? What might make people hesitate to head outdoors? What barriers do Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous Texans face when trying to hike, camp, or swim? How are these dynamics changing and who is leading the change?
We explore these questions and more in this wide-ranging interview with David Buggs, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. David focuses on developing and managing the execution of the Parks and Wildlife diversity and inclusion strategy. He has decades of experience with both the Texas outdoors and spearheading diversity and inclusion initiatives including as a former Chief Diversity Officer for FedEx.
The restoration of damaged or degraded ecosystems can be a uniquely hopeful method of counteracting the intensifying effects of climate change. Beyond providing economic and quality-of-life benefits, restored ecosystems can dissipate floods, sequester carbon, and purify water.
Yet questions of ethics, justice, and equity abound in the world of ecosystem restoration. Who exactly has benefited from past restoration efforts? How can we ensure all Texans benefit equally from current and future projects?
We explore these questions and more with Dr. Kelly Dunning, an expert in conservation policy and collaborative resource management. And as a special bonus, our second guest, Ian Shelton, shares his experience of leading on-the-ground restoration work in Houston after Hurricane Harvey.
Although it appears to flow freely through our many rivers, water costs money in Texas. The costs to acquire, treat, and deliver water to consumers are high and unevenly split between a web of public entities and private consumers. As in many states in the US, low-income, low-quantity users pay a particular high opportunity cost for water in Texas. Many cities and utilities are keenly aware of the burden of water bills on low-income households and have launched creative, multi-dimensional campaigns to tackle the affordability issue. But the problem is complex and persistent. What exactly is the opportunity cost of water for low-income households? Why do utilities struggle to alleviate this burden? What affordability strategies and programs have met with success? Has declaring water a human right made a difference to its affordability? We discuss these questions and much more with Manny Teodoro, Associate Professor of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Manny is a water affordability guru with deep knowledge of the issue both within Texas and at a national level.
In order to address infrastructure inequality in our communities, should responsible entities provide a minimum baseline of flood protection for all residents before investing in “additional” protections elsewhere? Should the most vulnerable populations be protected first? Should the goal be efficient and utilitarian, to protect as many people for the least amount of money? To help discuss some of these questions, we reached out to Chrishelle Palay of HOME Coalition.
What exactly do the terms “environmental justice” and “equity” mean? Why are conservation organizations slowly beginning to center these concepts in their work? What do they have to do with water and the environment?
Amanda Fuller, director of the National Wildlife Federation's Texas Coast and Water Program, starts off our our exploration of water equity in Texas and the Gulf Coast with a conversation with Faye Matthews, Legal Policy Advisor and Senior Partnership Manager at the Federation's Mississippi River Delta Restoration Program.
Faye talks to Amanda about what justice and equity means in the conservation context, the critical need for environmental organizations to advance equity initiatives, and her own personal journey as a Black woman working in a national conservation organization.
As Legal Policy Advisor with NWF, Faye provides day-to-day advice, including on issues affecting coastal protection and restoration initiatives. As Senior Partnership Manager, Faye works with various stakeholders in the commercial fishing industry to address challenges in the face of our rapidly changing environment.
Faye came to the National Wildlife Federation from Capitol Hill where she worked on the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources as Legislative Counsel for Senator Maria Cantwell from Washington State and former Senator Mary Landrieu from Louisiana. She also worked Of Counsel at Waltzer, Wiygul and Garside Law Firm in Gretna, LA specializing in environmental law.
Faye is a New Orleans native and holds a Juris Doctorate from Southern University Law Center and a B.S. in Psychology from the University of New Orleans.
On the evening of February 13, 2021, a new kind of winter came to Texas. Temperatures plummeted below zero. Pipes froze over and burst. The grid collapsed. Millions were without water. Millions more were issued a boil water notice.
It was a week that laid bare both the challenges of climate change and the inequity of its impact. For our first episode of The Gulf Between, we decided speak to someone who has been on the front lines of the post-storm water crisis in Austin, Texas.
Gregorio Casar is an Austin City Council Member and movement organizer, serving in his third term. The proud son of Mexican immigrants, he is the youngest person ever elected to the Austin City Council. Prior to serving on Council, he organized alongside immigrant workers at Workers Defense Project.
For the past week, Casar has been organizing water relief efforts at housing complexes in his district. We decided to speak with him to get his sense of how the crisis played out on the ground in his district, what he feels are its root causes, and where he finds hope for future resilience.
The Gulf Between is a new podcast that focuses on water inequity in Texas and the people leading the fight to overcome it.
The winter storm of February 2021 laid bare Texas’ climate challenge. It showed us the extremes our weather is now capable of, the vulnerability of our infrastructure, the critical importance of water access, and how social and racial inequities shape who bears the brunt of climate change.