Research and recent reporting suggest Gov. Greg Abbott's plan to force Texas's city-owned utilities into the deregulated market is unlikely to lower anyone's power bill. What it would definitely do is strip cities of a major source of revenue, money Abbott's campaign brands a city "slush fund." The campaign promises San Antonio households would save 13 percent on their bills—but no data to back up the claim. Rates are rising fast across the utility landscape, largely in response to accelerating climate-related disasters and the need to rebuild or harden utility infrastructure. In Texas, generation and distribution efforts are accelerating in attempts to meet the needs of voracious data center projects rising across the state. Nationally, these cost increases are coming more quickly in the for-profit sector, as opposed to publicly-owned utilities. But some communities are organizing public power projects to push back on privately operated energy projects, _Inside Climate News_ wrote last year. ## Sign up for Deceleration Deceleration is an online journal of environmental justice growing solutions to an overheating world. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. However, CPS Energy in San Antonio is not immune to these pressures and is expected to bring another rate increase request this year or early next. DeeDee Belmares has worked to reform the largest of these so-called Texas “munis,” the City of San Antonio-owned CPS Energy, for years. As our interview shows, she isn’t exactly sympathetic to the utility now coming under threat from Abbott. She points repeatedly to the utility board's deep resistance to community campaigns pushing CPS to invest more deeply and quickly in cleaner energy sources and end forced disconnections for the most vulnerable residents. > "I believe in public power. I think that people should have impact and control over these two very necessary things, water and and electricity," Belmares tells Deceleration. > "But that's not what we have here in San Antonio. It's not public power. It's a municipally owned utility that is owned by the city but governed by very powerful people, their board of trustees, and the mayor is part of that." Rates across the deregulated utility space are going up—a lot, according to the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute (TEPRI). But municipal operators are not immune. CPS, rushing to develop power sources and transmission capacity to meet gigawatts of new power requests from data centers, recently backpedaled on its clean energy commitments, as Deceleration wrote at the time. In spite of her critique of CPS, she does not expect a deregulated market to lower costs for residents. She also warns that it would also likely reduce access to programs that she says CPS does well: energy conservation and rebate programs that help local families save on their utility bills. These are programs that for-profit, investor-owned utilities are less likely to develop or promote, she says. However, Belmares concludes here that she hopes the pressure of Abbott’s proposal will force CPS Energy's board to engage more deeply with community members working for reform—including by retaining a customer rate advocate to give an independent review of proposed rate increases going forward—and embrace many of the reforms she says the board has long resisted. She calls here also on San Antonio’s City Council to take a more active role in utility reform. -30- _This is the second in a series of interviews on the subject of deregulation. Read the first installment here:_ Untangling Abbott’s Deregulation Threat: Speaking with the Author of ‘Brokers of Power’The first in a series of conversations about Abbott’s threat against city-owned utilities in Texas.DecelerationGreg Harman

__In this episode, we speak with researcher Conor Harrison, author of 'Brokers of Power,' who spent years embedded in electricity finance conferences, tracking how Wall Street has taken over the power grid.__ Follow Deceleration on YouTube__.__ Not everyone is treating Texas Governor Greg Abbott's threat to forcibly break up the state's dozens of remaining city-owned utilities seriously. Yet. This is the heat of campaign season. Polls show the three-term governor's competitor, Texas state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, has a real shot at unseating this deeply Trump-aligned Republican. And, obviously, Abbott has to be governor to fulfill his pledge. But even if elected, the degree of his success—and if he presses forward in full or in part—will also rest on statehouse ratios. Right now, Republican control of the Texas Senate is definitely troubled, but flipping the House will take shifting more than a dozen new seats. Some Dems up at Tribune Fest Way showing confidence, but Hinojosa herself was not one of them. She dismissed the idea of a coming Democratic Lege (something about living in "reality," she said). This matters, because in the midst of growing budget shortfalls, with San Antonio and Austin's budgets built firmly on the hundreds of millions generated by energy sales (Austin just under $200M, SA floating around $500M), Abbott's threat is deadly serious. But the threat also serves a more cynical purpose within the Republican strategy, one Austin Council member suggested to Deceleration (interview to come), of convincing Americans that government is broken. That our faith, instead, should flow from a Great Leader and the deservedly anointed (aka the plutocrats). Of course, Abbott has been about amassing state power and bringing local expressions of it to heel (his heel, particularly) for years. And those muni profits funding emergency services and road repairs he slurs as a "slush fund." The risk is real enough—and the discussions critical enough—that we started booking interviews. ## Sign up for Deceleration Deceleration is an online journal of environmental justice growing solutions to an overheating world. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Our first, published here in full, is with University of South Carolina professor Conor Harrison. His freshly published, 'Brokers of Power: the Financialization of the US Electricity System,' offers lots of lessons to ground the discussion. It is a deeply researched examination of how financial interests have asserted themselves within the energy sector. That assertion, Harrison finds, manifests in new, complex, and complicating ways for a needed energy transition to cleaner energy sources as global climate disasters accelerate. Of course, finance has always played a role in energy generation and distribution, he says. In some ways it's not news that Big Money runs stuff. > “The financial industry has always been intertwined with the electricity industry,” he tells Deceleration in this interview. > “I mean, it's no mistake that the first central electricity generation station in the U.S. was built by Edison on Pearl Street, which is exactly one block off of Wall Street.” * * * ### Thanks for being a subscriber _Welcome to_ Water and Power_, a newsletter about the elements of our survival—and those who seek to profit off them. If you know someone who would appreciate this research and analysis, pass it along._ Subscribe to this and our growing roster of Deceleration newsletters_. Reader support makes this work possible. — Greg Harman_ * * * But decades after the rise of deregulation and the break up of more centralized models across the country, the financial system has been loosed in a period of capitalism "intensification" now cutting more deeply into all aspects of our lives. This includes sometimes running our power systems directly. These profit forces, more than local controls or even state or national level policy, are what now most influence our needed transition to less planet-combusting energy sources, Harrison argues. This points back to recent trends in regional activism, wherein protestors are booking flights to Japan, for example, to influence the buildout of LNG on the Texas Gulf Coast. Texas Organizers Go to Tokyo to Tell Japan and its Banks: Stop Funding U.S. LNGSeeking fossil fuel superpower status, Japan and its megabanks have spent at least $38B on natural gas projects in Texas alone.DecelerationGaige Davila While nuclear is poised for a massive resurgence in hopes of meeting the rapidly ballooning energy needs at the fringe end of social benefit (AI, crypto, etc.), the real energy revolution of solar and wind are penalized not as much for their collapsing generation prices as the difficulty investors find in profiting off of them. > "[T]he investors holding the key to the energy transition are much more concerned about the profitability of those technologies," Harrison writes in 'Brokers of Power.' > "And, by and large, in their unsubsidized forms, wind and solar have not been profitable enough to attract the investment that has traditionally gone to fossil fuels." Obviously, President Donald Trump's efforts to slow solar, crush wind, and breath life back into the dying coal industry—all while poisoning the public mind about the real threat of ecological (and thereby social) collapse—send real signals to these financial interests. Enjoy the discussion. Leave us a note about what questions you'd like to see us tackle next. * * * ### More video interviews to come. As part of Deceleration's commitment to produce more video-based reporting and analysis, our interview with Harrison is offered nearly complete above. I expect to do the same with future interviews.

__"I've seen enough to know this is a crime. ... To me it's an open and shut criminal prosecution, attempted murder." — Mike Siegel, Austin City Council (D7), speaking with ICE Watch correspondent Roxana Rojas.__ Follow Deceleration on YouTube__.__ Austin City Councilmember Mike Siegel (D7) was the first elected official on the scene last Sunday after the shooting of Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez by an ICE agent. One of his first responses was to start collecting evidence for local prosecutors. So far, however, the feds have shown no willingness to cooperate on an investigation, he told _Deceleration_. So how can a city push back on ICE and help end the rampant violence and abuse the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the nation? Siegel told Deceleration in a Friday interview that the City of Austin needs to correct what he described as a recent decision to "over comply" with federal law when it comes to cooperating with ICE. > Dialing back this cooperation requires “ending cooperation on administrative warrants,” Siegel said. “Because these are not validated documents. They haven't been reviewed by a judge. We don't know if it's good information. And under federal immigration law, city police are not required to support these administrative warrants.” While the shooter’s identity has not been released, the person who shot Garcés Pérez is known in the local community, Siegel said. > "He is diminutive in stature. He apparently goes around like a cowboy. He holds his gun sideways when he points it at people like he’s in a some kind of a movie.” Full interview is above. At noon on Wednesday, September 30, Garcés Pérez will appear before federal district judge Judge Orlando L. Garcia in San Antonio to decide whether or not he can be deported by the federal government. Protests have been called for Sunday, Sept. 27, in both Austin and San Antonio, where activists are calling for justice for Garcés Pérez and an end to ICE operations in their cities and state.

When she meets people who are visiting the Rio Grande Valley for the first time, Mollie Wallace—a 31-year-old occupational therapist in McAllen—usually asks whether they’ve gone to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge yet. The refuge is a point of pride for Wallace, who was raised in the Valley. She’s come there through multiple phases of her life, calling the 2,000-plus acres of riparian forest and thornscrub on the southern edge of Alamo a formative place for her and generations of local kids. > “I’ve grown older through here, and it’s a fun reference for anyone who’s from the Valley,” she told the _Texas Observer_ on an early September morning, walking toward the refuge’s observation tower. > “I love showing it to people who say, ‘There’s nothing to do in the Valley,’ or ‘We don’t have any green spaces.’” It’s the first time Wallace has visited since surveyors thrust thin wooden stakes, some painted orange, others pink, into the earth along the levee road from east to west, marking where sections of 30-foot-tall steel bollards atop concrete wall will create a physical barrier miles from the Rio Grande, Texas’s border with Mexico. At some point in the future, Santa Ana’s visitors will see the wall before they get to the refuge’s trailheads, which will then only be accessible through a locked gate. Though the wall will not run through the heart of the refuge, it will trap much of it beyond steel. __The levee road at Santa Ana, marked with survey stakes for border wall construction Image: Gaige Davila, Texas Observer__ The construction—which started in June this year and paused in mid-July because of a lawsuit from the Hidalgo County Irrigation District—is nearly a decade in the making. President Donald Trump’s first administration quietly prepared to build a wall through Santa Ana in 2017, which was condemned by Valley’s congressional leadership, local residents, and beyond. The plan then was for an 18-foot-tall wall to go through the refuge, essentially destroying its function as a wildlife corridor. Saving the refuge from wall construction became a coalescing issue in the Rio Grande Valley and across the state. During one protest in August 2017, hundreds of people formed a human chain along the levee road. By the end of that year, CBP was intent on Santa Ana being the start of a 60-mile stretch of new barrier. Then, thanks to an effort led by U.S. House Representative Henry Cuellar, language was added to 2018 appropriations legislation shielding Santa Ana—called the “crown jewel” of a federal refuge system belonging to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that runs along the Rio Grande—from wall construction. The following year, additional Valley sites were added to this exemption list. Despite a brief scare when Trump declared a national emergency to shift Defense Department funds into wall building, Santa Ana survived that administration unscathed. That state of affairs lasted until this past summer, when Congress passed the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill. As the nation’s attention fixated on the healthcare implications, the act pumped an unprecedented $46.6 billion into border barrier construction, drawing little outcry at the time. This bill—what’s called a reconciliation measure that doesn’t pass through the typical appropriations process—did not reiterate the protections for Santa Ana and other sites including the La Lomita chapel and National Butterfly Center, creating a green light for Trump to ignore the will of Congress as expressed in at least six prior funding measures. Contractors erected two short sections of wall in June and July on the western edge of Santa Ana, using what appear to be older bollards. Those bollards, weathered likely from years in storage, end a dozen or so yards from the black-painted bollards built during the first Trump administration. That section of older wall is the same that Trump spoke in front of, and signed, in 2021, in what was his first public appearance after the January 6 insurrection and former President Joe Biden’s election. CBP did not respond to the _Observer’s_ emailed questions on when the bollards were made. Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat, is now trying to get the Rio Grande Valley sites exempted again through the next bill outlining the Homeland Security budget, he told the _Observer_ in a phone call. This time, he said, neither appropriations nor reconciliation money could be used for border fencing through Santa Ana, La Lomita, or the other sites. He’s hopeful that Congress can get the bill passed before the end of the year. “They’re trying to beat the clock, in my opinion,” Cuellar said, referring to the GOP. “And the more time the local folks can give us through lawsuits or whatever way to delay it—so we can at least get into December and hopefully have a shot at trying to pass the appropriation bill with this appropriate language—that will pretty much stop them [in] their tracks.” Santa Ana is not in Cuellar’s current district but rather in Republican Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz’s, which stretches north all the way to Seguin. “The border construction pause is up to the courts,” her office told the _Observer_ in a statement. “Congresswoman De La Cruz has supported exemptions specifically for the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, and she continues to consult closely with community leaders regarding ongoing construction plans.” During the Biden administration, De La Cruz voted for the government funding bill for fiscal year 2024 that included the Rio Grande Valley site exemptions. She also voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill, which did not include these protections. (Her electoral opponent, Bobby Pulido, told the Observer in his first public comment on the Santa Ana wall in late July: “I haven’t said anything about it, but I obviously oppose it.” The last protest over Santa Ana to get any news coverage was in February, as attention to wall building has instead concentrated at Big Bend, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is clearing portions of the West Texas national park for patrol roads and vehicle barriers. Nearby residents sued the federal government last week to prevent further construction, following months of bipartisan befuddlement over the Trump administration’s border wall plans. Wallace remembers the greater level of public resistance nearly a decade ago, when she was a student at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. “It just kind of felt like what we did mattered,” Wallace said while reminiscing about those protests, which she attended. “I don’t speak for everyone, but I definitely feel like everything I do is like a drop in the bucket. I feel very powerless. But it’s not a good excuse to not show up.” From atop the refuge’s observation tower, the new wall can be seen. Once the fence is finished, it will make an imposing scar through the north side of this 360-degree view that today shows what this region looked like long before it was called the Rio Grande Valley, filled with hardy, drought-tolerant trees, thorny plants, and tropical flowers. “I think it represents us so well,” Wallace said of Santa Ana. “So to put a wall through it is just metaphorically and physically and literally such a stab to our entire home.” Spencer Construction and Royal Concrete, the contractors building the wall through Santa Ana, stopped working in July after the Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2 filed a lawsuit against them, alleging that they were building on irrigation district property; had put debris in the irrigation district’s canal, which abuts the levee; and were trespassing. The canal supplies water from the Rio Grande to several thousand acres of farms and homes, including being the sole provider of water for Pharr, San Juan, and Alamo, according to the lawsuit. Two weeks later, in August, the Department of Justice (DOJ) moved the lawsuit into a federal court and requested the case be dismissed, arguing that state trespassing laws did not apply. Federal District Judge Arthur Jones, in McAllen, has yet to rule on the case but has ordered construction paused until October 15. Scott Nicol, an art professor at South Texas College, has spent years advocating against the government building border wall anywhere in the Rio Grande Valley. “The Trump administration goes on and on and on and on and on about how there were all these huge number of crossings during the Biden administration,” Nicol said while walking around the Santa Ana fence sections in early September. “That’s after Trump had already built hundreds and hundreds of miles of border walls. You had this huge spike in crossings, but the walls are there, so what the hell did those walls do?” Nicol was active in a coalition whose pressure helped push the site exemptions during the first Trump administration. About 12 miles west of Santa Ana, the historic La Lomita chapel will reportedly see the wall run south off of the levee—atop which almost all border fencing in Hidalgo County runs, part of a compromise approach stretching back to the W. Bush administration—and toward the river to accommodate the aged house of worship. Another few miles upriver, the National Butterfly Center, which the levee bisects, presently shows no signs of construction. However, there are placemarker buoys in the bend of the Rio Grande that creates the southern border of the center’s land, signaling that large, orange “waterborne barrier system”—sometimes known by critics as razor buoys—will soon arrive. Significant stretches of Hidalgo County already host finished wall. “I think it was a lot easier to get people concerned when it was coming, and there was a chance of stopping it,” Nicol said. “I think it becomes difficult, very difficult now, because it’s like, ‘Well, shit, it’s already happened.’” That’s the fight at hand in Big Bend: trying to stop the bulldozers before a sense of inevitability kicks in. In August, crews and heavy machinery arrived to start constructing what CBP now says are going to be patrol roads and vehicle barriers. But earlier this year, Big Bend was also set to get the same steel bollards making their way through Santa Ana. Bipartisan resistance from Texas congressional and legislative officials, and even Texas Governor Greg Abbott, made CBP change plans. Though CBP assured the public it was not yet constructing its planned vehicle barriers or patrol roads in the area, a _New York Times_ investigation using satellite imagery found that it was. CBP can legally tear through Big Bend and Santa Ana, protected public lands, in part thanks to the Trump administration’s waiving environmental laws to accelerate barrier construction along the southern border. That legal mechanism was created in 2005 by the Real ID Act, allowing the Department of Homeland Security secretary to waive dozens of environmental laws to “ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads” that make up the southern border. On September 14, the Hidalgo County drainage district named the United States as a defendant in its lawsuit against Spencer Construction and Royal Concrete, the wall builders. It’s seeking a permanent injunction, hoping to stop wall construction in the area completely. “The harm Plaintiff will suffer is irreparable because damage to irrigation infrastructure, interference with public water management operations, and unauthorized alteration of Plaintiff’s Property cannot be adequately compensated solely through monetary damages,” the filing reads. “Furthermore, the potential disruption or loss of water service to Plaintiff’s customers also cannot be fully compensated by damages. Plaintiff’s customers [sic] loss of water would be catastrophic and cannot be remedied.” During the early, muggy mornings of September, a month ahead of when wall construction might resume, birders, hikers, and bikers continued passing through this once-protected wildlife corridor. No one on the levee road paid much attention to the thin wooden stakes, some of which were already broken or taken out of the ground and thrown yards away from their points of origin. The levee road is supposedly closed, according to the refuge. Maps for visitors now highlight the road in red to signify this. But people, Border Patrol agents and Alamo Police officers included, quietly pedaled down the caliche and into the trails on their bikes as dawn faded, using the road as if it was not a construction site. Because, for now, it’s not. -30- _This story was_ originally published_by the Texas Observer._ _Gaige Davila is the Texas Observer's 2026-27 David McHam investigative reporting fellow covering the border and immigration. Davila is from Port Isabel in the Rio Grande Valley. He studied investigative journalism at Arizona State University._ _Davila additionally writes the_ Coastlines/Faultlines_newsletter for Deceleration._

Hello! Whenever I take a long walk around my city, Seattle, I feel like I always find one of three things: a new building going up in a lot cleared of an old one, an old building mid-demolition, or an empty lot in the middle of a neighborhood that clearly once held a home. It’s made me constantly wonder what happens to the materials that made up that now-dismantled building and what was lost to clear the way for the sparkling new structure. Those questions led me toward the world of deconstruction, where buildings are un-seamed and as many materials as possible saved. And when I first reported on the policies that enable this, I expected a fairly straightforward story, until I learned that some organizations have found a way to pair the practice with historic preservation. That’s the story I’ve prepared for you all today. Enjoy! — Syris Valentine * * * _If you enjoy the story, share it with your friends. It helps a lot!_ _And if you have any thoughts you want to share, make sure to leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!_ ✏️ Subscribe to all the Deceleration newsletters! Only at Deceleration.news. * * * __Contractors deconstruct the roof of a 19th century building. Image: San Antonio Office of Historic Preservation__ ## Deconstructing buildings keeps histories alive while salvaging building supplies Syris Valentine | Deceleration Hundreds of thousands of buildings are demolished every year in the United States, many of these nearly a century old. When the last board and nail are removed, destined for the landfill, the stories that the home once held—the plates passed from hand to hand during a Sunday barbeque, the lines notched up a wall as record of a growth spurt, the midnight whispers swapped between children rebelling against bedtime—all of those are erased forever, never to be reclaimed. “We're not just throwing away our buildings, we're throwing away all that history,” said Mae Bowley. Bowley is a preservationist at heart. She even got a certificate in historic preservation from Savannah Technical College in Georgia. And after she had her Come-to-Climate moment, she saw an opportunity to pair her love for preservation with the work of addressing a huge environmental challenge: construction and demolition waste. Americans toss out a lot of trash: 292 million tons worth in 2018 alone, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. But the construction and demolition industry is a beast all its own. In 2018, the EPA estimates that the industry produced some 600 million tons of debris. Most of that comes from tearing structures down. “So it becomes urgent that we get creative” about how we take buildings down, Bowley said. Folks like Bowley represent a growing assortment of nonprofits and city agencies working to make sure that even if a building is lost, its stories are saved. Her creative solution was to help grow Re:Purpose Savannah, a nonprofit in Georgia dedicated to deconstruction, the practice of taking apart buildings at their seams instead of breaking them to bits. While Re:Purpose Savannah is far from the first organization to focus on deconstruction, Bowley helped them bring a unique lens to it that makes an effort to salvage not just the materials from the buildings, but their stories as well. This is something of particular importance to Savannah, the oldest city in Georgia and a unique example of early-American urban planning. As a result, Re:Purpose Savannah focuses most of its attention on taking down older buildings that, though not legally protected, have age and character enough for their owners and neighbors to see them as historic. These buildings are not only made of higher quality and more durable materials than what’s on the market today, Bowley said, “but they also mean a lot for our communities. They're connected to our histories.” “We're looking to marry the ideals of historic preservation research and documentation with the practice of structural removal,” Bowley said of Re:Purpose Savannah: > “When a building's going to go away, how is that an opportunity to document that building? How is it an opportunity to research its history, to share all of that with our community, to contribute that to local municipal archives, and to attach all of that to the materials so that when they go back out into the world, that meaning is multiplied instead of erased?” __Sign marks the entrance to a deconstruction training site. Image: San Antonio Office of Historic Preservation__ Bowley has since moved on from Re:Purpose Savannah, but during her five years as executive director she and her team conducted that research by looking through deeds, tax records, building plans, permits, family photos, newspaper clippings, historic maps, oral histories, and whatever other materials they could get their hands on related to the history of the building itself and the parcel it sits on. This documentation allows them to chronicle the histories of each project they undertake and document them in detail on their website. They then seek to connect each board and beam they remove back to those histories. “We make sure that we know where every stick of lumber at our lumberyard came from,” said Bowley. It took them a while to figure the best way to do this with the tons upon literal tons of wood that they salvage and sell. They looked into all sorts of technical solutions. “But at the end of the day, we realized that the easiest way was to write on the end of every single piece of wood with a sharpie,” Bowley said. They give each project a simple two-letter code (such as T.M. for their Texas Manor project), label the lumber as they take it out of the project, then when they sell a plank, they look it up as though it were a barcode and give the customer a URL to the history of the building along with their receipt. “It’s an inextricable part of the sales process,” she added, “or, as we say, re-homing process.” Re:Purpose Savannah’s sales team doesn’t just wait to get to the cash register to tell these stories, though. “You can’t _not_ hear about the history of the materials when you’re walking through our facility,” said Bowley. The people who sell products are often the exact same ones who pry the planks out, and they’re the same ones who supported the research. So it’s natural for them to talk about it. “It brings a lot of joy to the process of selling this stuff,” she said. They’re as often selling the stories as they are the supplies, often without realizing it. Sometimes customers will come in with a specific shopping list in mind, but the tour they’re taken on through the lumber yard causes them to buy something completely different because they fall in love with the story of the property from whence the wood came. It becomes something they can remark upon, telling the stories of the now-dismantled building again and again, ensuring that its memory lives on. For instance, when a guest walks into Wright Square Bistro in downtown Savannah, they’ll see a dining room filled with gorgeous tables of lacquered wood. Each tabletop is made from boards that came from Mama Lizzie’s House, a quaint brick home framed in wood located on land owned by the same Black family since 1882. The bistro’s owners were apparently so enamored by the story of Mama Lizzie’s House, “they printed the history and framed it in the restaurant,” Bowley said. “So now all the customers that come through can learn about the history of the table that they're eating at.” __Mama Lizzie's house mid-deconstruction. Image: Re:Purpose Savannah__ > Re:Purpose Savannah’s success has helped to inspire and inform similar efforts elsewhere. In 2022, for instance, the City of San Antonio followed the lead of Portland, Oregon, and adopted a deconstruction ordinance to ensure historic buildings are deconstructed, not demolished, and the city hired Re:Purpose to train the city’s workforce. Ahead of each deconstruction, San Antonio’s Office of Historic Preservation does archival research on the property to document the stories attached. They also require contractors to take photos throughout the process to document all they uncover in the dismantling. “Every single building that’s deconstructed is its own little treasure trove,” said Stephanie Phillips, the City of San Antonio’s deconstruction program manager. One building dated to the 1870s was deconstructed as part of a training led by Re:Purpose Savannah for contractors in San Antonio. Crews there removed the metal roof only to find an additional layer of sheathing beneath that was made out of planks that had clearly once belonged to a billboard. “EXIT NOW,” read the only portion of the billboard the crew managed to puzzle together. Phillips has found that a lot of preservationists are hesitant to talk about deconstruction. “There’s this perception that if you talk about buildings being removed, it speaks it into existence,” she said. But not all buildings can be saved, most often because decades of deferred maintenance have pushed the structure beyond even the possibility of rehabilitation, which is a preservationist’s preferred course of action. Confronting this reality and the need to align preservation with climate action and workforce development programs has led Phillips to become an advocate for deconstruction, when and where it’s appropriate. __Planks cut from an old billboard that were used as roof sheathing on an 19th century building. Image: San Antonio Office of Historic Preservation__ Not only is it better than demolition for any number of reasons, but because she feels that her preservationist peers are well suited to steer deconstruction policies. “We know how buildings weather,” she said. “We know how to date buildings. We know how to fix them.” And in the last few years, she’s seen her colleagues become more open to the conversation, particularly as they see how deconstructing one building that’s beyond saving can help to preserve another that still has life left in it. Phillips refers to those projects as organ donors: “One building may have to come down, but its parts and pieces could help extend the lives of other buildings.” Because deconstruction is a more active and involved process than demolition, it also creates spontaneous opportunities for collecting oral histories. “It’s a spectacle,” said Phillip. People are drawn in by an old building suddenly deprived of its roof. “And every single project, whether it's us leading it or a private contractor leading it, people will stop by, and if you are willing to listen, they will tell you their entire history with this building.” People are, ultimately, deeply connected to the homes and structures that surround them. Particularly in richly historied cities like Savannah and San Antonio, which Phillips and Bowley understand well. People would love to be able to understand the fate of a beloved neighborhood building, and Phillips knows that. She has a dream of one day creating a map that shows people what buildings have been deconstructed and the pocket-sized histories of each of those structures, while also drawing lines that show where the materials from the project went and what they’re being used for today. She’s already seen how meaningful this can be for neighborhood character. An urban farmer in east San Antonio, which has long been a food desert, wanted to build kiosks and shade structures in a vacant lot to help her grow and distribute food. She asked Phillips if the City had any wood at their Material Innovation Center that was from a building on the east side. It turned out they did, from a structure that had been taken down just two blocks from the lot where the farmer was building her garden. “There are people out there that are really, really committed to telling that kind of neighborhood and cultural story,” Phillips said. Of course, not all deconstruction contractors are eager to spend time thinking about the history of the building they’re tearing down. While reporting on deconstruction projects in Seattle, I toured a warehouse for salvaged lumber. I asked the director of operations for the salvage and deconstruction company that runs it if they think about historic preservation at all through their work. He told me, “It's really important, to me, that we stay focused on the materials that come out of a building.” That’s not to say he doesn’t care about history, but that to keep his company running and profitable in a competitive industry, he can’t allow himself or his team to get too distracted. __Salvage contractors remove stained glass windows from a historic church in Seattle. Image: Earthwise Architectural Salvage__ Bowley has run into similar sentiments when trying to tell other contractors about the history of the lumber that her and her team were selling. “It turns out it's like speaking Greek to people in the lumber industry, this idea of tracking provenance,” she said. “It's more like a wine industry conversation.” If more contractors buy into deconstruction and learn to speak the language of provenance, the potential impact is huge. > One deconstruction contractor, David Bennink, estimates that over his 30 years in the industry, his work dismantling buildings and moving their materials into other projects has reclaimed and repurposed lumber equivalent to 10,000 acres of standing forests, an area larger than a national park that spans three islands in American Samoa. And Re:Purpose Savannah has helped preserve the histories tied to more than two dozen condemned buildings across the neighborhoods of Georgia’s former capital. The more these actions come together, the greater our chances are of preventing urban development focused on novelty and growth from tossing tons of lumber into the landfill—and discarding cherished memories along with them. * * * ### Alternative Futures Video Follow Deceleration on YouTube. * * * ### Event With private banks so intent on using their financial resources in ways that oppose public interests, a movement has been growing to build publicly owned banks that serve people first and invest in local projects. In October, the Public Banking Institute is convening a conference in Philadelphia to discuss how to continue to build momentum in this movement. Learn more here: Public Banking, Public Prosperity: A Declaration of Financial IndependenceOnline registration for Public Banking, Public Prosperity: A Declaration of Financial Independence.RegFox Event Registration Software * * * ### **News for the Future** * Pairing solar panels and batteries doesn’t just help save electricity bills and lower carbon footprints, it promotes climate resiliency. The school district in Roanoke, Virginia, has recognized this and chosen to build dedicated microgrids for its two high schools, so that they can serve as shelters in case of emergencies. (_Canary Media_) * Chum salmon were once threatened in the Puget Sound of Washington State, with fewer than a thousand chum running up river in the 1990s. Thankfully, after a multi-stage, decades long recovery plan, they could rebound to a population of 35,000. (_Magic Canoe_) * The Skeetchestn Indian Band in present-day British Columbia has established a building company that has pioneered “Dodeca-Homes,” 12-sided modular buildings inspired by their traditional architecture that can be easily assembled anywhere using lumber harvested by their people on their ancestral territories and built for their people. (_The Tyee_) * Forest fires have devastated Southern Europe summer after summer with more than a million hectares ravaged across the continent in 2025 alone. In Portugal, the nonprofit EcoActivo is working to combat that by healing the water cycle through stream and wetland restoration and by installing faux beaver dams to promote green corridors resistant to fire. (_Ecosystem Restoration Communities_) * 18 species of endangered birds call a farm in the southwest of England home because the land is stewarded with biodiversity in mind. The farmer’s approach involves not only planting tens of thousands of trees and restoring wildflower meadows, he has also sown heritage grains that are resilient to the heat and drought threatening England’s landscapes. (_The Guardian_)

Follow Deceleration on YouTube. _Click above to enjoy the Deceleration Podcast. Or join us at_ Apple Podcasts_,_ iHeart_,_ Amazon Music_,_ Goodpods_, or_ a dozen other platforms_._ * * * Elsa Hull was arrested twice this summer defending a roughly two-acre bird sanctuary on the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo from border wall construction. Both times Zapata County, Texas, deputies dismissed her claims that recently unearthed documents show the federal government does not have the right to develop on this land—in spite of it being in a floodplain. Yet it's become remarkably quiet on the rio since that second arrest. Surveyors these days approach the boundary line from north and south, but they no longer trespass on this pocket park beneath the small town of San Ygnacio (pop. 495) 30 minutes downstream of Laredo. And, Hull boasts to _Deceleration_ , the machinery scraping the Earth up and down the river from here never got into the park in spite of months of attempts. It's a fact she credits to local resistance. The fight is aided also by activism in the years after World War Two, when a town petition secured a promise from the federal government to exempt San Ygnacio from disturbance while similarly-sized towns downriver were being flooded and dynamited to make space for Falcon Dam and the international reservoir. Deceleration sat with Hull on the banks of the Rio Grande this week for an hour-long conversation after paddling on the river with her from an increasingly rare access point for paddlers on the U.S. side of the river. Increasingly, communities are being fenced out of their own land and away from one of the greatest rivers on planet Earth. Just not here. More Podcasts

A gas export terminal on the Gulf Coast of Texas has routinely violated air pollution permits for years with little consequences from state regulators, according to a report released this week by Oilfield Witness, an environmental watchdog. The Texas-based activist group cited thousands of pages of documents and a month of optical gas monitoring in its 27-page report on Freeport LNG, the nation’s third-largest exporter of liquified natural gas, where an explosion in 2022 caused an eight-month shutdown. Oilfield Witness identified 532 unpermitted emission events reported by the company since 2019, along with more than 200 other permit deviations, but just seven penalty fines levied by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. “The findings in this report paint a stark picture of an out of control operator,” said the report. “This incompetence is enabled by regulators failing to act.” The report tallied annual emissions more than 100 times greater than established limits. It also found that part of the $14 billion Freeport LNG complex reported emitting a staggering 1,500 pounds of the carcinogen benzene, known to cause leukemia, in 2024—five times more than its larger counterpart down the coast, Corpus Christi LNG. A spokesperson for Freeport LNG, Heather Browne, said in a statement: “Freeport LNG’s unwavering commitment to safety, reliability and environmental stewardship and preservation are at the forefront of our operations. Our electric-drive LNG facility reduces plant emissions by over 90% relative to a typical LNG liquefaction facility, and our facility’s carbon footprint is the lowest of any LNG liquefaction facility in the world.” Freeport LNG is currently expanding with a fourth liquefaction unit in development. Earlier in September, Japan’s state-owned lender announced an investigation into its $2.6 billion financing for the project following complaints from community leaders and environmental groups, Global Trade Review magazine reported on Wednesday. “Japanese financial institutions and companies are deeply involved in the Freeport LNG project,” said Ayumi Fukakusa, executive director of climate, energy, and development at Friends of the Earth Japan, in a press release Thursday. “They should re-examine the environmental and social risks.” Fifty miles south of Houston, Freeport LNG is one of several gas liquefaction and export terminals that have cropped up along the coast of Texas and Louisiana in recent years. Through energy-intensive processes, the enormous installations super-cool methane gas into liquid at -260 degrees Fahrenheit, then load it onto tanker ships for consumption overseas. “Texas remains the nation’s leading producer of natural gas and our state’s LNG export capacity plays a vital strategic role in strengthening America’s energy security,” Ed Longanecker, president of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, said in a May newsletter. A 2023 investigation by Inside Climate News showed how Freeport LNG, a project of New York billionaire Michael Smith, used a series of permit amendments to avoid a stricter review by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, known as the TCEQ. The facility was ultimately authorized to release almost 900 tons of regulated pollutants per year. ### **Chronic Emission Violations** Actual emissions from the facility appear much higher than the permitted limits, according to Oilfield Witness. For example, one flare at the complex was authorized to release 3.3 tons of carbon monoxide per year but reported emissions of 381 tons in the year after July 2019. Another part of the Freeport LNG complex burnt off waste gas at more than six times its permitted rate for the most recent yearlong reporting period. “Oilfield Witness makes a strong case that the facility has trouble following the law,” said Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas. “With such a tepid response to their violations from TCEQ, it’s not hard to see why.” According to Oilfield Witness, TCEQ has issued 76 violation notices to Freeport LNG since it opened in 2019, leading to seven fines totaling $610,000—about 2 percent of the facility’s estimated 2025 revenue. Bobby Janecka, a former TCEQ commissioner, said the agency is doing the best it can with limited resources. It oversees thousands of industrial facilities across the state and lacks capacity to monitor them all. So the regulator depends on companies’ own emission reporting. Levying punitive fines on companies might only encourage them not to report violations, Janecka said. “As much as this state relies on self-reporting and data collection from the industry itself, it’s imperative that TCEQ keeps in mind that long-term relationship,” he said. Fines also make the agency vulnerable to long and expensive legal challenges from the companies, he said. Even when the TCEQ doesn’t impose fines, it puts companies through processes meant to correct the problems that led to unpermitted emissions. “The agency is always quick to focus on achieving compliance even if it means doing so in lieu of a penalty,” said Janecka, who spent 12 years at the TCEQ. At Freeport LNG, all of the largest emission events in the last two years resulted from units tripping, according to TCEQ data compiled by Texas-based oil and gas watchdog group Future Heist. In the largest, on Nov. 1, 2024, three units at Freeport LNG “tripped due to an incoming power feed interruption. The trips resulted in unavoidable venting,” according to company reports. Gas was burned off for 62 hours at one part of the complex and for 55 hours at another. On May 7, 2025, the same three units again “tripped due to an incoming power feed interruption,” leading the company to burn off gas for 19 hours. On July 9, 2026, the facility “tripped due to a mechanical issue,” according to company reports, leading it to burn off gas for 14 hours. One week later the facility “tripped due to an incoming power feed interruption” and burnt off gas for 17 hours. “Freeport frequently claims to have resolved deviations by adjusting operating parameters, only to report the same problem the following year,” said the Oilfield Witness report. “Each time, regulators accept the same parameter adjustments that failed to thoroughly resolve the problem previously.” A TCEQ spokesperson, Richard Richter, said the agency has responded to over 19,000 complaints and conducted 200,000 investigations in the last two years. “TCEQ’s Environmental Crimes Unit conduct investigations related to intentional falsification or knowing disregard of emissions reporting requirements,” he said. “The Agency investigates all emission events that exceed reportable quantities and allocates resources to meet the needs of the state in order to protect human health and natural resources.” -30- _This story was_ originally published_by Inside Climate News._

For centuries stone sanctuaries illuminated by sunlight flowing through stained glass have served as wombs of reflection and safety. For some. For many Native peoples across the Americas these centers of Christian faith have often been engines of displacement, forced conversion, kidnapping, and genocide. So on the surface, the Coates Chapel, center of a former Catholic convent and girl’s boarding school in downtown San Antonio, was a complicated locale for a convening about "the practice of hope" that called in—both in the discussion and lyrical animation—the ancestors of people who have been resisting colonial domination for 500 years. “The Practice of Hope” was convened as a community dialogue last weekend by Azul Barrientos, a revered Mexican singer and songwriter, as part of a series of gatherings hosted by the Esperanza Peace & Justice Center. __Discussion highlights and three songs from Azul Barrientos and Agarita chamber ensemble's evocative performance. Deceleration video.__ Follow Deceleration on YouTube__.__ The event opened with a panel discussion about the accelerating harms manifesting via President Donald Trump’s promised “largest deportation operation in American history” creating chaos across the country. It featured experienced community organizer Rebecca Flores, whose roots of resistance stretch back to the farmworker’s struggles of the 1960s and into today's fight over immigration policing, and local artist Maura de la Tierra, whose provocative mural dedicated to ICE violence on the city's West Side was recently vandalized with a can of spray foam. As Barrientos and members of Agarita, a local chamber ensemble, performed their sound check the warm reverberation from those heavy stones walls, with the Christian imagery complicated and accentuated by De la Tierra’s equally colorful paintings of icons of community life and victims of state violence, infused the chapel with a new resonance. In the haunting incantations of the quartet’s strings and Barrientos’s lyrical resurrection of so many dispatched souls (particularly in the song _Indio Toba_ with lyrics by Félix Luna), it became, somehow, the exactly correct location for these new conversations: a chapel re-sanctified. The vision for this event flowed from a desperate time, Barrientos told attendees. For the world and inside of herself. In 2025, ICE was murdering with impunity and assumptions of free speech were being met with a new level of brutality. These attacks, along with the steady undoing of refugee status and protective orders, were creating crisis in the immigrant community—papered or otherwise. And against this backdrop was a personal story: a familiar unraveling that comes to all experiencing the blessing of age. > “It was the first time I realized that my mother was starting to lose memories that had been the pillars of the identity of my family,” Barrientos told those gathered in the chapel. > “I felt at that moment like there’s no control, that I had no control over anything and I was helpless. I felt so helpless.” And yet in her reflections she discovered an innate hopefulness generated, she realized, through an understanding of her ancestors’ determined continuance through cycles of revolution and colonization and policing. “All of my ancestors continued, right?” She said. “And I am here because of them, because they continued.” As the youngest member of the panel De la Tierra said he took a moment to consider the attitude of some of his artist peers in the wake of Trump’s reelection and the rise of ICE. _Stay neutral_ , they cautioned. _Stay neutral in order to better catch the next federal or state grant._ > “I dug in my feet. And I was like, ‘Absolutely not,’ you know? Now more than ever I’m going to utilize my voice,” he said. Flores used her time to highlight the large number of deportations happening in San Antonio, calling it the fourth most active of U.S. cities. And she excoriated the ICE raids and growing deportation-industrial complex as a massive project of “human traffickers,” ticking off the names of several local cities that are actively working with ICE through 287(g) agreements the imbue their police officers with federal immigration powers. > “The only way we’re going not change this is if we vote in the November elections in big numbers. We can’t just go ourselves. We have to take everybody with us.”

Atahualpa Sofía Enciso’s children don’t know what a normal river is, she says. Living by the Santiago River in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, which overflows with dense white foam from the hundreds of industries that pollute it, she notes that the area is also getting hotter. “My father talks about how when he was younger, he didn’t need sweaters, because it was never that hot or cold, but now there are these extremes, because the river is polluted and it can’t regulate temperatures as it used to,” she tells _Truthout_. For activists like Enciso, the term “climate change” is insufficient for describing such violence perpetrated by industry against the environment and against residents. Indigenous activists like Nahua grasshopper farmer Miguel López Vega describe the severe droughts, water scarcity, crop failure, and hunger that Mexico is experiencing as “signs of death” of the planet, and say any solutions have to involve direct care of the land while stopping the harm. Meanwhile, President Claudia Sheinbaum is pushing for “sustainable” fracking around the country just as Mexico’s oil company Pemex has finally extinguished a gas leak at an exploratory oil well in the state of Veracruz after it burned for 150 days. In August, Sheinbaum ratified her push for fracking with a report by 54 government-chosen specialists recommending that fracking proceed, so long as only salt water is used. ### **Violence Against the Land** Most activists here see “sustainable” fracking as only more greenwashing. > “In Mexico, we live in a system based on the exploitation of our Mother Earth and the imposition of megaprojects, mining, illegal logging, water hoarding … and violence against those of us who defend our land. This represents a permanent war that threatens our existence as communities and as humanity,” wrote hundreds of water defenders in the final declaration of the 7th National Assembly for Water, Life and Land, in August. Anti-fracking activist Yesenia Jocabet Antonio Pérez argues that respect for nature is key. Antonio, who is also a Nahua community judge and a member of Sedepac Huasteca, which is in the Mexican Alliance Against Fracking, says, “Mother Earth provides for us, and we should also care for and respect her. The people who don’t respect, who just go ahead and loot and plunder the land, water — they are abusing the earth.” López, who lives among volcanoes in the Cholulteca region, where the Spanish committed massacres in 1519, says, “We organize in this region because corporations have come here to plunder and pollute … which we don’t permit.” He describes a giant sinkhole in the area, some 45 meters deep, that appeared overnight in 2021, following over-exploitation of local water, especially by companies like Danone, owner of Bonafont. “These changes are signs of [planetary] death,” says López. Describing things merely as “climate change,” he argues, makes the process sound passive and abstract, whereas pointing to specific events like the sinkhole indicates that “our Mother Earth is screaming about the huge dispossession that is occurring to our people.” To the north of López, in Chihuahua state, Canada’s Silverco Mining has just announced it will re-open its Cusihuiriachi silver mine. The government announced in August that an unnamed company will spend a billion dollars in the state on silver mining. Mexico is the top silver producer globally, but this mining causes severe environmental harm, including water pollution, excessive water and electricity consumption, emissions, and land clearing. Transnational mining and energy corporations treat Indigenous and farmer communities as “expendable obstacles,” Luis, a small farmer from Tepetixtla, Guerrero, and a member of the National Indigenous Council, tells _Truthout_. His full name has been withheld for his safety. __The polluted Santiago River, in Jalisco state. Image: Tamara Pearson__ ### **Signs of Death in Mexico** In Luis’s region, people are now going hungry or eating less due to climate changes, he says. Irregular and sparse rain is causing beans, corn, and Mexican squash harvests to fail, and families are eating fewer tortillas. In his state of Guerrero, on September 8, Indigenous families were forced to leave their communities and migrate in three buses to the north of the country to work for the agro-industrial company Divemex, after the current drought meant they couldn’t grow enough corn. > There is almost no climate denialism in Mexico, with polls showing that only 8 percent of the population does not acknowledging human-driven climate changes. The reality here, is all too clear. > Only 52.5 percent of people in Mexico now access potable water daily in their homes, due to longer droughts, insufficient infrastructure, and corporate exploitation of water. From 2001 to 2024, 4.89 million hectares of forest were lost due to fires, land use conversion to agriculture, public and private construction, tourism, and organized crime. Mexico is also facing intense heat waves, shrunken harvests, and intensification of hurricanes, Thousands of small farmers recently told the Spanish news agency EFE that they were on the verge of bankruptcy due to drought over the past few years. “The droughts are affecting us in serious ways, the plains are burning, the trees don’t grow back in time for the rain, the land has eroded a lot,” Florentino Rodríguez Bustamante, a Naayeri comunero (common land owner) in El Nayar, Nayarit, tells _Truthout_. Rainfall patterns were more reliable a few decades ago, he recalls, but deforestation and the burning of land has stripped the topsoil, increased erosion, and caused droughts. In El Nayar, Indigenous farmers in 500 towns are currently reportingtotal loss of their corn and bean harvests — crops they depend on to eat — due to the lack of rain. López, in Puebla state, is experiencing the same thing. “The plundering, the trafficking of our water, we can see that reflected in our food. In my area, there are 10 hectares of land that now don’t produce anymore, we don’t have the food that we used to have.” > “You don’t know when it’s going to rain,” agrees Antonio, who lives in San Luis Potosi state. “If it does, it’s a storm that ends up destroying our crops … There are also plagues.” She says community organizing has kept most companies out of her region, but the ones that did get in promised employment that then went to foreigners and outsiders. “These companies bring us illness, drought, and water contamination,” she says, mentioning the agro-industrial company Citrofrut, owned by Grupo Proeza, which is headquartered in the U.S. and Mexico. Locals accuse the company of dumping its waste in the nearby rivers. Nahua farmer Miguel López Vega. / Tamara Pearson ### **The Smell of an 'Industrial Hell'** Despite living within walking distance of the Santiago River, Enciso says she never takes her children there. A member of the Un Salto de Vida collective, which defends the river and the El Salto area near Guadalajara city, she describes taking one of her children to the river just once, when he was three. > “It was intense to see his reaction, because his eyes went red and got irritated, and he was crying and saying, ‘It’s choking me, I want to leave.'” “I don’t want my children to believe this is what rivers look like. A few years ago, we were in Veracruz and there was a clean river there, and my children were impressed at how people swam in it, and they asked why it doesn’t smell like a river does. They think rivers typically smell disgusting,” she says. Some 741 chemical, food, and beverage companies discharge wastewater directly into the Santiago River. Others discharge improperly and the runoff ends up in the river. Key contaminating companies include Hershey, Honda, Nestlé, and Zoltek. Their actions have led to serious health problems for local residents, including cancer, and renal and respiratory illnesses. El Salto and the industrial corridors of Guadalajara are one of the 30 “industrial hells” or “environmental emergencies” that Mexican public institutions have identified in the country. Workers and residents in these areas experience alarming rates of cancer and renal insufficiency, as transnationals exploit relaxed laws and lax monitoring to pollute rampantly. Luis is a farmer in Guerrero state and a member of the National Indigenous Council. / Tamara Pearson ### **Rejecting False Solutions** Thirty Mexican organizations have responded critically to the idea of “sustainable” fracking and the recent report backing it, saying the report only seeks to do something highly destructive “with less guilt.” Rodríguez is also weary of these non-solutions. He criticized the government’s tree-planting program, Sembrando Vida, for using irrigation-dependent fruit trees rather than water-retaining native species, and for transplanting trees rather than protecting forests. > “Easy and quick solutions won’t cut it. We need to protect nature from threats, from fire, from logging companies that only want money,” he said. Similarly, current plans to expand EV production don’t address Mexico’s fossil fuel dependence. The country generates 77 percent of its energy from fossil fuels, and transport — almost entirely buses and cars — accounts for 18.6 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. The government’s new Olinia project to manufacture mini EVs doesn’t address the public’s need for better public transport. > Instead, petroleum represents violence for Mexicans: not just the pollution, but also _huachicol_ — fuel theft from pipelines or storage, usually by organized crime groups. The state of Jalisco, where Enciso lives, is a key region for petroleum storage. “So there are a lot of security forces here and organized crime … the violence, the surveillance, has become part of our everyday lives,” Enciso says. At the same time, she describes a dependency on fossil fuels for transportation and food. While confronting the whole industry isn’t yet possible, Enciso adds, “we can achieve a lot by breaking the monster into pieces, chipping away, so that in the future, it is no longer viable.” > “The key is to leave consumerism behind,” says Antonio. “Green capitalism” is a distraction, concludes Luis. “The real problem is the exploitation of all natural resources.” __Florentino Rodríguez Bustamante, a Naayeri comunero from El Nayar, Nayarit. Image: Tamara Pearson__ ### **What Mexican Land Defenders Are Doing** As members of the communities that are most affected by the climate crisis, Indigenous and water activists are also taking the biggest steps to defend the environment. > “Maybe right now we aren’t able to close oil wells, but we are heading toward that. The more we organize, the more we convince others that our movements for life are for everyone, and we can get to the point where we are able to stop these types of [extractive] projects,” says Luis. Rodríguez has planted a small forest which is bringing water into the area. He said three decades ago on his land, there were only a few small trees, so he decided to plant native trees. > “I looked after them, and with time they grew until they were over 10 meters tall and very thick, and at that point, water began to appear in a stream. The trees kept growing, and more water came. And now I have 24 hectares of forest.” Such patient stewardship is how ecological damage is reversed, he says. “I’m in love with my dear trees. They attract clouds when they are this big.” In Topolobampo, Sinaloa, Mayo-Yoreme people and others have been directly resisting a giant ammonia plant, camping outside for over 100 days to stop it from opening. Their resistance has continued for 13 years, preventing the building of the plant — owned by Proman GPO, headquartered in Switzerland but with assets in the U.S. The plant would threaten protected wetlands, local wildlife, and fishing communities. __The polluted Santiago River, in Jalisco state. Image: Tamara Pearson__ López describes similar long-term direct actions. He says that in the Cholulteca region, they have stopped a toll road and a tourist project that “was distributing our land to a few people for profit.” They also stopped the construction of high-tension electricity towers and industrial corridors, as well as prevented the contamination of rivers. And they camped outside a rubbish dump for two years, successfully shutting it down. In April this year, communities signed an agreement for the permanent closure of the plant and for the private company to carry out remediation for the soil contamination caused. > “I’m convinced that just as our rivers in different parts of the country join together, if we join our struggles … our commitment to caring, defending, and loving [the environment] will prevent more harm,” he says. In Antonio’s community, she says they are looking at solar panels as an energy source that is owned and managed by the community and “doesn’t depend on the electricity grid.” Further, her community is reforesting after fires, and holding assemblies and forums. > Enciso adds: “We don’t know what it is like to live alongside a healthy river. We don’t know how to swim, how to fish. But that is a call for hope; it tells us what we have to build toward, on a daily basis. Hope isn’t a distant future, it is what we do now, every day.” -30- _This story was_ originally published_by Truthout._

_This is the second installment in a series about degrowth in theory and practice by Syris Valentine. Read more about the series below. Jump to the first installment here:_ PART 1: ‘Degrowth’ Principles Have Charged the U.S. Climate Movement—the Name Not So Much PART 2: 'Peasant-Led Movements Hold the Model for Restoring the Land' * * * Rosalinda Guillen didn’t want to go to the inaugural World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2001. At the time she was in the middle of legislative work in the California State Capital on behalf of the United Farm Workers. The United States Department of Labor had to order her to attend the forum as part of the U.S. labor delegation. It would shape the rest of her decades-long career as an organizer and labor leader. “I was there for seven days, and it was amazing,” Guillen told _Deceleration_. “What I saw when I met with the labor movement in Brazil was the just transition after 20 years of organizing.” The World Social Forum came after Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement had pushed for decades against the destruction, displacement, and disenfranchisement inflicted upon them and the nation by a corporate-controlled global food system, said Guillen. The movement’s leaders presented to forum attendees their successes and the work they’d undertaken to create a food network, and an economy around it, that was more human and more humane. They organized themselves to effect civic change as much as they sought economic change. They developed a model of participatory governance and budgeting that allowed them to elevate the solutions they knew would best improve their lives, she said. And to ensure that they had their own true power and autonomy “many of them had organized themselves into worker-owned cooperatives,” said Guillen. At the forum, she saw how the cooperatives engaged with each other buying, selling, and trading among themselves, offering food, clothing, leatherwork, and even healthcare services. __Rosalinda Guillen, director of Community to Community. Image: David Bacon/Truthout__ > “They were all worker-owned cooperatives serving other work-owned cooperatives. That’s what they called the solidarity economy.” When Guillen returned from the forum, she carried that model back with her. The way she approached her work evolved. And in 2014, she co-founded Community to Community Development, a women-led nonprofit organization built around food sovereignty and farmworker rights. “We're looking at this from the farmworker perspective,” Guillen said, “because we're on the land. And we're observing the way that our food is being grown.” What Guillen, other farmworkers, and outside scholars have observed is a food system that is fundamentally unjust and violent. ### Fixing a 'Violent' Food System Stian Rice, a food systems geographer at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, has studied the many manifestations of this violence across the food system—from hunger to labor abuses, corporate consolidation of farm ownership, animal violence, and environmental damage. In his upcoming book Elsewhere, he unpacks many of his learnings and provides a tour of its abuses. > “The food system is a thing that is supposed to support life; it is supposed to nurture life,” Rice told _Deceleration_. Instead, “it is often antagonistic to life.” __Stian Rice behind the camera and the cover of their forthcoming book, 'Elsewhere.'__ > “At the core of any capitalist system,” he added, “you are taking more than you are returning.” Industrial agriculture today, for instance, depletes nutrients from the soil, and farmers must replenish them with synthetic fertilizers manufactured from fossil fuels. The value of farm labor exceeds what is repaid in wages. Grocery prices are set higher than the nutritional value of the food itself. All this exists to maintain the profits that keep the engines of the corporate food system moving. As Rice grappled with the implications of this analysis, he began to recognize “just about everything we talk about in terms of changing the food system does not fundamentally change [this imbalance]. It’s all dressing on top of it.” We’re confronted with issues a new farm bill can’t fix, he said. To him, this realization provides an odd sort of optimism: because once people acknowledge and accept these foundational flaws in the food system, it affords the opportunity to envision workable alternatives. “You can start to talk about things like mutual aid networks,” he added, “and the kind of loose federations of producers and consumers that are constantly adapting how they relate to each other for changing circumstances.” Federations of that kind are exactly what Guillen witnessed emerging from the Landless Workers Movement in Brazil and making themselves globally known during the World Social Forum. ### The Indonesian Peasants Union Those emergences aren’t isolated to Brazil. Where Brazil has the Landless Workers Movement (or MST, in its Portuguese initials), Indonesia is home to the Indonesian Peasants Union (or SPI in its Indonesian initials), both of which lend their support to La Via Campesina, a coalition of similar peasant-led movements from around the world. Political ecologist David Gilbert, who studies how people practice degrowth in the present food system, saw how SPI was fighting to change centuries of plantation practices in Indonesia to return the land to the agro-ecological principles that people indigenous to Indonesia had long practiced. “Starting in 1900, going all the way up to today there are ongoing land conflicts with industrial agriculture,” said Gilbert. In the part of Sumatra where he spent most of his time, he saw what this movement has let people accomplish. > “They went from primarily a tobacco and ginger plantation with long rows of crops with pesticides to a few hundred families living on this land in a food forest,” Gilbert told _Deceleration_. “They crop almost 40 highly valuable food crops. The canopy has returned. The health of the watershed has returned.” This ecological change and success was motivated, above all, by a desire for land, for autonomy, and for self-determination. And while they never would have described their work as being “degrowth,” Gilbert still sees it as being fundamentally aligned. “I think there's degrowth across the world in different ways,” he said, and the movement in Sumatra is one of them. To him, the agroecology and food sovereignty practiced in West Sumatra is central to the overarching degrowth project because it allows people “to determine and control their own foodways.” And the way these are practiced in Indonesia also reflects something that Gilbert and his colleagues have referred to as “everyday degrowth,” the simple habits that reflect how the principles of the seemingly radical idea of degrowth show up again and again in our daily lives. > “There is actually a tendency to treat the world well, to not waste resources, to not overconsume, to support each other,” Gilbert said. “This is a fundamental human tendency that we can see across history. It's capitalism that's quite the deviation.” Despite the shift in baseline that has led many Americans to see capitalism and its industries as the norm, many activist-scholars like Antonio Roman-Alcalá seek through their work to remind people that the opposite is true, not just historically, but even still today. “The majority of the food that humans actually eat comes from what we call the peasant food web,” Roman-Alcalá told _Deceleration_ , “meaning non-industrial, non-capitalist forms of food production.” > “What we call conventional agriculture, which is industrial agriculture, that's literally about 100 years old. That is not conventional by the measures of human history,” he said. “Yes, there are alternatives, but they're actually more like we're restoring more reasonable ways that humans have interacted with non-human nature to get their food needs met, to try to create an actual viable future for the planet and for people.” Still, when organizers seek to make those changes, to restore ecologically sound agricultural practices, it’s important to recognize that just because a certain strategy has worked in Indonesia or Brazil doesn’t mean it can succeed in Texas or Catalonia. “It's a fallacy to think that you have a panacea,” said Rice. Every place has its own context and history that shape what is workable and what people can accomplish, and the solutions communities pursue, as Gilbert describes in one of his papers, need to be expressed in and through their local geography, in all its forms. __The Cooperativa Tierra y Libertad team in Fuenteheridos, Huelva, Spain. From left Begoña (Olivovivo), Javi, Espe, Kiko, Julia, Rafa, Martina. Image: Courtesy__ So even as Guillen and her compatriots have taken inspiration from the World Social Forum and started their own co-op, Cooperativa Tierra y Libertad, they still have to grapple with the nuances of what it means to operate a worker-owned, women-led, organic, and regenerative farm that is financially sustainable while paying workers fair wages and keeping prices accessible to members of their community. This is something as well that organizations like Cooperation Texas have to grapple with as they try to build a network of cooperatives across Texas among farmers, ranchers, bakers, grocers, and even jewelers and housing developers. Fundamentally though, in the United States, a new movement needs to grow that can explore and experiment with these possibilities. Gilbert sees California’s Central Valley as “one of the most unequal places in the world.” Yet, no farmworker-led movement yet exists on the scale of the Brazilian Landless People’s Movement or the Indonesian Peasants Union. The United Farm Workers have certainly been an important presence in the Central Valley and beyond, but the focus on collective bargaining has so far limited their potential, according to Guillen. > “When you make that the only solution,” she said, “then you lock yourself into negotiations in a system where you are out maneuvered, outpowered.” Building beyond that, however, is difficult when so many farmworkers in the United States are immigrants and the government is targeting and assaulting immigrant communities at an unprecedented scale. Ultimately, though, Guillen feels that unions and organizers in the U.S. need to take serious inspiration from the Landless Peoples Movement because “[i]t's a movement towards a just transition, which again combines all of the elements, food sovereignty, solidarity economy, and environmental justice.” And this vision must be made manifest so that it can be enacted, experimented with, improved upon, and expanded over time. > “It's great to have this intellectual thought and beautiful, inspiring vision, but nobody believes it until they see it,” said Guillen. “We can't just talk about it. We have to try to create it so people can feel it and see it — especially for farmworkers, so they can work under the production system that we want to create.” -30- _ABOUT THIS SERIES: For decades, governments across the globe have assumed that constantly increasing their GDP promised to solve all the social and economic problems that confronted their citizens, from poverty to education and beyond. But as economic growth has become an the all-consuming obsession of nations, it has instead spurred overlapping and interconnected crises to deepen year after year. Poverty has worsened. Wealth inequality has grown. Climate change has accelerated. Homelessness has increased. All while the economies of the richest countries in the world continued to grow without any of that accumulated wealth reaching those who need it the most. In response to this, activists, academics, and everyday people have begun to call for new ways of assessing how we measure well being in our societies. One of these emerging models is known as degrowth. This series examines what degrowth is, how is has evolved, and where its principles are being put into practice._

Texas officials told lawmakers at a state Senate hearing on Tuesday that they want to know how much water data centers across the state are using, but there is no master mailing list. The regulators are thus uncertain whether they’re reaching facility operators at the right address, or if they’re being ignored. The lack of a definitive list of contact information has made compiling data about the large facilities’ water and power use difficult and incomplete for the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC), the officials said at the Senate Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs committee hearing about water consumption rates for data centers’ resource-intensive cooling processes. Failure to comply with TWDB surveys, the officials noted, is a misdemeanor under Texas law, but enforcement authority lies with local district attorneys. > “We just collect information and are aware of who did not respond,” said Temple McKinnon, the TWDB’s director of water supply planning. Connie Corona, executive director of the PUC, said having some type of contact list that regulators could reference would be helpful. Corona, whose agency oversees data centers’ connection to the grid, said a significant number of operators are worried about the confidentiality of their information. Sen. Charles Perry, a West Texas Republican, said that’s not an excuse. Water is a fungible asset available for the more than 30 million Texans, Perry said, so there will be no confidentiality on water use. > “If that’s a proprietary problem for you as a business model, your business model needs to work differently because you’re asking for a public resource,” Perry said. It’s not the first time the industry has been shamed for its evasiveness. Its refusal to fully divulge water needs has upset both residents and regulators, especially as Texas is changing its grid and water planning methods to account for the growing fleet of data centers across the state. It’s expected that the industry will face a slew of bills regulating data centers in the upcoming legislative session, and that the facilities will play a large role in Texas’ midterm elections. After months of backlash, Gov. Greg Abbott essentially put a moratorium last month on new data centers connecting to the grid until an audit can be conducted on the projects’ viability and community impacts. The TWDB sent out its annual, mandatory survey to 341 data center operators in January, as well as follow-up reminders and direct messages to those who hadn’t responded by July. As of August 26, only 30 percent, or about 100 facilities, responded, said Temple McKinnon, director of water supply planning. The 2025 survey was sent to more than 4,700 municipal water systems and 3,200 industrial water users. The answers help inform the water demand projections that the water board drafts every five years for the state’s water supply planning process. The questions for data centers ask whether they have on-site power generation, whether they purchase their water or are self-supplied, the source of that supply and the annual volume of the water they use. It doesn’t inquire about the data centers’ cooling technologies or fuel types. Senators were surprised that more than 200 data center operators failed to respond to a statutorily-required document, and they discussed how to boost enforcement. One method: requiring survey responses before getting connected to water. > “We have potentially 200 entities out there that are kind of in the Wild West,” said state Sen. César Blanco, a Democrat from El Paso. Because responses to the TWDB’s annual surveys had been low in the past, the agency partnered with the PUC in October 2025 to try to collect voluntary, useful information from data centers, both planned and operational. This year, the two agencies issued a joint survey on April 2 and waited through May 28 for responses, which were far from overwhelming, so they reopened the survey for 10 days in July. In the end, three-quarters of the 155 respondents were data centers, and two-thirds were operational. Of the projects that are up and running, nearly 60 percent are concentrated in five counties: Dallas, Travis, Harris, Collin and Bexar. In response to the TWDB and PUC’s survey, 81 facilities reported nearly 1.3 billion gallons of total water intake, 964 million of those being potable water—the primary source for both existing and planned facilities. Most of the PUC and TWDB survey respondents reported that their facilities use, or will use, non-evaporative cooling systems, which tend to be less water intensive and more energy demanding. Non-evaporative cooling systems can use a closed loop system, which circulates the same liquid over and over to cool the hot server racks inside the data center. The liquid runs by the computers, picks up heat, and then the warm water either goes to a refrigerator or the heat is transferred outside through huge fans. By contrast, evaporative cooling releases heat through vapor and needs constant replenishment of water. In 2025, 12 evaporatively cooled facilities used nearly 29 millions of gallons of water, and 45 non-evaporatively cooled projects used nearly 8 million gallons of water. Facilities using evaporative cooling systems on average used nearly four times more water per megawatt hour of energy, according to PUC analysis. As this comparison is inferred from data on 57 of the 155 facilities within the data set, the results are probably best viewed as directional rather than definitive for the broader population of data centers and cryptomines, said Chris Brown, the program manager of data analysis at the PUC. Cooling helps prevent chips in data centers from overheating, as all of the electrical energy is converted into heat. This comes as the power needed to develop artificial intelligence is expected to increase. Vaibhav Bahadur, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin, who is teaching a course on cooling data centers this semester, said the electrical power of 100 homes can go into one rack of microprocessors, about the size of a tall bookshelf. As technology progresses, so will the efficiency of the cooling towers, Bahadur said. But in order to get more accurate numbers about the amount of water being used by the industry, the state needs better data, he said. While there is no fresh water left to be allocated, Bahadur said, there are alternative water sources industrial facilities could use. The data center industry is increasingly interested in using groundwater and the wastewater of the oil and gas industry. In the Permian Basin, the country’s most prolific oil field, Bahadur said there’s enough hypersaline, toxic wastewater to fill 1,300 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day. “I think this is something that needs a more serious consideration because it can be a meaningful solution to the water issues of data centers,” Bahadur said. Sen. Perry said it’s unacceptable to waste water through evaporative cooling in any sector. “I hope that’s loud and clear,” he said. “That won’t be allowed coming out of the next session. I promise.” Large data center operators, including QTS Data Centers and Google, said if there was the opportunity to utilize produced water from oil and gas wells, they’d take it into consideration. A portion of two of Google’s data center campuses in Midlothian and Red Oak are using evaporative cooling. Ben Townsend, head of infrastructure and sustainability at Google, said the company decided to partially use evaporative cooling because it’s more energy efficient, for both the data center itself and the facility’s power plant. Evaporative cooling doesn’t need to rely on drinking water or groundwater, Townsend said. The energy efficiency benefits can be unlocked with brackish or treated produced water, he said. “My strong feeling is it’s all about asking the question: What type of water are you using?” Townsend said. “Where is it coming from? What is the impact today, tomorrow? How are you investing to make sure that you are leaving the watershed in better shape than you found it?” Sen. Adam Hinojosa, a Republican from Corpus Christi, asked whether the state should consider requiring large data centers to have enforceable curtailment plans for water use, similar to those recently made available for power on the grid. Connie Corona, the executive director of the PUC, said it’s certainly something that the Legislature could consider implementing. -30- _This story was_ originally published_by_ Inside Climate News.

As farmers grapple with soaring diesel and fertilizer prices and the Department of Agriculture yanks support for cheaper, renewable forms of energy, the agency’s chief, Brooke Rollins, is carrying millions in highly profitable oil and gas investments. In disclosure reports filed in July, Rollins indicated that she and her husband, Mark Rollins, an oil and gas industry executive, together hold as much as $2.5 million in fossil fuel investments. At least $1 million of that is in HKN II, a limited partnership with oil and gas interests in the Kurdistan region of Iraq; another $1 million, at least, is in Hillwood Energy New Ventures, which has interests in oil and gas operations in Texas, Rollins’ home state. Rollins also disclosed that she holds between $250,000 and $550,000 in investments in operating companies that own oil and gas assets in Texas. Since the beginning of this year and President Donald Trump’s launch of the war in Iran, oil and gas prices have skyrocketed, and so have industry profits. Prices for diesel hit record highs this week, while prices of fertilizer, which are manufactured with natural gas and tied to the market, have also spiked this year, hitting an agriculture industry already battered by Trump’s tariffs and increasingly extreme weather events. > “Farmers have spent a billion and a half [dollars] just on additional costs for diesel because of the Iran war,” said former Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a former presidential candidate who campaigned on progressive climate policies. “American farmers are paying through the nose for this.” Inslee is currently working with Climate Power, a strategy and communications group that’s working to push climate and clean energy policies. According to a Climate Power analysis, the only other top Trump administration official with significant fossil fuel investments is Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, who held as much as $320,000 in oil and gas stocks as of the end of 2025. Trump himself has been the biggest beneficiary of his own war. A new report from the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee-Minority finds that since the war sent oil and gas prices skyrocketing, the president has potentially made around $15.5 million on the oil and gas holdings he held at the end of 2025. The report says Trump owned as much as $45.6 million in oil and gas company stocks, a sum that is now worth as much as $61.1 million. The committee noted in its report that Trump promised the industry his administration would create favorable conditions for oil and gas businesses if they donated $1 billion to his campaign. Since the launch of the war, which choked off the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passage for oil and gas from the Persian Gulf, oil and gas companies have reported more than $125 billion in profits. > “This administration is a dumpster fire of corruption and self dealing,” Inslee said. “This is just typical of an administration that is costing Americans money while they feather their own nest.” The committee did not calculate the increase in value of Rollins’ or Clayton’s fossil fuel holdings, but Climate Power analysts project they would be similarly profitable. Rollins is a climate skeptic who called for the repeal of the Obama administration’s landmark Clean Power Plan and for the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. She was a surprise pick to lead an agency that oversees a huge range of responsibilities, including nutrition policy, agricultural subsidies, conservation programs and forest management. Though she has a degree in agricultural development and roots in farming, Rollins spent her career as a lawyer. When Trump tapped Rollins to head the USDA, she was leading the America First Policy Institute, a group that supported Trump’s bid for a second term. During her tenure, the agency has worked to gut a range of climate-focused programs, including redirecting millions of dollars identified for climate programs under the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. The agency has halted funds for wind and solar projects on American farmland and disqualified renewable energy projects from loans under the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). It also cancelled the Biden-era Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program, designed to advance climate-focused practices on farms, calling it a “slush fund” for advocacy groups. And it has moved to cancel protections for millions of acres of national forest lands, which are under its purview. The USDA did not respond to a request for an interview with Rollins. The American Farm Bureau Federation recently projected that inflation, low commodity prices, labor and high production costs, including for diesel and fertilizer, will cost American farmers $31 billion in 2026 and $32 billion in 2027. Farmers, as a block, have been among Trump’s most important supporters, voting overwhelmingly for him in the 2024 election. That support appears to be dissipating amid rising bankruptcies and crashing profits. An April survey found that 94 percent of farmers were concerned about rising production costs linked to the war in Iran. The same poll found that nearly 40 percent said they were “persuadable” in the upcoming midterm elections. -30- _This story was_ originally published_by_ Inside Climate News _._

__Follow__ Deceleration on YouTube__.__ For this month’s podcast, I interview David Zamora, a 31-year-old home care provider I grew up with in Port Isabel, Texas, the true southern tip of the Hell State. We go over a lot in this conversation, all surrounding his move to Brownsville, Texas, two months ago after rising utilities, rent, and a worthless landlord forced him and his family to relocate. Preceding all of this was the increasing industrialization of the area. First came SpaceX, then the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant projects. This was followed by an oil refinery and, surely, more projects that only Brownsville’s economic development corporations and its mayor are clued in on. ## Sign up for Deceleration Deceleration is an online journal of environmental justice growing solutions to an overheating world. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. We speak here about how both of us were priced out of our increasingly gentrified hometown; the irony of the City of Brownsville’s role in doing so; the relief of paying less for utilities; and the final months of Zamora's time in Port Isabel while he was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Sans cancer, it’s a familiar story for me, too. The house I lived in in Port Isabel is now a renovated Airbnb, with all of the necessary repairs I begged for and never received. And that’s the way most every place in the Laguna Madre area that was once a long-term rental is going: reserved only for the leisure class. The rest of the community is being pushed out to Brownsville or Los Fresnos, another sycophantic community to the area’s “growth.” In this way, the City of Brownsville’s recent disannexxing of land to Starbase (SpaceX) is perhaps the municipality’s first true dispossession boomerang. What I mean is: it’s spent the last decade taking credit for projects that aren’t in Brownsville, facilitating the dispossession of the Laguna Madre from its homes and natural spaces. Now that’s come back upon their lands, except those boosters—in spite of vocal and organized resistance—welcomed it, because _of course they did_. I figured we don’t hear enough from people in Port Isabel about how this industrialization is killing culture and lifeways on its way to killing people, too. My hope is that this conversation will encourage others to speak, to show boosters that in negating the lives of others they are also negating their own. -30- _Subscribe to_ Coastlines/Faultlines_for monthly updates from Gaige Davila._

Hey, y’all! I am newly returned to Texas from my Arizona-based master’s program, I’ll be wandering the coast from a home base in the central part of the state for the foreseeable future. Is there something happening on the coast you think I should know? Let me know in the comments below or at _gaige@deceleration.news_. — Gaige Davila * * * __Subscribe to__ all the Deceleration newsletters__.__ * * * ## Rio Grande Valley Horrorculture and the Fight to Protect & Restore Native Roots Gaige Davila | Deceleration Two seemingly unrelated things have captured my attention of late, both of which are related to Texas’s sins: miswritten Hemingway quotes circulating on Twitter (X, whatever the hell), and Joey Santore’s war against non-native plants in the Rio Grande Valley. The miswritten quote, attributed to Hemingway, is written as: > “Dying for your country is a patriotic fairy tale. In reality, you will bleed out in the mud like a butchered dog for absolutely nothing." The actual quote is better, and I can’t imagine bastardizing it in a way that doesn’t even sound like Hemingway wrote it. I also can’t imagine surveying the Rio Grande Valley or the Texas coast’s last remaining expanses of natural native beauty and bulldozing it, replacing it with flora from somewhere else, then believing that one is doing a good thing, making a good country. But there are people that happily do all of this, intentional distortions serving the same sanitizing purpose. It’s not just plants, but people, too. Because the only political imagination around the Rio Grande Valley is one where there’s no politics at all, only the appearance of it. And that appearance becomes something more detached from reality every day, the consequence of elected officials not capable of responding to the needs of their communities or not wanting to. That couldn’t be more obvious today. People are being chased and kidnapped off the streets of Texas by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Most elected officials in the RGV say nothing about it. To understand why, just look to the metastasizing suburbs and strip malls in any of the Valley’s four counties, and the sapling oak trees and St. Augustine grass installed in them that so often die before construction is even finished. > Tamulipan thornscrub is just “brush;” brush is “undeveloped land;” mesquite, ebano, coyotillo, coma, and hackberry trees are all one amorphous entity, something to be removed; neighbors, los cocineros, Don Juan de la tienda, Southmost, el sur de la condados Hidalgo, Cameron, y Starr, are just “Mexicans;” Mexicans are “illegals,” “wetbacks,” “prietos;” and all of them must go. How we describe these things matters. And obscurity—that is, erasing of living beings through generic or imprecise language—is a key tactic of developers. Obscurity is also a core tenant of the political and social culture of the business and political classes of the Rio Grande Valley and the United States at large. Obscurity is in the language elected officials and even some members of the community use as their neighbors disappear into the border deportation industrial complex, a system that is centered and perpetuated in the Rio Grande Valley’s detention centers and Harlingen’s airport, where the federal government regularly flies people out to countries to which they have no connection. > Kidnappings are “enforcement operations”; people are “encounters” or “aliens”; thousands of dollars, tests, and years of waiting just for the chance at citizenship is the “right way”; running for your life is “resisting”; harassment is “enforcing the law”; turning a steering wheel is “ramming” someone with a vehicle, a reason to empty a clip like its your first day at the gun range; exercising your rights to document these arrests becomes “interfering” with a federal investigation; and saying any of this is somehow, according to the most racist and colonized of the Rio Grande Valley’s residents on Facebook, “being a Democrat.” __Texas Gulf Coast. Image: Creative Commons via__ Charles "Skip" Martin This language intentionally hides the roots of the area, whether those of plants or people. It hides the multiple kinds of ongoing violence that came from the area’s first colonization. This “horrorculture,” I’ll call it, is the only prism that our governments, their sycophants and the misguided alike, use to resolve problems. People passively watch films fictionalizing maiming and death for entertainment and stimulation, and this is no different. Desensitized, apathetic politicians and their constituents live in a reality that doesn’t recognize the humanity of people being taken from their communities. So it all becomes online fodder to dismiss or “debate,” a conditioning centuries in the making to ensure that anyone who speaks the truth of our condition is discredited. It is a conditioning so goddamned pervasive that it’s beyond a historic baseline. Because it seems like there has never been a time in the Valley’s written history where a majority of its people were not taught to hate themselves and the world around them. But there’s another use to this kind of language. It obscures war and doctrine, to convince countless people to welcome their segregation from the area’s business and political elites while believing the opposite is happening. It also further dehumanizes the most vulnerable in our communities, where a friend, family member, neighbor, colleague can become an A-Number and never be seen again and, most importantly to those classes, no one ever says a fucking thing about them again. Speaking of war, this is the full Hemingway quote, one that comes from “Notes on the Next War,” which was published in Esquire in 1935: > “They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason. > “Hit in the head you will die quickly and cleanly even sweetly and fittingly except for the white blinding flash that never stops, unless perhaps it's only the frontal bone or your optic nerve that is smashed, or your jaw carried away, or your nose and cheek bones gone so you can still think but you have no face to talk with. But if you are not hit in the head you will be hit in the chest, and choke in it, or in the lower belly, and feel it all slip and slide loosely as you open, to spill out when you try to get up, it's not supposed to be so painful but they always scream with it, it's the idea I suppose, or have the flash, the jamming clang of high explosive on a hard road and find your legs are gone above the knee, or maybe just below the knee, or maybe just a foot gone and watch the white bone sticking through your puttee, or watch them take a boot off with your foot a mush inside it, or feel an arm flop and learn how a bone feels grating, or you will burn, choke and vomit, or be blown to hell a dozen ways, without sweetness or fittingness; but none of this means anything. No catalogue of horrors ever kept men from war. Before the war you always think that it's not you that dies. > **"But you will die, brother, if you go to it long enough.** > “The only way to combat the murder that is war is to show the dirty combinations that make it and the criminals and swine that hope for it and the idiotic way they run it when they get it so that an honest man will distrust it as he would a racket and refuse to be enslaved into it.” I wrote last month (See: "Brownsville’s Saronic Autonomous War Plans Echo a Confederate’s Post-Civil War Profit-Seeking Killings") that I believed that elected officials in the Rio Grande Valley were afraid of death and wanted to live forever. They aspire to immortality in the way that many of those before them have done through securing their names on parks or proclamations or plaques, not in the way that many billionaires now aspire to literally live forever. Instead they look to something more localized, something to get praised for by backslapping peers while they’re at Sea Ranch on the island or whatever pseudo-haute cuisine is in downtown Brownsville now. ## You're not getting the full story! This newsletter is free to read, but requires an email subscription to access the full version. Treat yourself. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

**Editor’s Note** : Unlike other installments of _Deceleration_ ’s Creative Review, the theme of this issue was sort of tricky. Less a broad topic like climate or ICE or coral reefs, it was an invitation to do something more difficult—move beyond our reactive, defensive crouch amid the grotesque realities we’re living, arriving instead at something more speculative, a way of seeing what is already emergent even within disaster. It’s easy to lament or condemn, less easy to think outside the terms of what we oppose, recognizing the ferment and flourishing of life, lives, living, the many paths unfolding beneath or outside of or inside the necropolitics of this moment. Against official celebrations of the U.S. 250th, how do we celebrate the ways we are already inhabiting and imagining and creating other words together— _altermundos_ , as Latinxfuturists have called them? What other worlds have always been here, what other worlds have never been destroyed, what other worlds do we struggle to protect or conjure into being? What I like about the poems, prose, and visual art included here is the many different ways they imagine these “many worlds”—through the voice of the exile or deportee; through the memory of a “rebel Chicano” whose “heart & mind belonged to Peter Max, Frank Zappa, and Emiliano Zapata;” in the image of Zapata himself or the otherworldly snowfall of radioactive ash; via references to children, snakes, fossils, greenhouses, queer desire, writing itself. All of these expressions offer up pluriversal possibilities beyond the “one-world world” that has brought us to the point of polycrisis, gesturing instead toward un mundo donde quepan muchos mundos_,_ in the words of the Zapatistas (a world in which many worlds fit). Or, as Carlos “CJ” Jarmon writes in “The Last Greenhouse/Heat Signature” below: _Inside, the old world flowered illegally._ _No bee or butterfly entered,_ _so the men carried pollen between blooms,_ _yellow dust passing from flower to flower._ In the months to come we hope to gather you all for a community reading and futurecasting process that invites you to imagine our home city of San Antonio 250 years from now, asking: In the San Antonio of 2276, how will we have arrived at a more liveable and liberatory future? In what ways are we already thinking, doing, being, living in ways that will get us there? Watch for it! —Marisol Cortez, Creative Editor @ Deceleration * * * ### **How a Country Collapses** Jonathan Chibuike Ukah If this is the dream, please wake me up. let me live without sleep, without dreams, undocumented, uncelebrated, undeveloped, let me hide, let me die, banished into exile, convicted of nothing. My body is a layer of secrets, let me live, like the wave hidden by the wind. Can a man set a trap to catch a wave? Can a man sell the wind to pay a debt promised to the gods of his ancestors? I arrive from a distant country, in search of fresh water to drink, a soul evicted without notice, a piece of broken bones, a featherless bird. The door is open, feet are shuffling inside, a familiar face pops out of the keyhole. I smile and wave. Keys rattle, door creaks. A cup of water, a vial of milk, Thank you, Madam, for a cup of water, From your son, whose essence is restlessness. The lady is big on good works of kindness. I drink water and wine from divinity, I set out on my way, ensorceled back to life, back to my exiled country, but, at my back, I hear the rattling of wheels, like the flustering of complicated monsters. A man approaches with stolen daggers, his head is a heap of sand, his face is in mud, his body is a hissing serpent, a darkling prince, revelling in a python dance with a cobra head. You’re the betrayer, the exiled, You fight against the king, and you envy his wife. The charity woman is the king’s wife. My open palms hang in the air, my open mouth hangs in the sky; my open feet wobble on the ground, I’m a construct of the moon and the sun, undone in uncontested spaces. How awful is memory when it's cruel? Then, I see the king approach with treason eyebags, betrayal cheeks, scoundrel eyes and hound’s lips; Kindness grows no wings on ghosts to fly, You dare care to live where people fly? It's then that I remember what my crime is, not the jar of water, not the vial of milk, But my birth is treason, my existence is reason. I run with the king in pursuit, hot on my heels, but the just shall run by faith. * * * ### **The Girls at Dance Camp** James R. Dennis They were camping near Ruidoso, New Mexico that July—these twelve girls and their dance teacher. They ranged in age from 10 to 16 and had come to immerse themselves in the art of dance: ballet, modern dance, and tap. Often, they practiced under the vast, star-encrusted skies of Lincoln County. On the morning of the 15th, they were shaken and jostled out of their beds—they thought that perhaps a water heater had exploded. It was 5:30 in the morning, and the whole sky “turned strange,” as though the sun had risen. One girl said, “It was the brightest light I had ever seen.” They were all mesmerized. Later, white flakes fell from the sky, a summer snow, which the girls caught on their tongues and pressed into their faces. This snow, however, felt warm to the touch rather than cold. (They assumed this was because it had fallen in summer rather than winter.) The whole thing felt like magic to them. Shortly after the blast, locals from the town gathered to hear government officials assure them: “[T]here was an explosion at a dump.” They told them, “No one worry about anything; everything is fine.” The medical advisor to the Manhattan Project reported to local doctors, “the safety and health of the people at large is not in any way endangered.” Their camp was only 50 miles away from the site so inaptly named “Trinity” in the Jornada del Muerto desert. There, our nation, our best scientists, tested a device which they called “the Gadget,” but these girls didn’t know anything about that, these girls at the dance camp. Only one girl from the camp lived to see 30 years. A doctor in Roswell reported about 35 infant deaths in August of that year. Livestock and other animals died mysteriously; orchards and streams were poisoned. But in 1986, the head of the Los Alamos Health Group spoke more truth than anyone else when he said, “We didn’t know what the hell we were doing.” * * * __Trinity Site explosion after 0.016 seconds, July 16, 1945. Image: Berlyn Brixner / Los Alamos National Laboratory, public domain via Wikimedia Commons.__ ### **Vietnam’s Liberation Day / Operation Frequent Wind*** April 29-30,1975 Carlos Cumpián * * * ### **Zapata** James R. Dennis (Originally written for the San Antonio Museum of Art) Your mestizo __ eyes stare into us, eyes like coal black steel. You rose out of hardship, from a tiny village in Morelos. And even in this earthenware figura, we see revealed eyes that rage for justice against the hacendados. You enflamed Madero by demanding the return of the land, the restoration of tierra y libertad __ to the campesinos. Then Madero overplayed his hand, burning the villages and enslaving your vecinos. Mi hermano, you became the iconic revolutionary, and your memory blazes brighter than them all: Diaz, Madero, Huerta, Carranza, and the other luminaries. Your portrait, and not theirs, hangs on my bedroom wall. _¡Zapata vive, la lucha sigue!_ This much we trust: if Zapata had lived, he would walk with us. * * * __Sara Gilchrist,__ Moon Up Over Beaver Bog __. Mosaic made from shell, glass, ceramic tile, mirrors, original glazed clay tiles, sand and cement.__ ### **The Right to Happiness** Chiara Pride My thirteen year old cousin is telling me about a friend of theirs who speaks English, German, and Spanish. This friend has certain words that she recalls exclusively in one language. For her, kitty is always “gatita.” Sometimes she says a word in Spanish or German that my cousin doesn’t know, and they have fun puzzling out the English translation. My cousin and their friends are kind and creative. They approach language with beautiful, playful facility. Languages are a game; sounds and words are their pieces. “Whenever you’re bored, just look up how to say something in another language. Guess what this means!” they say as they make the Google Translate robot lady say the number eight in German, _acht_ , eighteen times. The intonation of the word shifts with each robotic repetition. We could sample it into the beat of a Berlin club banger in no time. I love that my cousin is an autodidact and aspiring polyglot; it makes me feel like I’ve done something right. They are someone who is unafraid of learning and growing. I am so proud of them. My cousin inspires my writing. As only children, we have a unique bond. We’re not quite siblings but more than just cousins; my cousin calls us “scuzins.” I don’t think they know what “scuzzy” means, or maybe they do and want to embrace a teenage grunge aesthetic. They are fluent in the language of rebellion. I’m so grateful for our relationship, as it has helped me reconnect with my brave inner child and empowered me to write about child welfare. Children who are safe and supported don’t automatically fear people or the languages they speak. They make friends. When a friend utters an unfamiliar collection of sounds, they delight in the novelty. They eagerly learn and accept new words and meanings; they play. For healthy and happy kids, learning and language acquisition is fluid and fun. My cousin has grown up with a love for life, a thirst for knowledge, and a sense of humor. They will take the magic of childhood curiosity with them into adulthood. I believe that all children deserve this experience. As I am writing this, a Kona Ice truck pulls up blasting a calypso beat, and after a few seconds of delightful bewilderment, my cousin and I discover the source of the sound. They rush outside with a five dollar bill our grandmother gave them; they’ll come back with a treat. When an ICE truck pulled up in Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero’s neighborhood, he was shot five times by officer David Michael Brouillette. Juan Sebastian Durán Guerrero has a three-year-old daughter who, along with his wife Karolina Rojas Alvarez, saw him lying dead. The day before Durán Guerrero was murdered, he had taken his daughter to the park. He was supposed to spend the afternoon with her the day he died. Instead, Rojas Alvarez has had to explain to their daughter that her father is never coming back. The introduction of the Declaration of Independence is written very carefully to include secular and theistic interpretations of creation. It refers to both the “Laws of Nature and of Nature's God” as applying to all people. All people are endowed with unalienable rights by “their Creator”, and I emphasize “their” as a reflection of the revolutionaries’ emphasis on religious freedom. They believed in pluralism, a political philosophy which holds that people with different ideologies can (and should) live and govern together. Pluralism, political, and religious freedom are central tenets of our society. Whatever God you believe in, even if you believe in no God at all, you are equal to your neighbor, you share the same rights. Durán Guerrero and Rojas Alvarez’s daughter and my cousin were created equal in the eyes of any and every creative force that has the power to animate life and inspire belief in human beings. Their experiences of life, however, are not equal. Their little girl will grow up without her father. She will carry unconscionable grief with her always. She cried alongside her mother over her father’s body. Immigrants like Durán Guerrero often move to the United States with the hope of protecting their children from violence and trauma. Instead, at three years old, Durán Guerrero’s child knows grief and pain that neither myself nor my cousin can scarcely imagine. As people in the United States, Juan Sebastian Durán Guerrero and his family are supposed to have equal protection under the law, protection from tyranny towards the pursuit of happiness. Yet Brouillette, ICE, and DHS took Durán Guerrero’s life and tyrannized his family, robbing them of a happy future together. Growing up in the United States, my cousin and I were taught that this country was founded on the ideals of liberty, justice and freedom for all, and that these principles are actualized through representative democracy. We learned that America is exceptional because of a national belief in liberty—a belief that people in this land have the right to pursue happiness. The Declaration of Independence claims that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are inalienable rights. While the United States constitution does not explicitly name happiness as a right, three states have recognized the pursuit of happiness as a fundamental right in their state constitutions.3 The Supreme Court has also upheld the right to happiness nationally in Meyer v. Nebraska, a case brought before the court in 1923 when Robert Meyer, a schoolteacher, challenged the constitutionality of Nebraska’s _Siman Act_ , which forbade teaching in a foreign language. In a 7-2 decision, the court found that the due process clause of the 14th amendment protects individuals’ rights to “privileges long recognized at common law as essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.” The law that barred Meyer from teaching in a foreign language, German, was ruled unconstitutional. As I experience the effects of living under an oligarchical, autocratic, fascist government, I find myself reflexively referencing the founding principles of this nation—liberty, justice, freedom, democracy, equality—perhaps because, as a white person, I’m feeling the lack of them more acutely than I ever have before. People of the global majority whose descendants struggled against the oppression of imperialist conquest, colonialism, slavery, and segregation already know what it is like to live within a fascist regime—they and their ancestors have lived it. (It is not a coincidence that these are the histories, experiences, and people that the current administration is trying to vilify and ban from learning about in schools.) Civil rights and liberties, the American Dream of protection from tyranny and the freedom to pursue happiness, have always been conditional based on race and class. Life, liberty, and happiness are experiences that the state protects primarily for straight, cisgender, white, wealthy, and Christian evangelicals. I was trying to avoid this reality on Tumblr recently, where I saw a post that said something like, “the U.S., and the world more broadly, is suffering from political familicide.” Familicide is when someone, usually a man suffering from severe mental health issues, murders his family and then himself (as in the case earlier this year of former deputy governor Justin Fairfax, also only the second Black person to ever serve in statewide office in Virginia). On a national level, a similar kind of patriarchal violence is tearing this country and the world apart. David Brouillete (the man who killed Durán Guerrero, who was a loving and devoted father) has two ex-wives who have alleged that he horrifically abused them and his children. The women have said on record that he is given to extreme acts of violence, and that they will not defend him from allegations of deliberate murder, because they believe from personal experience that he is capable of it. From the earliest point in his career, Brouillete sought out positions of power that allow lethal force, joining the Maine National Guard in 2007 and then the Army in 2010, then working as a corrections officer and a police officer with the Department of Veterans Affairs. He was also briefly a volunteer firefighter, but was fired for threatening to punch his boss in the face. This article frames Brouillete’s hiring and expedited training as a lack of agency oversight and discipline. But in my estimation, ICE and DHS are functioning exactly as the government intends. In my opinion, the federal government is hiring people who enjoy violently abusing others because their aim is to violently abuse people, for profit. While the government’s intentions are arguable, the profitability of the immigration industrial complex is fact. The “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed in July of 2025 quadrupled ICE’s budget and added $11.25 billion to the agency’s coffers every year through 2029. The private prison companies that operate the majority of detention centers, like CoreCivic and GeoGroup, are reporting record profits and investments, according to the National Immigration Law Center, including from making detainees work for as little as a dollar a day. The United States immigration system is slavery by a different name and it is destroying children and their families. Apart from murdering beloved parents in the street, the current administration is also detaining an average of 25 children a day aged three or younger, according to The Marshall Project—that’s at least 500 babies and toddlers since last year. Babies, toddlers, and children are becoming so sick in detention that they are dying—from depression, illness, inedible food, and unlivable conditions. Politicians who still have a conscience, like Congressional Representative Joaquin Castro, are demanding the release of specific children so that they can receive life saving medical care. Texas’ conservative Republican politicians may be adjusting their messaging to sound more humane ahead of the midterms, but regardless of what they say, their governments are still treating human beings like chattel. It feels like billionaires, and their political lackeys, are playing a game to see who can extract the most profit from marginalized communities until our planet is no longer habitable. (Tech billionaire Peter Thiel, for instance, believes that an Antichrist is bringing on Armageddon—but I think he may just be paranoid because people are waking up to the injustice of him hoarding wealth.) You likely already know much of what I’ve reviewed here. You probably follow the news as it pops up unbidden on your phone, prompting you to cringe involuntarily. You may be looking for an escape from our current hellscape. So why am I writing this? Frankly, I’m tired of feeling scared, depressed, and powerless. I have quite literally sat around and waited for the collapse of humanity. I refuse that for myself. Instead, I want to imagine brighter futures amid the collapse. __Chiara Pride,__ Space Fun To imagine new ways of being I must take an honest account of the present. I also have to state what I believe and value. I believe that happiness is the birthright of all people, un “derecho de nacimento” (shout out to Mexican cantante Natalia Lafourcade whose music stays in heavy rotation.) Children in the U.S., regardless of their country of origin or that of their parents, have the right to a happy childhood. One like my cousin has had. They deserve freedom; the freedom to play with other kids, to share their culture and language, and to act like silly little punks. It is up to us, dear reader, to fight alongside immigrant families for their freedom, to dismantle the current fascist government, and to create the future. There is a 1969 jazz protest song, “Compared to What,” written by Gene McDaniels and first recorded by Roberta Flack. The last verse goes: > Said I love the lie, lie the love > Hangin' on with a push and shove > Possession is the motivation > Hangin' up the whole damn nation > Looks like we always end up in a rut > Tryin' to make it real, but compared to what? I interpret the last line to mean, You’re trying to make the American Dream real, but compared to what?” What is the reality that we are moving away from? What kind of future are we trying to manifest? How do they compare to each other? These questions are a roadmap for radical transformation. We are: - Building a society structured around mutual aid and environmental sustainability instead of a society structured around mass incarceration and corporate greed. - Cultivating a politics of participatory democracy instead of passive representation. - Investing in ecologically complementary systems of energy production and consumption instead of fossil fuels. - Creating new labor markets instead of participating in exploitation. How are we doing this? Big changes start with consistent collective actions at the community level. This can look like gardening, cooking, and crafting with our friends and neighbors. Or feeding and housing people engaged in civil disobedience or who are released from detention. Maybe teaching or taking a community civics class. Or planting some native grass. There are even smaller things that you can do right now that will help us create a brighter tomorrow. Put your phone away, call up your inner child, and go play! Dance to your favorite song. Sing as loud as loud as you want. Spend time with the people you love. Write a poem. Listen to your body. Breathe. All these things and more help us make our dreams into reality. * * * ### **Serpentine** Liz DeGregorio there’s a ribbon of yellow CAUTION tape unspooling in the wind whipping around like an eel a snake … a serpent trapped in a cage there’s only so much room this ribbon has: it’s still tied on one end, putting into question just what area needs CAUTION it’s dawn in New York City but it’s evening for America unmarked vans are coming into our city the city of art and sex and 20 different languages in symphony on the subway the city where you can bring a snake on the subway no one even flinches We Imagine Ourselves Free. CAUTION yourself CAUTION others be prepared to free yourself from your ties to fight to flicker to snap and to strike back the sun has set on our country and we must fight, like snakes crawling through the grass when night falls. * * * __Herb Herschlag,__ Moon Over Pink Cloud ### **My Writing Compulsion** Jane Berger Herschlag is lured by the safety pen and paper offer on my quest for health. I excise malignant memories shrinking my glands. I still fear retribution for words uttered aloud but the blank page succors me into releasing revelations. I rant against Joel Steinberg, Rodney King’s assailants, the un- convicted like O.J. Simpson, and the Derek Chauvins of America, Trump’s immigration policy, Jeffrey Epstein and his cover-uppers. I singe environmental polluters, corrupt politicians, and child abusers. Written words, charcoal for my pictures; my manuscripts, paintings. Readers witness my wildfires. After you have toured my words you will understand, and my writing compulsion grows less acrid, soon will emit a sweet aroma, a meadow lark’s vibrato, a mocking bird’s serenade. * * * __Fossils at the Geological Museum in Tsukuba, Japan. Image: Wikimedia Commons.__ * * * ### **DisFossilization** Douglas Park _This tour-de-force came to me after I sustained serious injuries, then whilst recovering, during my convalescence and treatment phase, until I eventually got better._ _It (hopefully) encourages shared speculation on what and how eventual or sudden becoming alive — again — or for the very 1st time ever — might be or truly is._ _As though not just awareness, perception or experience etc — but gradual or instant life — or even reality itself — starts._ _From the point-of-view of a post-cryonics extinct woolly mammoth and/or resurrected prehistoric fish. …_ Restful zone, landmass, subcontinent and absolutely nothing else whatsoever. Only not some mere deceased or inanimate unit or slab. But asleep and dreaming hybrid cross-between stainless steel, cast iron and fortress rockface, with flameproof pack-ice worked into the mix. Resist and immune against fire and burn, so meant never defrost, thaw-out, softness, molten or liquefy. Manufacturing-base depot, original source from which arctic and polar sub-zero freeze-factor conditions get born, exhaled breath sent long-distance, straight through any solid barrier that obstructs progress during the course of their duty. Usually or forever, mostly or always, more or less, the very same. Until change and difference starts; stirring, begun deep within, before outward spread, reaching faraway. Advent of soul, awareness, conscience, self, perception and drive. Dormant freewill erupts. Next, comes room-temperature warmth and real body-heat. Fast joined by newfound sensations, feeling and emotion. At 1st numbness, then discomfiture, pain, surprise, shock, pleasure, joy and amazement. Soon following are energy, movement, action and ability. Flesh, blood and muscles takeover and replace predecessor. Heavyduty industrial-strength forces survive, increase and multiply. Previously unbroken interior becomes infinitely divisible into household-contents. Artery veins; self-assembly components, spareparts and upgrades; intestinal organs; electronic circuitry and wiring; central nervous system; equipment and weaponry tool-kits. All slotted together and climbing around supportive skeleton bones and armature scaffolding. Full usage enjoyed of every functional and operative faculty and resource. Thereafter, metamorphic and evolutionary terrain; living, hyperactive, invincible, omnipotent. Actually being an endless state of growth, mutation and advancement. No simple façade and complexion or even fixed place, unlike flat and shallow decoration and armour. Vast expanse refuses to settle down, cast anchor or plant roots; instead, flowing onwards ahead, along ground passed over and fed off. Above and beyond passive and dependent travel and consumption, true agency and cause for alchemical and transformative influence and reform, on everywhere ever briefly gone and flash visited. Supreme and ultimate organic lifeform and superpower deity, rather than just another geological and engineering party-trick and gimmick. Equally, one almighty deluge, earthquake, tidal-wave, plague, storm and populace. * * * ### **The Last Greenhouse/Heat Signature** Carlos “CJ” Jarmon _I. The Last Greenhouse_ Comrades together, to hold on, to love in a hollowed earth. Beyond them the forest stood without life, each tree waiting beneath the mark of its execution. Inside, the old world flowered illegally. No bee or butterfly entered, so the men carried pollen between blooms, yellow dust passing from flower to flower. They had been called _Adam_ and _Steve_ , barren men. His seed, their seed, what men may sow passed from palm to earth, warm from his hand, and every green thing answered by breaking open. Above the canopy, the engines returned. They planted deeper, burying what was left of spring. _II. Heat Signature_ The scan crossed the forest at dusk and stopped above a warmth where none should be, hidden under a roof of glass: two male bodies among a fever of leaves. The lovers lay ringed by green, shoulder to shoulder, dirt underneath their nails, vines brushing against arms, the engines somewhere above the trees. One hand searched in the dark. The other found it. Above them the white beam returned. And on the screen miles away, the hidden garden appeared only as two heat signatures touching. * * * __Thermal Parakeets. Image: Wikimedia Commons.__ ### Author Bios #### Carlos Cumpián ****Carlos Cumpián**** is a Chicagoan originally from Texas. __Human Cicada__ (Prickly Pear Publishing) marks his fifth poetry collection, alongside __Coyote Sun (March Abrazo Press), Latino Rainbow (Children’s Press/Scholastic Books) Armadillo Charm (Tia Chucha Press)__ , and __14 Abriles: Poems__. In 2000, he was recognized with a Gwendolyn Brooks Significant Illinois Poet Award. Cumpián has been included in more than thirty poetry anthologies, including the Norton Anthology __Telling Stories__. Before becoming a teacher, he worked with various social service organizations such as ASPIRA and public relations for the Chicago Public Library. Cumpián has taught creative writing and poetry through community arts organizations including the National Museum of Mexican Art, Urban Gateways and as a writer-in residence funded by the Illinois Arts Council. Cumpián taught in the English Department of Columbia College Chicago and in the Chicago Public School and Charter school system. In addition, he has hosted live readings with Galeria Qui Que & La Palabra Series and published over 20 poets/writers with MARCH ABRAZO PRESS between 1978-2015. His most recent essay, “Learned to Read at My Momma’s Knee,” appears in __With a Book in Their Hands__ : __Chicano/a Readers and Readerships Across the Centuries__ (University of New Mexico Press, 2014). His first in a series of true supernatural accounts, “A Chicago Premonition” was published in __Hombre Lobo #2, True Xicanax Spooky Stories__ , (Ponte Las Pilas Press, Los Angles, Ca. 2021) Cumpián is currently working on his “anti-war years” memoir __Accidental Rebel__ : 1968-1976. #### Carlos "CJ" Jarmon ****Carlos “CJ” Jarmon**** is a poet, novelist, and English literature major at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, where he serves as Editor-in-Chief of __Pecan Grove Review__. Jarmon approaches writing as both an artistic practice and a means of building community. His poetry explores masculinity, longing, identity, faith, and the complexities of queer experience, in particular the bonds between men, drawing inspiration from Walt Whitman’s concept of “male adhesiveness” and the “manly love of comrades.” Drawing inspiration from his Latinx heritage, rural Texas upbringing, and love of the natural world, his work often examines tenderness, resilience, and the search for connection across personal and cultural divides. His poetry has appeared in literary and university publications, and he is best known for carrying a typewriter and writing impromptu haikus for students, staff, and faculty. #### Chiara Pride ****Chiara Pride**** is a queer, genderfluid, neurodivergent, and disabled writer and artist who lives in San Antonio. Growing up here inspires everything they do. They’ve helped research and publicize the resilience and brilliance of LGBTQ young adults in Central and South Texas who are surviving by building communities of care composed of supportive family and friends despite state oppression. Chiara now writes essays about resisting fascism and the liberatory power of creativity, play, and mutual aid. Liberation looks like communities where everyone has quality food, healthcare, housing, childcare, and education. When they aren’t waxing poetic about building brighter tomorrows, Chiara enjoys listening to other people do the same. Some of their essays are hidden in random corners of the internet but their official work you can find here: https://linktr.ee/ChiaraPride #### Douglas Park ****Douglas Park**** is a U.K and Belgium-based, internationally active and exposed artist, author, critic and curator. He makes written art, prose-essays, and almost kinda “normal” supportive essays. His work takes various forms (exhibits, publication, audio, moving image, online, broadcast, events, residencies, curation), has been translated into a number of languages (Arabic, Welsh, French, German, Dutch, Polish, Italian, Korean, Danish, and Indonesian), and has appeared both solo and alongside others in collaborative joint ventures, with occasional and more recidivistic serial playmates-in-crime. Email him at _douglasrpark@gmail.com_ Photo Credit: Oriana Dierinck #### Herb Herschlag ****Herb Herschlag**** studied at Pratt Institute in NYC; his long career was as a designer for advertising, publishing, television and textiles. He works in watercolor, pen & ink, graphite, colored pencil, and acrylic, and on numerous paper surfaces: watercolor, bond, tracing, canvas, and Tyvek. From abstract to surreal, he expresses emotions from darkness to joy or humor. His pictures can be viewed at ****http://www.PoetryProseArtByHerschlag.com,**** or visit his Danbury studio by appointment ****(203-730-8479)****. #### Jane Berger Herschlag ****Jane Berger Herschlag**** ’s poetry and photography collection, __When the Mouth Can’t Speak the Body__ Will, is published by __Finishing Line Pre__ ss. __Bully In the Spotlight__ , her 40-page docu-poetry chapbook is published by __Pudding House Publications__. An award-winning writer, her poems and prose are included in anthologies, university presses, and online. You can view her website at PoetryProseArtByHerschlag.com #### Jonathan Chibuike Ukah ****Jonathan Chibuike Ukah**** is a Pushcart and Best of the Net-nominated poet living in the United Kingdom. His poems have been featured in TABS, The Journal of Poetry & Poetics, The Pierian, Propel Magazine, Atticus Review, The Journal of Undiscovered Poets and elsewhere. He won the Alexander Pope Poetry Award in 2025, and the Atlantis Poetry Prize 2026, the Sublimation Annual Poetry Contest 2026, and the Empyrean Poetry Contest 2026. His first Chapbook, __A is for Anfang__ was released in December 2025 by the Island of Wak-Wak. #### Liz DeGregorio ****Liz DeGregorio**** (she/her) is a poet, writer and editor living on Lenape (Lenapehoking) land in New York City. Her work has appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, Electric Lit, The Rumpus, Catapult, Bowery Gothic, ANMLY, Little Fruits, BUST, Ghouls Magazine, OyeDrum, Dread Central and other publications. She has also performed at the reading series Stranger Stories and The Ghost Presents: Literary Libations. #### Sarah Gilchrist ****Sarah Gilchrist**** is an elementary school art teacher in Westchester, NY who is passionate about empowering children to make their own creative choices and explore their individual interests without adult-imposed restrictions and ideas of what children’s art “should look like”. She believes all her students are already artists and that she only facilitates, teaches, and provides the means for them to bring their ideas to life in a safe, supportive environment. In the last few years she has led her school community in some large scale collaborative murals, including another (much larger) mosaic mural (pictured here). In her spare time you will most likely find her reading horror novels with two dogs on her lap, attempting to garden the untamable wilderness that is her yard, making enjoyable messes that sometimes becomes art, or thrifting oddities in my local Connecticut antique markets. _Deceleration's quarterly creative review is edited by_ Marisol Cortez_, an ecojustice writer, teacher, and scholar based in San Antonio, Tejas. Look for future calls for submission_ here_!_

Last week, Lipan Apache tribal members, and representatives of People of La Junta for Preservation and Far Flung Adventures, an outdoor and rafting company based in Terlingua, Texas, walked into a federal courthouse in San Antonio demanding an end to road building through Big Bend National Park—ostensibly for border barriers, service roads, and enhanced security infrastructure. __Highlights from Big Bend Border Wall rally in San Antonio, Texas.__ Follow Deceleration on YouTube. The groups charged that Homeland Security was violating the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and American Indian Religious Freedom Act, among other laws. Outside the courtroom, more than 100 residents from across the state descended on the federal court building in downtown San Antonio to stand in solidarity—opposing border walls, resisting desecration of Native lands and tribal sovereignty, and against ICE enforcement. After a prayerful opening at Save Big Bend Emergency Hearing, speakers approached the mic as they were moved to share some words, songs, and reflections. Together they wove a tender and indomitable fabric, rooting their grief, resistance, and encouragements within one another and fostered a deepening awareness throughout the event of the sacredness of all life. That afternoon, U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia ordered a stay halting all construction until Sept. 15, 2026. It was a negotiated settlement, according to Texas state Senator Roland Gutierrez, who provided legal representation for the plaintiffs, alongside others. > “It will give us a chance to continue negotiating with the federal government, continue fighting back, and, quite frankly, bring about more assets. ” he said in a recent video. “And those more assets are you. You need to push back yourselves and call your congressmen and your senators. And anyone who will listen in this space." __Big Bend Border Wall rally in San Antonio, Texas. Images: Greg Harman. View full slideshow at__ emerge.photos__.__ __Big Bend Border Wall rally in San Antonio, Texas. Images: Greg Harman. View full slideshow at__ emerge.photos__.__

Happy Thursday! It’s your friendly neighborhood solutions journalist coming to you with a story focusing on a climate solution founded in a simple, grade-school lesson: Sharing is Caring. It almost sounds silly, but the truth is, constructing systems that facilitate sharing across communities has a huge part to play in how we address overconsumption and its consequences. When items are shared and reused, their impacts on the environment are reduced simply because fewer of them need to be produced to satisfy the same need. So this week in Alternative Futures, we’ll be looking at the movement surrounding “Libraries of Things,” both for their environmental benefits and for the other benefits they provide to communities. Enjoy! —Syris Valentine * * * _If you enjoy the story, share it with your friends. It helps a lot!_ _And if you have any thoughts you want to share, make sure to leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!_ ✏️ Subscribe to all the Deceleration newsletters! Only at Deceleration.news. * * * __Disaster response in Asheville, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene. Image: Dan Hettinger__. ## Libraries of things provide crucial community infrastructure for a solidarity economy and climate resilience Syris Valentine | Deceleration When Josh Epstein and his wife first decided to convert the garage of their new home into a small apartment and made their budgets, the costs were staggering. Renting scaffolding so they could install drywall on the ceiling would cost $1,000 on its own. And they’d still need to get the equipment to do everything else the conversion demanded. So when they discovered the Northeast Seattle Tool Library, it was something of a financial godsend. After spending under $100 on a yearlong membership, they could borrow the scaffolding they needed along with saws, jackhammers, and other assorted tools. “I was enamored,” Epstein told _Deceleration_. He tried to volunteer with the tool library after that and its host organization, Sustainable Northeast Seattle, but they never got back to him. Soon after, he saw they posted a job. Everything about the position resonated with him and his values. He applied almost immediately. With the assorted set of skills he’d gained running outdoor education programs with the YMCA and getting sent around the country to train others to run similar programs of their own, he felt that he was perfect for the job, and the hiring committee seemed to agree. > “It was a minimum wage, part-time job, but I wasn’t looking to climb any ladders,” said Epstein. “I was just excited. I loved the tool library.” But before long, he and the other part-time employee realized “there was infinite potential,” he said. All the members and volunteers were so enthusiastic about it, it became easy to grow. Whenever Epstein would talk to people about it who weren’t already involved, they understood it right away. Some would even start selling the idea back to him. > “It's so intuitive,” he said, “because all it is is sharing resources, which is what humans have done from the very existence of society.” As he brought in more volunteers, got people motivated, and provided them with a sense of agency, everything took off. The organization eventually opened a second tool library in a suburb just north of Seattle and, at the same time, rebranded themselves “Seattle Reconomy.” They chose the name in part because the whole notion of sustainability has gotten greenwashed in recent years, Epstein said, and because they’re leaning increasingly into the work of building a circular economy and “fostering an economy of reuse and sharing.” Today, they’ve recruited around 10,000 members and 12 staff, and Epstein serves as their executive director. And they promote the practices of reuse and sharing through their tool libraries — which also house seed libraries and a reuse store selling used bikes, second-hand building materials, and old power tools — and through a new location they opened in mid-July called the Reuse Commons. __Josh Epstein (center-right) and other Seattle Reconomy staff and supports celebrate the opening of the Reuse Commons. Image: Seattle Reconomy__ They describe the Commons as a “circular economy mall,” where partner organizations dedicated to the many varied tasks of building a circular economy can operate, host events, store equipment and materials, and convene together. Still, tool libraries remain the organization’s bread and butter. In that effort, Seattle Reconomy is part of an international movement that has been growing for decades to counter the increasing consumerist tilt of today’s economy. ### The Evolution of the Sharing Economy “People have been sharing things forever,” said Tom Llewellyn, programs director at the nonprofit Shareable. Shareable emerged in 2009 during the recession to support the growth and awareness of the sharing movement that was gaining steam at the time. At the time the sharing economy was taking off in popularity, and they were intent on documenting it and providing on ramps for others. Llewellyn joined that movement through one of Shareable’s events. After traveling around the country co-leading the Sustainable Living Roadshow, Llewellyn settled in Asheville, North Carolina, at the tail end of 2012, where he quickly got involved in community organizing. In 2013, he and his friends brought together 25 people from around Asheville to participate in a local rendition of Shareable’s international map jam along with 50 other towns and cities around the world. > Together, they plotted as many of Asheville’s community resources they could find and think of: parks, farmers markets, libraries, credit unions, community clinics, co-ops, repair shops, and more. > “What those maps do,” Llewellyn told Deceleration, “is not only show everything that’s there, but they also show what’s missing from those spaces.” ## You're not getting the full story! This newsletter is free to read, but requires an email subscription to access the full version. Treat yourself. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

Fort Worth, Texas, is considered one of the most conservative large cities in the United States. As crypto and AI were being embraced by the Republican Party (ultimately to Trump's personal benefit), this North Texas city's elected officials followed right along: putting a mini crypto mine right in its city hall. And yet, somehow, Cowtown beat San Antonio to a moratorium on data center development, in spite of progressives holding “an eight-to-two majority on the dais” in San Antonio, as the _Current_ framed the current Council’s political makeup after last year's election. Facing rising popular pushback on the issue, five of Fort Worth’s council members pushed for a moratorium back in July, saying a pause on development was needed as regulations are being developed. > "We believe it is far more important to get these regulations right than rushed," the group wrote. On Aug. 11, Fort Worth Council members unanimously approved the development of a 90-day moratorium. (But, we should note, that didn’t stop them from since approving a site plan for a new data center already in the permitting pipeline.) On Tuesday, San Antonio’s City Council, by comparison, showed they are still broadly divided on the question of a moratorium. During a special meeting on the topic, _Deceleration_ counted only four solid “yes’s” to the proposal, though most members expressed support for modifications to the local Universal Development Code to regulate where data centers would be allowed to operate. > “I’m not ready to commit to a moratorium,” said Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones. “I want to see what else we can do to help ourselves.” __Julian Villarreal of the Bexar County Green Party speaks in opposition to data center development ahead of the Council briefing. Image: Greg Harman__ ### Zoning the Key to Regulation In the fight against data centers, zoning may be the magic sauce. In Texas, attempted bans have fallen under legal challenge (or threat of legal challenge) in both Hood and Hill counties. In June, the City of San Marcos effectively banned data centers in that city by first defining data centers under its Universal Development Code—a primary step that allows regulation by land use—and then proposing to limit data centers only to the most intense industrial category…before then stripping that category away also. This approach is more likely to survive a lawsuit than an outright ban, as Katlyn Ma wrote in the _Texas Tribune_ recently. The process of legally defining a data center under the UDC got underway in San Antonio on Tuesday. The initial proposal from Development Services staff would allow data centers...a lot of places, including: > “C-3” General Commercial District, “L” Light Industrial District, “BP” Business Park District, “I-1” General Industrial District, “I-2” Heavy Industrial District, “MI-1” Mixed Industrial District, “MI-2” Mixed Heavy Industrial District. As Logan Sparrow, assistant director of Development Services said opening Tuesday morning’s meeting: > “We’re not here to ban data centers.” Sparrow left early to help brief the City Council at a budget meeting that morning, leaving staff to run the show. They quickly fell into something of a rhetorical trap by agreeing with local data center lobbyists when they characterized Sparrow’s proposed 500-foot buffer for data centers as “a compromise” but didn’t have the research grounding it. __Data center lobbyists and representatives of concerned industrial interests exchange views. Image: Greg Harman__ ### Too Far, Too Near “We think 1,000 feet is a little drastic. Obviously 100 feet isn’t enough," said the staffer. "We’re trying to kind of compromise and find that middle ground.” She said the department wants to limit noise but didn't want to go "overkill.” This arbitrary-sounding posture didn’t sit well with DeeDee Belmares of the nonprofit advocacy organization Public Citizen. > “The setback should be supported by studies, not just for noise, but for light and air pollution,” Belmares said. “500 [feet] not enough to protect neighbors and the children.” “The elephant in the room is the 500 feet,” said prominent local lobbyist Bill Kaufman. Kaufman and fellow lobbyist Rob Killen disagreed with the proposed setback. But they weren't arguing for tougher limits. Kaufman said he hopes to eliminate it entirely. > “I think we’re going to ask staff to scrub that,” Kaufman said. * * * ### Deceleration Video * * * ### Concerns About Heat Impacts It’s not just noise, light, water, and power concerns that need to be mitigated, however. One representative of the small manufacturers association said he was concerned about the well-being of warehouse workers who work without the benefit of air conditioning. A data center pushing out up to 10 degrees of extra heat (or more) in their direction would be a concern for employers like HEB, he said. > “They will receive the airflow coming from the plant,” he said. “You do take into consideration what direction the wind is blowing.” Kaufman suggested Development Services host a tour of a data center operation—maybe Vantage, now on the cusp of being sued by a trio of public-interest orgs—adding that much more study is needed to come up with evidence-based policy. That, however, was a nonstarter, as City staff reminded him that City Council is setting the pace here. The UDC changes—whatever they wind up being—will need to fit Council's agenda, which Development Services Director Amin Tohmaz told Council a few hours later, would require a vote at the Zoning Commission as soon as Sept. 15, 2026, and a Council vote on Oct. 15, 2026. Here’s the full UDC discussion, that largely ping-ponged between local activists and environmental policy folks and data center lobbyists: ### Timeline to a Moratorium Tohmaz briefed Council on what will be required for a moratorium, which would begin with a Council vote, potentially as soon as Sept. 3. Then would follow a public notice, two council hearings, two readings of the proposed ordinance, winding up with a Council vote. The soonest this could come would be the tail end of December or early January 2027. That would trigger a 90-day moratorium, which could be extended for one 90-day period. Tohmaz then said his staff recommends against a moratorium but rely instead on zoning and UDC modifications. That exposed a soft middle among Council members. You can watch the presentation here. __Misty Spears fears negative impact on employment from a moratorium—and looks forward to the day data centers may be nuclear powered. Image: Greg Harman__ ### Where Council Landed, First Discussion With no calls for an outright ban, we can’t say there’s a truly hard line being drawn here, but members positioned themselves between the boosterish (Misty Spears, who spoke of our obligations to beating adversaries in an AI arms race) to the moderately tough Ric Galvan, who started advocating for regulation last year. To get a handle on this destabilizing industry that is already seeking more power than CPS Energy is able to produce, Galvan has proposed a moratorium on all new permits until protective processes and regulations are in place. Ultimately, he aspires to a system where each individual data center will have to come to Council for a vote. Based on their public comments made at the meeting, here is where the pack split on a moratorium: ### Yes * Ric Galvan (D6): The leader of data center reform efforts. * Ivalis Meza Gonzalez (D8): Signed on with Galvan’s memo to launch this process and also favors the Special Use Authorization idea for individual votes. * Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2): Fully on board. Data Centers, he said, are “one of the largest and fastest growing threats to our communities.” (Comments here.) * Teri Castillo (D5), who also joined Galvan’s request for this action, said: “I support the staff recommendation” for UDC changes...but also a moratorium. ### Maybe * Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones: “I’m not ready to commit to a moratorium,” she said. “I want to see what else can we do to help ourselves.” That may include requiring cleaner energy options or recycled water through utility permitting. * Sukh Kaur (D1): “My biggest concern is jobs,” she said, while stating she needs to research to better understand the broader impacts of data centers. * Edward Mungia (D4): Said he wants to demonstrate to the public that Council is doing their best to limit high energy users. ### No * Marc Whyte (D10): Favors UDC changes, not a moratorium. * Marina Alderete Gavito (D7): Complained about swirling (negative) “misinformation” about data centers; warned a moratorium would “drive jobs from our city.” * Rebecca Viagran (D3): “A moratorium would just be a patch.” * Misty Spears (D9): Supports UDC amendments. Giddy about mini nuclear reactors for data centers. * * * Next Up: Data Centers - Community Meeting _This meeting will be used to discuss changes to the UDC amendments for data centers based on feedback received at the third stakeholder meeting, and to provide a summary of the council discussion from the Aug. 25 City Council Special Session, including a timeline for next steps. — Development Services_ * 9am Fri., Sept. 4 * 1901 South Alamo Street, San Antonio, TX

Welcome back to ICE Watch. This month join me on a virtual ICE chaser tour! We know San Antonio, Texas, is one of the most active cities in the U.S. for ICE detentions (following Miami, Dallas, and Atlanta). But so much of that landscape is still largely invisible to residents. This tour won’t be a joyride, but hopefully it'll be an eye-opening _recorrido_ through our city. We’ll take note of the places and elements that put ICE enforcement on the map. Here we’ll reveal many of the not-so-hidden coordinates of the deportation machine to help you identify just how widespread the machine has become. We intend to make visible how local and state leaders have allowed the quiet, yet persistent and increasingly prevalent, kidnappings of our community members. > In this installment of ICE Watch, I draw a geography of state-sponsored fear to help us all keep up with this fast-shifting and frequently terrifying terrain. —Roxana Rojas 🫀 Check out all of Deceleration's monthly and weekly newsletters. * * * _If this newsletter speaks to you, be sure to share it with your friends, family, and community. Is there a story not being covered that you’d like to see?_ Join as a paying supporter_and engage in the comments below. Let me know what you want to see in the next newsletter!_ * * * ## **I spy with my little eye…** As children we played this game in the car on family road trips. It helped distract bouncy minds from whatever our elders wanted us to forget about (for me it was usually a catalog of “what’s that place?” questions, “where are we?” and “how much longer?”). It forced us back into the present moment and made us more aware of our surroundings. I challenge you now to survey your surroundings as you go about town and ask yourself what you see. It may be something that’s looking back at you? Scanning your face? Reading your gait? Clocking your license plates and turning you into a time stamp on a data set? Widely decried ALPRs, or Automatic License Plate Readers, are an all-too-common device on area roadways. But what are they, and how have they suddenly crept into our lives—leeching off our data and creating a system of surveillance that has resulted in the arrest of innocent individuals and, in some cases, violent encounters? > “I spy something…that starts with the letter F.” The principal provider of ALPRs nationally is Flock Safety. This company went from providing private security to large-scale surveillance of the public through its contracts with law enforcement agencies across the country. (On the interactive map below, you can click on the timeline and see the boom of cameras surge in San Antonio around the summer of last year). While information gathered by these cameras was originally only accessible through warrant searches, this data is now being captured, stored, and sold in package deals. SAPD has hosted 20 Flock cameras since July 2025, along with additional cameras owned and acquired at the same time by Selma PD, Castle Hills PD, Converse PD, and Live Oak PD. Alamo Heights PD has had ALPRs from Vigilant Solutions since 2019. And Balcones Heights PD was first awarded a grant for ALPRs in 2022. San Antonio PD has its own additional contracts with a similar company, Axon, for body cameras, dash cameras, and the accompanying software and storage of data captured. Though lesser known in the ALPR game, Axon is increasingly stepping in where Flock cameras have been damaged or opposed. So where are these cameras in San Antonio? How can we spot them, and—perhaps more importantly—how can we take back control of our privacy? Take a look at this map: ## You're not getting the full story! This newsletter is free to read, but requires an email subscription to access the full version. Treat yourself. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

A week of extreme heat risk looms. The heat index (heat + humidity) could reach 110F or higher in coming days across much of Texas. Those who are able are encouraged to stay in a cool place during the heat of the day. Check in on your neighbors. Remember those most at risk include unhoused communities, pregnant mothers, infants and children, elderly people, workers (outdoor mainly, but many warehouse workers too!), and even some medications may impair your ability to cool your body. Remember most incarcerated people in Texas have no access to A/C. And U.S. House Republicans are working to advance a bill that would block OSHA from requiring water breaks for workers—nationally. Yup. Spurs Jesus is truly not coming to save us. It will take all of us pushing together to make climate action and environmental justice a priority in every community—and every budget cycle. Our own heat guide isn’t totally up to date, but it has some good tips still.Find it over at: deceleration.news/extreme-heat-guide. The following is from the National Weather Service: URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE _National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio TX 1052 AM CDT Wed Aug 19 2026_ _HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 PM THURSDAY TO 7 PM CDT SUNDAY_ * _WHAT...Temperatures up to 104 and heat index values up to 110expected._ * _WHERE...The northern Hill Country, I-35 Corridor, and Coastal Plains._ * _WHEN...From 2 PM Thursday to 7 PM CDT Sunday._ * _IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat illnesses._ * _PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors._ * _Take extra precautions when outside. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing. Try to limit strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1._ -30- _More_ extreme heat coverage_from_ Deceleration _._

The Trump administration has paused construction of border infrastructure in Big Bend National Park in Texas following public criticism of the controversial project. Crews were filmed bulldozing pristine desert wilderness earlier this month, sparking rare bipartisan pushback. The construction is part of a larger plan for the Big Bend region to build hundreds of miles of walls, vehicle barriers and other border infrastructure. The Department of Homeland Security waived requirements that federal contractors comply with a broad slate of environmental laws, including the Endangered Species Act, to proceed with construction in the national park. > “I think the administration made such a massive miscalculation when they sicced their bulldozers on this great American national park,” says Laiken Jordahl, a national public lands advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. Laiken says the movement to protect Big Bend cuts across partisan and ideological lines and is “a force to be reckoned with.” ### Democracy Now! Video

Gabby Birenbaum | Texas Tribune WASHINGTON — U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott announced that his agency is pausing construction work in Big Bend National Park while he conducts an “on-the-ground evaluation,” reversing course after heavy machinery had begun moving dirt. In a video posted to X on Monday, Scott announced that he was en route to the park and had ordered a construction pause Sunday night. > “I put a pause on all activity in that park, as far as construction goes, until I can get down there and do a personal evaluation, talk to some stakeholders, talk to some local law enforcement in that area,” Scott said. “More to follow this week.” Scott’s announcement comes amid massive outcry from local residents, businesses, and law enforcement officials. Many have derided plans to build border infrastructure in the parklands and called for CBP officials to engage with their concerns. It was not immediately clear how long CBP plans to implement the pause. The federal government plans to build an access road and vehicle barriers in the park, a treasured spot for generations of Texans. Bulldozers arrived in Big Bend earlier this month to begin what CBP says is survey and design work. The onset of construction has yielded bipartisan frustration. Texas Democrats have stood against the project for months, maintaining that the effort to build border infrastructure in the park is unnecessary, damaging and an affront to Texas’ sovereignty. And both candidates for Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, which contains the Big Bend region, oppose the wall effort. > More elected Republicans have begun to make noise in recent days. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin in an Aug. 7 letter to halt construction until he or a designee consults with stakeholders — a request Scott now appears to be heeding. In a statement, Scott said he and a small team will “evaluate the terrain and listen to local leadership, community members and stakeholders to ensure that we secure our borders while simultaneously protecting BBNP for generations to come.” Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland, a retired Border Patrol agent who has argued that a border wall in the Big Bend region is unnecessary, said he has been in communication with Scott, a friend dating back to their days as Border Patrol colleagues in the 1990s. * * * __Protesters arrive at Big Bend National Park in Texas as federal contractors begin to clear land for a major border security project. CNN’s Ed Lavandera reports.__ * * * Cleveland told the _Tribune_ that he and other sheriffs in the Big Bend area, including his counterparts in Brewster, Hudspeth, and Jeff Davis counties, were meeting with Scott in Alpine Tuesday afternoon. Gov. Greg Abbott, during an unrelated news conference in Waco on Monday, said he spoke to Mullin, who “committed to me that they will not be building a wall or a fence in Big Bend National Park.” > “I was told by the secretary that there would be no construction of any type of barrier in Big Bend National Park,” Abbott said. He said that Scott’s announcement on Monday “seems to be a consequence of my conversation with the secretary this weekend.” He added that federal officials can use technology such as drones to secure this part of the Texas-Mexico border “without undermining the beauty of the national park.” CBP has said it does not plan to build a 30-foot wall or place stadium lighting in the park. In a statement Thursday, the agency said it is working to maintain visitor access and preserve the landscape, but that the construction is necessary for border security. > “These improvements will help our agents detect illegal crossings, respond faster, and assist visitors in danger,” Scott said. “As we strengthen the border across the southwest, we will not leave Big Bend as an opening for cartels to exploit by shifting their routes and tactics.” Local officials and park advocates have maintained that the 1,000-foot cliffs along the riverbank in the park are “God’s walls” — a natural deterrent for migration — and that any construction would irreparably damage the park’s unique ecology and the local tourism and outdoors industries. CBP’s Big Bend sector is geographically large yet quiet, account for just 1.3% of apprehensions along the southern border in fiscal year 2025. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, who has said that the administration needs to make its intentions in the park clear to the public and called a 30-foot bollard fence in the park unnecessary, thanked Scott for his announcement. “We can secure Big Bend while protecting its God-given scenery,” he wrote on social media. Park advocates celebrated the pause but pushed for a more permanent answer. “This temporary pause proves how much non-partisan public pressure is mounting in West Texas and across America to stop the irreversible destruction unfolding in this crown jewel national park,” said Laiken Jordahl, a national public lands advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. > “It’s welcome news, but construction at Big Bend is likely to resume at any moment. We’re not resting until these contracts are canceled, these workers are sent packing, the waivers are rescinded and every wall plan for the greater Big Bend region is scrapped for good.” CBP had previously described its actions in the park as “survey and design work — NOT construction of a wall through the park.” Scott’s description of the activity as “construction” today underscored advocates’ frustrations with the work federal contractors have already done in the park. “It’s a win that he’s looking at the park, but it also is a real statement of the irresponsibility of unleashing bulldozers before you take a look at something,” said Billy Bartko, the owner of Far Flung Outdoor Center in Terlingua. Various groups have launched legal efforts to force CBP out of the park. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, filed a petition seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent construction in the park until the case can be adjudicated. Gutierrez said the pause is a “good thing, for sure” but that opponents should continue to press for a full stoppage. He accused CBP of misrepresenting the activity it has already taken in the park as simple surveying. “That’s not what has happened here,” Gutierrez said. “It has been complete clear-cutting of the countryside, of hills and mountains — Mariscal Mountains and beyond — right along the Santa Elena Canyon, destroying vegetation [and] archaeological sites without any care in the world. We need to stop this.” -30- Originally published_by the Texas Tribune, "a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans—and engages with them—about public policy, politics, government, and statewide issues."_ _Uriel J. García and Kayla Guo contributed to this report._

Hi folks! I’m excited to be back in your inbox this month because I’ve got a fun story to share with you. I’m by no means a “gamer,” but I enjoy a good game night with friends every now and then. So when it came to my attention that a climate change-focused board game existed and that I could chat with one of the game’s creators, I jumped on it. In a world rife with false climate solutions and woefully inadequate levels of urgency, there is yet a universe of solutions large and small being pushed out. Alternative Futures is dedicated to making these seen. Maybe you've never thought about the gaming response to climate crisis, but now I've rolled the die for you: Read on! Enjoy! —Syris Valentine * * * _If you enjoy the story, share it with your friends. It helps a lot!_ _And if you have any thoughts you want to share, make sure to leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you!_ ✏️ Subscribe to all the Deceleration newsletters! Only at Deceleration.news. * * * ## Players Race to Usher in a New Sunrise in 'Daybreak,' a Board Game of Climate Change Solutions Syris Valentine | Deceleration My girlfriend called Daybreak depressing and impossible to win the first time we played it. The board game tasks players with cooperating to eliminate emissions, increase carbon sinks, and bolster their resilience to withstand the disasters that strike round after round. It’s a race against time to draw down more climate pollution than the players collectively produce. All this before global warming hits 2℃, before one of the player-managed countries collapses from crisis, and before the round counter strikes midnight on the Doomsday Clock. It’s by no means an easy undertaking. It compels players to grapple with the challenges of an expanding climate crisis. Yet the creators would be disappointed to hear their game had left its players disheartened. According to the rule book, the creators developed _Daybreak_ to “tell an uplifting story about decarbonizing the world.” That ethos of optimism appears in the game’s very name, which one of the creators, Matt Leacock, has previously said is intended to reflect, “this inflection point, this new day, this moving forward: a sunrise, not a sunset.” ### ** _Discovering Daybreak_** _Daybreak_ hit shelves with its plastic-free, FSC-certified paper packaging and pieces three years ago. Not one whisper of it graced my ears until late this May when Korby Sears, a Seattle-based game designer, asked if I’d help co-host a conversation with Matt Leacock during the mid-July Pacific Northwest Climate Week. Given my professional obsession with climate change and my amateur interest in board games, the request was easy to accept. Ahead of the conversation, I played _Daybreak_ with Korby twice, bought my own copy, played twice with my girlfriend, once with two other friends, some half-dozen times solo, and made plans to play with four other friends. Suffice it to say, I love _Daybreak_. Despite my affections, it’s admittedly easy for the game to induce a dose of despair if you find yourself repeatedly losing. After all, loss implies apocalypse. ## You're not getting the full story! This newsletter is free to read, but requires an email subscription to access the full version. Treat yourself. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

When residents of Madison County, North Carolina, sought to speak about the county’s AI surveillance cameras at a recent Madison County Commissioners meeting, commissioner Michael Garrison’s response was simple: “You will not speak on Flock tonight.” A clip capturing Garrison’s move to prevent public comment soon went viral, resonating with others waging similar battles in their communities. This sort of democratic abuse is not unusual when it comes to the fight against Flock Safety, automated license plate readers more broadly, and other forms of surveillance. To thousands of people across the country demanding an end to the use of automated license plate readers, it has become abundantly clear that the struggle is deeper than surveillance. At its core, organizing to end the use of automated license plate readers is a fight to imagine and build meaningful practices of democracy. > While companies like Flock Safety, Axon, and Motorola Solutions (among others) sell cameras to cities and police departments across the country under the auspices of improving public safety, these AI surveillance cameras are much more powerful than the companies pushing them suggest, and it is increasingly clear that they actually make us all less safe. These misnamed cameras are always on, collecting data on passing cars at all hours, and do more than just document license plates of driving cars: They can make essentially all information captured in a photo — including the make of a car, color, manufacturer, if the car has dents, bumper stickers, etc.—searchable by police and corporate customers. This past year has exposed just how dangerous automated license plate readers are as Flock Safety’s products have reportedly been used in immigration enforcement, abortion monitoring, repeated incidents of stalking, and experienced major cybersecurity breaches. But Flock is not alone. Motorola Solutions has long partnered with federal immigration enforcement, while Axon has deep ties to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and a history of major ethics violations. Flock has rightfully earned the public’s ire, but these problems are constitutive of the police surveillance industry more broadly. ## Sign up for Deceleration Deceleration is an online journal of environmental justice growing solutions to an overheating world. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. After learning about the use of these AI cameras in their communities, thousands of people across the country have demanded that automated license plate reader cameras be removed. > Thus far, more than 80 communities have either canceled, rejected, or deactivated their cameras in the growing challenge to the surveillance apparatus. These fights have also illuminated a deeper structural issue wherever such surveillance technologies are in use: a crisis of democracy. In many of these fights against AI cameras, community members have uncovered the conspicuously quiet processes their police departments or elected officials have employed to approve the use of these tools without anything resembling a democratic process, such as public disclosure, community engagement, public oversight, or any hint of transparency. Elected officials in Greenville, South Carolina, have never voted to approve the use of Flock Safety—instead, the local police have used civil asset forfeiture funds to sign a contract. Residents in Saranac Lake in New York called out their police department for moving forward with Flock Safety automated license plate readers and claimed that a potential contract was never discussed at a village board meeting. In San Diego, the police signed a new contract with Flock without engaging the city’s oversight process. And the lack of disclosure is not limited to the license plate readers. Denver signed a contract with Flock for drones but never disclosed it to Denver’s oversight board. Even in cities with the semblance of a democratic process like Oakland, Calif., backdoor dealing moved along an expansion of Flock automated license plate readers after the proposed expansion died in committee. When pressed, many elected officials have responded negatively to public engagement, exemplified by the incident in Madison County, giving a clear impression that these elected officials do not believe that the public has any role to play in defining public or community safety. Like struggles against other carceral infrastructure and policing, these fights have exposed the expansion of surveillance as a symptom of a deeper structural problem with the practice of democracy in cities across the country. In response, communities are resisting, using the oftentimes meager democratic tools available to them. > In addition to speaking at public meetings, communities are researching these tools using public records requests, engaging in political education, and hosting public events toward building consensus that these AI surveillance cameras need to go. > When faced with obstinate elected officials and police departments, communities are ratcheting up pressure and engaging in direct action. While the CEO of Flock Safety calls these groups “terroristic,” communities are utilizing the limited democratic infrastructure available, like zines, to dismantle surveillance systems. Dismantling the growing surveillance apparatus is one task of many that we must undertake to address this multifold crisis. Groups like the ACLU have attempted to create guardrails and limit the growth of the surveillance apparatus through oversight models, but these policies have often proven inadequate to address the structural problem. To address the core issue, we must not just regulate but fully dismantle the web of surveillance, both public and private, that enables fascism. If we have learned anything from the fights against automated license plate readers, it is that these are authoritarian tools—both a symptom and a material mechanism enabling this political moment. Democracies should not need to surveil their residents. For many in the U.S., fascism has long been the norm, executed through policing, incarceration, and genocidal policy. For others, authoritarianism has been normalized through the growing use of surveillance in our daily lives since 9/11. And for some, this past year has exposed how the massive data production and collection facilitated by Big Tech and supported by the federal government has undermined all our safety and security. Whether it’s through the consistent tracking of smartphones, the massive data collection performed by new cars, or the police surveillance apparatus, we’ve been collectively duped by well-executed marketing plans selling us convenience and safety when these tools really produce enormous datasets that reveal intimate aspects of our lives. These datasets are then used against us by corporations and public agencies like DHS—especially against communities already targeted for oppression, criminalization, and other forms of violence. What many have learned from this past year is how deeply violent these tools are and the certainty that many harms will come if we do not collectively demand an end to surveillance everywhere. We cannot implement tools that create such intense power asymmetries and expect any restraint or regulation to prevent them from being used to intensify repression. > The fights against surveillance (and data centers) have demonstrated a political will and desire for a more radical form of democracy than any of us have ever known. What is encouraging is how the growing movement against automated license plate readers and other surveillance includes people with a wide range of political commitments. This past year has shown that people with different politics want to work together to address the problems we share. The many groups challenging surveillance understand that the stakes are too high to not work together. People across the country want to shape what safety means in their communities. We collectively recognize that real safety is not a product to be bought and sold. Meaningful public debates about safety will not be easy to conduct or facilitate, but we don’t have a choice. Either we start to practice democracy, or the surveillance dream built by DHS and the technofascists will reign supreme. -30- _This column was_ originally published_by Truthout._

UPDATE: Deadline has been extended to August 15! Summer 2026 has been full of official events that deny not only the current moment of white nationalist violence we’re living, but also its roots 250 years ago amid longer settler colonial histories of genocide and slavery. Having inherited a world rent by violence and division, it’s more important than ever to highlight how ordinary people continue to walk and work together to weave networks of care and connection, resilience and resistance. Despite everything, these living connections continue, sustaining what it takes to be humans within the whole community of life. Sharing creative celebrations of these connections—via story, poetry, song, image—is powerful. When we share these creations, it not only rejects the idea that our current path is inevitable or that there is no alternative; it opens up new imaginaries in which another world is possible, as the old slogan goes. Or, as the Zapatistas remind us, “un mundo donde quepan muchos mundos” (a world in which many worlds fit). * * * * * * **_Many Worlds, Celebrate!_** invites creative expressions that help us imagine these many worlds, refusing dominant values of conquest and individualism and celebrating pluriversal messages of determination and joy. We're looking less for laments and indictments, more for ways of seeing and writing that highlight the ways communities are already inhabiting other worlds and building other possible futures. 250 years from now, what do you envision for lands, water, people, and non-human relatives--and how will we have gotten there? To submit your piece, email it to marisol at deceleration dot news along with a short artist bio (150-200 words) by Saturday, August 15, 2026. Some suggested specs below: * Poetry: 1-3 poems * Flash fic and creative nonfic: 1,000 words max * Song: .mp3 or YouTube link * Visual art: high resolution images (300dpi) We hope to follow the publication of this issue with a release event and community dialogue. Details to come! -30- _Top image combines 'Cosmic View' by Stiller Beobachter, photo of environmental art by Anne Burgess, & concept art piece by Ryzom. All Creative Commons._

Hey y’all. I’m wrapping up my capstone for graduate school and will soon return to Texas. Or what’s left of what I can remember of it. I'm contending, like many of you, with the momentous news that Brownville’s economic boosters have hitched our future to autonomous killing machines developed in league with none other than Palantir, AI-powered attack boats going into mass production in a time of wanton targeted extrajudicial killings across the Caribbean and Pacific oceans. And so with as much certainty as anyone who’s had to report on the region’s asinine politics, let me offer this observation: > Our future has been jettisoned by the RGV’s elected and business leaders entirely for their own personal legacies. For an idea of immortality. The long-term health of people and the landscapes enfolding us, for them, always comes second, if at all. There’s a doublethink happening among the Valley’s elected officials that I haven’t seen acknowledged, including by a local news ecosystem so busy manufacturing consent for the region’s transformation into the next U.S. military industrial complex/colony. So let me give it a stab. These so-called boosters are engaging in doublethink when they talk about bettering our lives. They should know full well that the industries coming to the Valley–oil and gas, more space commerce, and now the Saronic war machinery company–are death throes investments. > These companies reach for the southern tip of Texas because there is nowhere else to go, no one else easier to please for so little. And yet these elected and economic development suits are trying to enshrine themselves before they, too, are lost to memory damnation, their names spoken only when referring to who’s responsible for the betrayal. That’s the only way they can tell you (because maybe they earnestly believe it) that an oil refinery is a great opportunity for poor old Brownsville. Then, two weeks later, one will blow up on the opposite end of the Texas coast, because sometimes the universe provides an inarguable truth when it's needed most. This month’s newsletter comes from late nights in a string of hotel rooms, Washington, D.C., Boston, and St. Paul, Minn. Penned when I’d be too pissed off to sleep after reading news from Brownsville and beyond over the last few weeks. This is my attempt to define what drives an ongoing murder-suicide of the Rio Grande Valley, a unique mix of apathy, ignorance, and enabling end-times fascism that now defines the politics of the region. As I write below: It's all done in the name of living forever while destroying our collective futures. — Gaige Davila 🌀 __Is there something happening on the coast you think I should know? Let me know in the comments below or at__ ___gaige@deceleration.news___ __.__ Subscribe to all the Deceleration newsletters. * * * __Saronic illustration of planned autonomous shipbuilding yard at the Port of Brownsville. Courtesy image__ ## The Last Land Battle of the Civil War Happened Near Boca Chica Beach.The Motivations Behind the Needless Killings Are Surprisingly Current. Gaige Davila | Deceleration A month after the Civil War formally ended, Union and Confederate soldiers killed each other in Brownsville, near Boca Chica Beach, for two days in May 1865. An informal truce had paused the warring for months before what would later be named the “Battle of Palmito Ranch.” At least one historian attributes this truce breaking to the insecurity of John Salmon “Rip” Ford, who was leading the Confederate forces in Brownsville at the time. Ford likely knew the war was over, but formal declarations mean nothing to people who have have profit and posterity top of mind. “What was at stake was honor, money, and perhaps a bit of racism,” Texas A&M International historian Jerry Thompson wrote in 2003. “With a stubborn reluctance to admit defeat, Ford asserted that the dignity and manhood of his men had to be defended. > “Having previously proclaimed that he would never capitulate to ‘a mongrel force of Abolitionists, negroes, plundering Mexicans, and perfidious renegades’ who would ‘murder and rob ... with impunity,’ Ford was not about to surrender to invading Black troops," Thompson wrote. > "Ever more important was the large quantity of Richard King and Mifflin Kenedy's cotton stacked in Brownsville waiting to be sent across the river to Matamoros. If Ford did not hold off the invading Federal force, the cotton would be confiscated by the Yankees and thousands of dollars lost.” Ford would later become the mayor of Brownsville and edit some of its long-gone newspapers before dying in San Antonio. But his legacy is most attached to the Battle of Palmito Ranch, which is considered the last land battle of the Civil War. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the war’s four years, the last dying in Brownsville after the war had already ended. Ford’s reasons for initiating this killing hold only political or wartime merit for those who detach such things from dead people, as the worst historians do. Ford had no moral justification for the killing. Ford had a blood oath against being lost to history—and if there was a chance to make money, he was going to get his. __Half-plate ambrotype of John Salmon Ford, photographed while serving as a Texas Ranger. Image: Civil War Preservation Trust__ This same arrogance is embedded in Brownsville’s, maybe in the entire Valley’s, political consciousness today, a historical memory that plays out over and over again as if the city has been cursed for the many sins of its forefathers. Recently, leadership in Brownsville, Harlingen and even Port Isabel’s school district sold out their communities to Saronic for essentially nothing. The linkage to Palantir didn’t make a single wave. > “Palantir is committed to accelerating the American manufacturing renaissance and partnering with companies like Saronic that are able to say the same” said Emily Nguyen, Head of Industrials at Palantir Technologies. “Warp Speed will unify Saronic’s manufacturing processes, providing the insights and operations that will give Saronic greater control, visibility, and agility as they continue to rapidly scale.” ## You're not getting the full story! This newsletter is free to read, but requires an email subscription to access the full version. Treat yourself. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

Rebecca Lindsey is no stranger to challenging the status quo. From an early age, she built a reputation for being outspoken. Her mother, a teacher, encouraged an inquisitive spirit on Lindsey and her sister Mary, even to the chagrin of administrators at the schools they attended. Lindsey recalled a time when a high school principal confronted her mother: “Your daughters, they ask questions, they challenge me.” “My mom said, ‘Well, are they rude about it?’ and he said, ‘Well, no.’” Asking questions, her mother said to the principal, is “what we raised them to do,’” Lindsey told _The 19th_. A few years later, Lindsey was working at NASA as a technical writer for a satellite mission, her first job out of graduate school. In a room full of men, she spoke up during a meeting as the woman who had been training her watched in disbelief. Later, the woman told Lindsey that she had never spoken at any one of these meetings. > So last year, after the Trump administration shut down NOAA’s official climate information website, Climate.gov, and Lindsey became one of the roughly 280,000 federal workers to lose their jobs, she knew something had to be done. > > Lindsey joined forces with former NOAA employees Anna Eshelman, and Mary Lindsey, her older sister, to become the core team behind the deactivated site’s successor, Climate.us, preserving over 15 years of key climate data and resources. The trove features key maps, educational materials, and climate indicator reports, including the now-deleted Fifth National Climate Assessment, the government’s most comprehensive analysis of climate change that was at risk of being lost to the public. Lindsey told The 19th that the venture came out of a need for more science-backed climate information. For decades, Climate.gov was the go-to resource that translated complex climate science data into accessible public information, sharing critical tips on everything from how to survive heat waves to explainers on El Niño’s impacts on hurricanes to over 15 million site visitors per year. Funding for climate communications used to come straight from the federal government and for that to just be “yanked away” was jarring, Lindsey said. “It’s not a pretty picture for climate communication and climate journalism right now,” Lindsey said. “We just felt like it was really important that there be a mature, robust, comprehensive online platform to serve as a hub. We felt that there needed to be a foundation, or cornerstone, that other people could build on and grow with.” She said that after a non-peer-reviewed Department of Energy report created by a panel of climate denialists published last summer, it raised alarms among NOAA employees about what could happen to Climate.gov. Federal courts later deemed the convening of the panelists unlawful. She said that the former Climate.gov, which is now rerouted to NOAA.gov, remains vulnerable to political influence. > “Trusted climate information should not disappear when politics change,” Lindsey said. Lindsey is Climate.us’ managing editor. Eshelman is its lead designer. Mary Lindsey is its lead data visualizer. The three women were laid off after the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, an initiative created by executive order in January 2025 to cut the size of the federal government, took aim at diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives and scientific-focused fields. Women, who made up 46 percent of the federal workforce, were hit particularly hard by the cuts. DOGE fizzled out several months before it was scheduled to sunset on July 4. Before the cuts hit NOAA, Rebecca Lindsey had been Climate.gov’s program manager since 2023, Eshelman worked as an artist with the Climate.gov team for over four years and Mary Lindsey worked on the site for 13 years as a data visualization expert. At the time, women made up about 29 percent of STEM federal workers and 26 percent of all STEM leaders in the federal government, according to the 2019 Equal Employment Opportunity Report. “We are communicators. We are not climate scientists,” Lindsey said of the trio behind Climate.us, noting that some outlets have incorrectly described the team as scientists. “Climate.us will be a bridge between scientists and the public.” Since its June 23 launch, Climate.us has raised more than $400,000 through a mix of crowd funding and individual donations. Lindsey said that while there’s uncertainty ahead for the long run, it is enough to keep the project running until early 2027, and the widespread support was “very touching,” to see. Some eagle-eyed visitors of Climate.gov may recognize the same “climate dashboard” on the new site, tracking the Earth’s temperature, greenhouse gas levels and rising sea levels. Lindsey said they aim to retain the most notable parts of the site, while growing and continuing to update. > “Who we are now and what we’re doing is not the full Climate.gov. But we feel like it’s worth it,” she said. “It’s something, and we’re going to do the best we can to keep the most important parts of the site updated.” The project employs three people, though Lindsey estimates it will ultimately need 10 to 12 employees to be sustainable. More than 80 men and women scientists have also volunteered as subject-matter reviewers to help ensure scientific accuracy. Lindsey said she grew up in a household that valued both the humanities and the sciences. She credits women teachers in physics, biology, chemistry and math with showing her that science was a field where women belonged. “I think that having representation of women in the sciences and including women in leadership positions in the sciences is important,” Lindsey said. “I don’t know if I would have chosen the path I chose if I hadn’t had those pivotal women teachers telling me that science is a path where women can go.” Today, Lindsey sees that same willingness to speak up and educate as a central role in Climate.us. In addition to the project’s climate work, Lindsey and Eshelman told The 19th that they hope Climate.us can provide similar inspiration to other women who want to pursue these careers. “I would be thrilled if our example made other women feel empowered,” Lindsey said. Eshelman added: “This core team of women came together organically, and just reflects the people and skillsets who stepped into these roles. That being said, I think it’s great to see women at the core for projects like this, and if seeing this team inspires other women to explore what’s possible, then I think that’s worth celebrating.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Tuesday making the state the first in the nation to implement a moratorium on new hyperscale data centers. The Democratic governor said she would pause environmental permits while the state researches and develops a regulatory framework to protect ratepayers, the environment, the energy grid and communities. Four hyperscale data centers are already operating in the state, and applications are pending for 39 more. The facilities have sparked concerns over their potential energy and water consumption at a time when there is overwhelming scientific consensus about the need to conserve energy and stem the fossil fuel emissions warming the global climate and intensifying disasters. > “This pause will remain in place for up to one year while New York establishes the strongest possible framework to protect our communities, guardrails to reduce the risk to our energy grid, minimize land disruption, noise pollution and protect our natural resources, especially our water supply,” Hochul said in remarks accompanying the executive order. The New York Legislature approved a broader moratorium in June, although there were doubts over whether Hochul, who is up for re-election this year, would sign the measure, as she had said the issue should be left to municipalities. Tuesday’s order represents a good first step but does not go as far as the earlier legislation, said Eric Wood, senior environmental program coordinator at the New York Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit organization. “The state Legislature’s bill is much more protective of the New York state individual, while the governor’s proposal seems to be a halfway between the billion-dollar tech industry and her constituents,” he said. Kate Boicourt, the Environmental Defense Fund’s New York state director, said the executive order is the first step to building a “clear set of rules” standardized across the state. > “There’s things that need to be statewide standards,” Boicourt said. “Otherwise, if you’re having specific municipality-by-municipality rules, you are potentially shifting what’s allowed in one area and not being allowed in the other. There’s a lot of the clean energy standards that add up to New York’s climate goals that seem to be critical to cross those boundaries that are within the purview of the state.” * * * * * * Some business and trade groups decried the moratorium as bad for business. “A shortsighted moratorium only accomplishes one thing: It kills good-paying union jobs,” said Mark McManus, general president of the United Association, a labor union for plumbers and pipefitters that has advocated for data center construction. The state was one of about a dozen with legislative proposals this year to pause or ban data centers. In April, the Maine legislature became the first in the nation to approve a moratorium, but Gov. Janet Mills vetoed the measure. The effort in New York is important because it is a “trendsetter state,” said Darrell West, a Brookings Institution senior fellow who researches AI and technology policy. “What happens there often spreads to other areas. So the fact that New York has adopted a one-year moratorium suggests there may be others that follow, and that’s a very big deal for the future of data centers and AI in general,” he said. “The public opposition to data centers is widespread across the country. It’s not limited to Democratic or Republican areas, urban or rural areas. The public worries are broad-based and across the political spectrum, so there could be lots of states that move in this direction.” Cushman & Wakefield, the commercial real estate services company, ranked the New York-New Jersey data center market near the bottom of the country’s top dozen markets, with 657 megawatts of projects in operation at the end of 2025. For context, the largest market, Virginia, had 11,275 megawatts in operation. A moratorium in New York is significant, but much less so than if it had been in one of the bigger markets, which include Portland, Oregon; Columbus, Ohio; and Phoenix. Mitch Jones, managing director of policy and litigation for the national advocacy group Food & Water Watch, welcomed the moratorium, saying data centers threaten electricity bills, water supply, and air quality. > “We’re just glad that New Yorkers are going to have a pause to the building of hyperscale data centers in the state, so that communities can better educate themselves about the dangers posed by the data center buildout, and continue to then educate their elected officials about why permanent protections need to be put in place,” Jones said. Jones described data centers as a “cross-cutting issue” that unites Democratic and Republican opposition, and said he hopes Hochul’s actions can set a national precedent. A Gallup poll published in May showed that nearly three-fourths of Americans oppose construction of data centers in their localities, including over 60 percent of Republicans. “It’s going to put further pressure on legislators to actually pass moratorium bills that are being introduced in their state, and it’s going to put pressure on governors to act on their own and to issue executive orders similar to—but maybe a little more aggressive than—the one signed by Governor Hochul today,” Jones said. Cole Jermyn, an energy transition attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund, said the next step for New York is for regulatory agencies to debate the details of long-term data center policy. “This is something where details really matter, and executive orders aren’t usually the place where you’re trying to do detailed utility regulatory policy,” Jermyn said. “The impact of this executive order will depend on that work,” he added. Jones said he hopes Hochul’s executive order will prompt New York to extend its pause on data centers by close to the three years Food & Water Watch originally proposed. “What we need to do is take this pause, take the studies included in this pause, but we need to go further and we need to go deeper, and that’s probably going to require taking even a longer moratorium,” Jones said. -30- _This article by Amy Green, Dan Gearino, and Ajani Stella was_ originally published_by Inside Climate News._

Hello again, loyal reader. I thank you for taking the time to read again after a brief absence. For this newsletter I am making a short reflective detour. This is probably my tenth version of this introduction. I have written and re-written and thought and re-thought the words, the message, the information I want to share with you. As we enter the 250th year since the establishment of this nation-state, I have been overcome by a loss for words. I’ve questioned what I could possibly offer you when the President thinks he spoke to Teddy Roosevelt IRL, Mercury is in the microwave, and the SCOTUS is acting a fool again. When the only voice of reason in the chambers of our nation’s highest judicial power, the only consistent voice of dissent, comes from a wise Latina. Maybe that is what I can offer: voices of dissent amid despair that hopefully resonate with your rage and incite, if not joy, then the endurance that clears space for bridges of connection and community. In composing this newsletter for you, I ask the same question Audre Lorde did in relation to her own writing: > “Am I altering your aura, your ideas, your dreams or am I merely moving you to temporary reactive action?” I would add that I question if even the latter is true.__ It is easy to fold to defeat when consistent pressure just to stay afloat compounds the constant drumbeat of devastating news. If you do anything this weekend—well, besides read this newsletter—I hope it is to challenge yourself to remain ungovernable. —Roxana Rojas 🫀 Check out all of Deceleration's monthly and weekly newsletters. * * * _If this newsletter speaks to you, be sure to share it with your friends, family, and community. Is there a story not being covered that you’d like to see? Join as a paying supporter and engage in the comments below. Let me know what you want to see in the next newsletter!_ * * * ## **Consent of the Governed** > _˝All men recognize the right to revolution; that is the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable.”_ > —Henry David Thoreau In the last week of June alone, the Supreme Court issued a number of devastating rulings pertaining to the legal status of immigrants (and US citizens) and their treatment by the US government. On June 25, it both upheld the practice of “metering” to prevent refugees from filing asylum claims (a policy known as “Remain in Mexico”) and also made it easier for the government to revoke Temporary Protected Status beyond Haitians and Syrians (bad enough) by limiting the ability of the courts to hear _any_ legal challenges to TPS determinations. In both rulings, Justice Sotomayor was joined only by women in her dissent, along with Justice Jackson and Kagan. In the former, Sotomayor herself delivered the dissent, after which Alito, in an unheard of manner, grumbled before the bench. The one bright spot in June’s rulings (if you can call it that) was the Court’s narrow 5-4 reaffirmation of birthright citizenship, a right clearly and **plainly** stated in the Constitution’s 14th amendment, which the Trump administration nonetheless attempted to overturn in an executive order from January 2025. The audacity of the administration to unilaterally make changes to the Constitution, an act that by definition of our government system requires Congressional approval, does not surprise me—given that our president doesn’t know (or care) how the government works. In light of these rulings, I have spent much of the last month in deep reflection on the sustainability of long-term resistance. It seems that no level of vile attack on our lives, our freedoms, and our very existence is beyond this administration, nor does it seem to spark significant collective action on a national level to mobilize and effectuate change. > What straw are we waiting for if the camel’s back is already broken? Did the sleeping giant take too much valerian or melatonin? Maybe the Ambien was laced with diazepam? What about everyone else? ## You're not getting the full story! This newsletter is free to read, but requires an email subscription to access the full version. Treat yourself. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

As a die-hard soccer fan, and given that climate change is impacting the World Cup, I thought about spending this week’s newsletter looking at FIFA’s fraught connection with the fossil fuel industry and the push by both players and fans to rid the sport of fossil fuel sponsorships. But that didn’t feel like the kind of solutions-forward story that I aim to bring you here, so I knew I needed something else. Then, an encounter with cups at a World Cup viewing event gave me the idea to revisit a topic and solution that my city has been pursuing for some years. As you read what I discovered below, go ahead and leave a comment about the best reuse projects you've experienced or where the movement should be heading. I’d love to hear from you! On to the Story, Syris * * * ✏️ Subscribe to all the Deceleration newsletters! Only at Deceleration.news. * * * __Reusable cups await your lips. Photo:__ r.World On Sunday, I woke up early and eager to get to the World Cup Fan Fest that has taken over a once-thriving shopping mall in Downtown Seattle to watch Spain take on Saudi Arabia in the day’s first match at 9am. But as I rushed to get out the door so I could beat the line and grab a seat behind the mezzanine railing to watch the game on the four story screen erected on the opposite side of the atrium, I hadn’t the time to fill my thermos with coffee, so I just left my apartment with the prayer that the concessions in the fanzone would have what I needed to slake my caffeine craving. As a climate journalist and a former climate advocate, I ache a little when I buy a drink at a cafe or concession stand, knowing it’ll come in a disposable cup. Despite coffee being as central to Seattle’s urban identity as our evergreen trees, our cafe culture remains much the same as the rest of the United States. Most Seattleites tend to filter through their favorite local roastery, exchange perfunctory pleasantries with the barista, then stride out clutching a branded paper cup, only occasionally taking the drink to stay while chatting with friends or working away on a laptop. Even then, the coffee tends to come in a single-use paper cup instead of a ceramic mug. All those cups add up. > It’s hard to find solid data on just how many disposable cups Americans throw away each year. But estimates suggest it’s in the _billions_ — anywhere from 25 billion to 50 billion, in fact. It’s a disaster all its own. > Millions of trees are felled each year to manufacture them, and the chemicals used to waterproof them make paper cups as toxic for the environment as plastic ones. With that in mind, I always try my best to carry a thermos when I make a coffee run. My own individual choice doesn’t make a meaningful difference in isolation, of course, but at least it eases the burden of guilt I feel. All to say, on Sunday, I wasn’t thrilled about drinking coffee from a paper cup while I watched the Spanish and the Saudis face off, but when I need a caffeine fix, I’ll take it however I can get it. Thankfully, the fanzone itself, aided by an initiative that the City of Seattle launched four years ago, helped keep my karmic landfill free of one less paper cup. ## You're not getting the full story! This newsletter is free to read, but requires an email subscription to access the full version. Treat yourself. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

> "This treaty represents a collaborative commitment to challenge the anti-Black and settler colonial systems that have historically sought to position our communities as mutual antagonists to one another. But to move forward, this treaty is our way, together, of formalizing and inaugurating a process of truth and accountability. > —THE TREATY OF KÓDEESLÍ’Í_, Signed June 20, 2026_ BRACKETVILLE, Texas—Over the Juneteenth weekend, four Lipan Apache Ndé and Black Seminole communities came together to sign the historic Treaty of Kódeeslí’í near Las Moras Springs on the former Fort Clark, roughly 30 miles from the US-Mexico border in far Southwest Texas. Kódeeslí’í is the Ndé name for the springs, meaning “the water that flows.” Yet since 2022, Las Moras Springs, located just outside of Brackettville, have consistently run dry for about a third of the year, a pattern that correlates with drastically expanded groundwater pumping in the area. During the treaty signing ceremony, Gage Brown of the Las Moras Springs Conservation Association acknowledged this: > "For thousands and thousands of years, Native people have lived in relationship with this water," Brown said. "But for the first time in recorded history, the spring and creek have dried up for almost half the year, every year since 2022." Underlying these contemporary conservation struggles are long histories of settler colonial violence that have pitted Indigenous and Black communities against one another in this part of Texas. In the 19th century, Black Seminole refugees from Florida served as U.S. military scouts in exchange for promises of land, helping to dispossess Ndé (Apache) and Nʉmʉnʉʉ (Comanche) groups from the Rio Grande borderlands that had been their traditional homelands since at least the 15th century. The Treaty of Kódeeslí’í, signed by representatives from the Lipan Apache Tribe of Brackettville, Texas, The Lipan Apache Band of Texas Cuelcahen Ndé, the Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association (SISCA), and La Casa of the Black Seminole Diaspora, acknowledges this painful history and declares the communities’ shared intention to “challenge the anti-Black and settler colonial systems that have historically sought to position our communities as mutual antagonists.” Through its name and composition, the treaty affirms the ground and waters of this region as first Native and now something more complex and shared. ## Sign up for Deceleration Deceleration is an online journal of environmental justice growing solutions to an overheating world. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. > As conservationists struggle to save Las Moras Springs and pressure the Kinney County Groundwater Conservation District (KCGCD) to adopt a drought plan, the treaty seeks to heal a deeper wound: the colonial foundation upon which the current water crisis is built. __Gigi Pines signs the Treaty of Kódeeslí’í as (left to right) Windy Goodloe, Richard Gonzalez, Jason Davalos, and Anita Anaya look on. Image: Mark Mallory__ ### **Ko’ee,_The Place of Water_** Las Moras springs are sacred to both communities, with archaeological evidence of human presence going back at least 8,000 years. Speaking before the treaty ceremony, Andrew Austin, a member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Brackettville, related how “the sacred 68-degree water that's coming out of the Edwards aquifer, it is truly one of the most special places in the state." > "There's no other reason to live here other than the spring," said Austin. "That's why my Ndé ancestors came here. It's why the Coahuiltecan groups were here. It's why settlers came here. It's everything in this community.” Fort Clark was built around the springs in 1852. While serving as Seminole Negro Indian Scouts for the U.S. Army from 1870 to 1914, Black Seminoles also came to understand Las Moras Springs as sacred. Augusta “Gigi” Pines, president of SISCA, described how she’d “heard many stories about the camp, especially about the river going along there. I've heard that my ancestors used that river for everything, for watering the gardens, for cooking, for watering the animals, for bathing, for everything.” Describing her feelings wading in the waters of Las Moras Creek, Pines stated: “I just could feel a peace when I went down in there … I feel like their spirits are still in there.” However, in 1914, when their use to the Army had concluded, the Black Seminoles were evicted from their military reservation along Las Moras Creek where they had lived for nearly 50 years. For some community members, Fort Clark Springs, a gated community formed after Fort Clark was decommissioned in the 1940s, represents a persistent architecture of exclusion that continues to segregate the sacred waters of Las Moras Springs from the people to whom they belong. For instance, one Ndé community member said that Fort Clark Springs is "a relic of segregation." > "[T]hey took our lands, we lost a lot of our culture, and now we can't even have our spring." said Gage Brown. “A lot needs to change, including returning full and free access to this place to Native people like the Lipan and the Seminoles.” Today, the 19th century colonial order which prioritized settler land acquisition over Indigenous land tenure has matured into a system of extractive capitalism where the “rule of capture” allows a handful of large-scale irrigators to deplete the aquifer. The rule of capture dictates that if you legally extract a resource, such as water from the Edward Aquifer, it is yours, even if it naturally migrated from beneath a neighbor's property. Previous reporting__ details how Kinney County has long been an epicenter for struggles over water use in this part of southwest Texas. Historically, the county’s economy was built on stockraising, but a significant shift occurred in 1957 when oil drilling accidentally uncovered an abundant source of recharged groundwater in Pinto Valley. This led to 25 years of intensive vegetable farming before economics forced a shift toward livestock feed crops like sorghum and water-intensive alfalfa. In 1997, a new state mandate for regions to secure water supplies for the next 50 years, combined with Kinney County’s small population and vast groundwater, attracted the attention of thirsty cities like San Antonio. In response, voters overwhelmingly approved the creation of the KCGCD to regulate pumping and protect local water. Over time, however, the KCGCD has largely been captured by the county’s largest irrigators that it was ostensibly created to regulate. The KCGCD board is currently divided between major permit holders and those pushing for a drought plan. According to Andrew Austin, some large-scale farmers “moved here because the groundwater district is useless...because there's no restrictions.” Andrew Austin and Richard Gonzalez, general chairman of the Lipan Apache Band of Texas Cuelcahen Ndé, both emphasized the need for the KCGCD to adopt a drought plan to protect the long-term health of the springs. __Water levels at Las Moras Springs diversion pool in recent years show regularly drying out.__ USGS data KCGCD President Wes Robinson has publicly opposed limiting pumping permits or adopting a drought plan. According to reporting by Carolea Hassard at the Brackett Beacon, Robinson holds two water pumping permits totaling 3,100 acre-feet. An email statement from Robinson offered a striking shift in rhetoric, however, claiming his goal is to "determine how much we are impacting Las Moras Springs, then plan on how to reduce those impacts" through high-tech, capital-intensive strategies such as "conjunctive use, aquifer storage and retrieval, rainfall enhancement and/or relocation of [municipal] wells." But this stated concern for the springs is inconsistent with his record of dismissing spring-flow mandates as "pie-in-the-sky" and his assertion that groundwater usage "increases during a drought." Robinson’s focus on relocating municipal wells does not seem to take into account a 2006 report indicating municipal wells likely draw from a “different source than the springs,” or the relatively low municipal usage compared to irrigation pumping, which has nearly tripled over the last decade. By suggesting multi-million-dollar technical fixes at a time when a recent state audit has pointed out substantial financial weakness in the district, and while he continues to oppose a standard drought plan, Robinson's proposal raises questions about whether the district is willing to pursue more immediate measures to protect the springs. Questions about groundwater management formed an important backdrop to the treaty ceremony, but speakers repeatedly referenced how the dispute over Las Moras Springs could not be reduced to a technical debate about pumping permits or hydrology. Gage Brown argued that the dispute over groundwater cannot be separated from the region's colonial history. > "That attitude, that we should take whatever we want and still demand more is an echo of the same colonizer mentality that drove Native people off this land," she said. Those remarks reflect a broader theme of the ceremony: that justice for water and justice between communities are inseparable projects. While the struggle to save the springs is a legal and political battle against the "rule of capture," which treats water as a private property right to be extracted for profit, the treaty offers an alternative Indigenous logic for relating to water. __Clockwise from upper left: Juneteenth parade in Bracketville, Texas; Jason Davalos of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Brackettville, Texas, gifts Gigi Pines of the Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association a bundle of sage, cedar, and mescal beads; Windy Goodloe reads a welcome message during the Treaty of Kódeeslí’í signing ceremony; Gabriel Sánchez reads the Treaty of Kódeeslí’í during the signing ceremony. Images: Mark Mallory__ ### **Kódeeslí’í,_The Water That Flows_** Rather than treating water as a resource to be possessed, participants in the Juneteenth signing of the Treaty of Kódeeslí’í framed the springs as the basis for reciprocal responsibilities. > "That water to us is key [to] life...and I expect other people to treat it like it belongs to us all, not just to them," said Richard Gonzalez. "We share the water. And it's not my water." While the springs run low for yet another summer, the treaty contrastingly “represents an opening dialogue, a wellspring covenant for life, peace, and harmony moving forward.” In this way, the treaty is a bold act of grassroots diplomacy that emphasizes the painful history of settler colonial dispossession underlying the contemporary crisis. Its text outlines how it “represents a commitment to tell the unvarnished truth—the entire history that has brought our two communities together, both good and bad.” Anita Anaya, enrollment committee officer of the Lipan Apache Band of Texas, captured this, saying that “We can't forget, but we can forgive. And I feel that's the only way we both can grow and be united.” Richard Gonzalez’s grandmother taught him a critical lesson when passing along her memories of surviving the 1873 Remolino Raid, where Black Seminoles and other U.S. troops attacked Native villages in northern Mexico: > “You forgive those things," she said, "because it releases that anger that you have inside. That's going to hold you back...forever, not just you, but your family and future generations." __Richard Gonzalez, general chairman of the Lipan Apache Band of Texas Cuelcahen Ndé, recalls how his grandmother survived Remolino's Raid in 1873 as child. Native Voice TV__ The Treaty of Kódeeslí’í emphasizes the complexity of these communities’ shared history, as well as their status as Indigenous peoples unrecognized by the United States. It states, for instance, that “[r]egardless of designation by other sovereign entities…the Black Seminole community has long acknowledged our dual indigenous roots from Africa and from North America.” Or as Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association (SISCA) secretary Windy Goodloe put it, “I don't think we should ever wait for a government entity to acknowledge us. If we wait for the government, it probably will never get done.” Corina Torralba Harrington, SISCA treasurer and representative of La Casa of the Black Seminole Diaspora, echoed this, saying: > "We have documents ... that cannot deny who our people are. And I feel like we don't need the government to acknowledge that. We know who we are." The treaty outlines the history of broken treaties between Ndé communities and various governments, along with the history of broken promises by the United States to the Black Seminoles. It relates how “[b]oth communities have faced forced dispossession at the hands of colonial powers.” Goodloe agreed. > "To tell this story as just the good guys versus the bad guys does a disservice," she said. "The more that you make sure that every player in this story is seen as human, hopefully the mistakes that were made won't be repeated again.” The treaty is rooted in the worldviews and teachings of both communities, emerging from years of relationship-building on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Gigi Pines recounted how “Miss Charles,” who founded SISCA in 1967, “taught us that we should love each other and try and get along with each other, no matter who we are or where we came from. It's good for the younger generations to see how organizations can come alongside each other and try to get along.” For more than a decade, Ndé community members have participated in SISCA events; in Goodloe’s words, "if we weren't on good terms with the Lipan Apache ... this would not be happening.” Anita Anaya said similarly of the Black Seminoles that “we feel a relation to them,” emphasizing her friendship with Gigi Pines. The treaty ceremony, held as part of SISCA’s annual Juneteenth celebration, also took inspiration from previous ceremonies held in El Nacimiento de los Negros, in the Mexican border state of Coahuila. Corina Harrington described how “[w]e had a sweat lodge. We did songs. You know, we cooked together,” relating how “they've become like family”: “It’s becoming so natural,” she said, “that they come into the community and we do something together. It’s been a blessing to be able to have this relationship with the Ndés." How the largely symbolic treaty’s promise of truth and accountability will be carried out in the future remains to be seen. Nonetheless, it invites the possibility of joint ceremonies and of greater cultural and educational exchanges connecting people, land, and water in the future. > Most importantly, by acknowledging the harm of coerced Black Seminole participation in Ndé dispossession while simultaneously celebrating their renewed friendship, the treaty participants are cultivating practices of accountability that challenge the colonial structures underwriting the contemporary water crisis in Brackettville and across the American West. Beneath the shade of towering oaks near the low-running Las Moras Springs, burning white sage perfumed the air with its purifying smoke as representatives of the four organizations gathered with community members and supporters for the treaty ceremony. The treaty was read aloud before representatives exchanged signatures and gifts representing the cultural heritage of each community. Punctuated by traditional songs from both communities, the ceremony included remarks from each organization, ending with a traditional Ndé dance—an invitation for all those in attendance to rise to their feet and come together. note to our readers Join Now

Late last month, dozens of area residents lined up behind a mic on San Antonio’s far west side expressing outrage that a massive new data center was being constructed blocks away—before residents were even consulted. In the course of the meeting, they learned the facility with dozens of diesel generators and planned gas-fired power plant was actually already in operation. And, as _Deceleration_ would later report, that the TCEQ approved Vantage Data Centers’s original air permit apparently on the same day it was submitted to the state. One could forgive residents for believing the entire political apparatus is in the tank for AI data centers. Wrote one of the hundreds commenters on one of _Deceleration’s_ recent instagram posts about the facility (with an aerial survey of the site): > “The zoning in Texas is a joke. There needs to be zoning restructuring and an overhaul done because it is atrocious how buildings can be next to residential areas.” Zoning is, in fact, one of the few tools cities have to control where data centers pop up. While Council members displayed a range of opinions about data centers at a March 2026 meeting (from unease to full-bore boosterism), there appears to be no interest in advancing a local ban as recently passed San Marcos’s City Council. Rather, there is a slow-moving effort being made within the Office of Development Services to explore possible zoning changes that would distinguish data centers from other categories of users to help the city regulate where they may build. If community pressure doesn’t force electeds and city staff to to take faster action, those recommendations will likely come back to Council for consideration in the fall. This Thursday the office is hosting its second “Stakeholder Discussion Group” conversation on the subject. It’s unclear who the department invited to the table. But it is a public meeting, as the office’s public relations official confirmed for _Deceleration_ , and residents to come participate. > “This is not a formal meeting, like a board meeting. … This is a group of stakeholders comprised some industry reps, engineering firms, staff, etc.,” wrote Ximena Copa-Wiggins. Copa-Wiggins didn’t have an agenda to share but confirmed that the discussion is dedicated to data centers and utility usage. * * * __Click to access via the Deceleration bioregional events calendar.__ * * * ### Data Centers, Industrial Operations, and San Antonio ** _Stakeholder discussion group_** * 1pm-4pm Thursday, June 25, 2026 _Cliff Morton Development and Business Services Center 1901 S. Alamo St., San Antonio, TX 78204_ Meeting is in the board room. **_Additional meeting info from Development Services:_** _Please allow 10-15 additional minutes before scheduled meeting at the One Stop to check in._ * _Due to new security measures, you will be required to pass through a metal detector and security wand._ * _In addition, you will need to check in with our staff at the Meet and Greet Counter (first encounter with City staff downstairs)._ _Note that you may park in the lot adjacent to the building or the lot across the street at 1902 S. Alamo (usually this one has more capacity); for your safety, please use the crosswalk if parking at 1902 S. Alamo._

Four modular nuclear reactors could soon power the Dow facility at Seadrift, Texas, all but eliminating a major source of pollution at the notorious facility. No, not the chronic slurry of plastic pellets that have been filling the bay and coating the shoreline for years, the subject of a recent state lawsuit. Not _that_ pollution. This would allegedly displace the facility’s need for gas-fired power responsible for 500,00 metric tons of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere each year, gases that are largely responsible for overheating the planet’s climate system. The power behind the pellets, in other words. Positive press spin from outlets like _Interesting Engineering_ and the Associated Press (which declared nuclear energy as “clean” energy, a fact belied by decades of mining contamination/poisonings and ongoing hunts for disposal solutions for radioactive wastes that last tens of thousands of years). The four units from X-energy (specifically, the Xe-100) could provide up to 320MW of electricity, the AP writes, or 800 megawatts of thermal power. If the press has been positive, by and large, about this emerging new tech being directed toward heavy industry, the activists who have long been dogging Dow Chemical for its ecological abuses aren’t so sure. “When we caught wind of nuclear coming in, this was new territory for us,” said Dan Lê of the San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeepers. So the group dialed a friend. Many friends, actually. And they reached the folks at Columbia Riverkeeper, an org with a compatible mission of “uniting people for clean water, climate action, and healthy communities.” It was also an org confronting a very similar proposal in Washington State, which has suffered its own legacies of radioactive contamination at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, considered among the most contaminated sites in the United States. > “It turns out that X-energy was also pitching and proposing to do some kind of development out there [involving] Amazon and the public utility,” Lê told _Deceleration_. > "When we heard this we realized this is something that is very pivotal here. We were put into a position where we’re the guinea pig. Somehow if we could put a stop to it here, it would help out these other commjunities.” Their response is the People's Conference on Nuclear Power Reactors being held in Seadrift, Texas, this weekend. Activists and area residents will review on Friday documentaries on the subject of nuclear power and convene again on Saturday for presentations and a community panel. _Deceleration_ will livestream key discussions and report back in the coming week. The event being held at the Seadrift Civic Center in downtown Seadrift is free but registration is recommended. * * * ## Schedule ### 9:30AM * Program Starts ### 9:40 - 10:40 AM * NUCLEAR POWER FROM THE COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVE (Tim Judson) * RADIATION, WASTE, AND WEAKENED REGULATIONS (Diane D’Arrigo) ### 10:40 - 11:50 AM * NUCLEAR ENERGY: GLOBAL LANDSCAPE AND RISKS (Dr. M.V. Ramana) * THE PEBBLE BED REACTOR: NOT ALL IT’S CRACKED UP TO BE (Dr. Ed Lyman) ### LUNCH ### 11:50 - 12:50 PM * PROXIMITY TO NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS AND CANCER RISK: A MULTI-SCALE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION IN THE UNITED STATES (Dr. Yazan Alwadi) ### 1:00 - 2:00 PM * PANEL DISCUSSION: PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITIES * * * ## Speakers #### TIM JUDSON __Tim joined NIRS September 2013 as Associate Director, and has served as Executive Director since 2014. Tim leads NIRS’s work on nuclear reactor and climate change issues, and has written a series of reports on nuclear bailouts and sustainable energy. Chair of the Board of Citizens Awareness Network, one of the lead organizations in the successful campaign to close the Vermont Yankee reactor; co-founder of Alliance for a Green Economy in New York.__ #### DIANE D'ARRIGO __Diane D'Arrigo is Radioactive Waste Project Director at the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS). She holds degrees in chemistry and environmental studies, and began her career studying pollutant bioaccumulation in the Great Lakes before working as a community organizer and researcher for environmental groups. For decades, D'Arrigo has tracked nuclear waste issues, including high-level and so-called "low-level" commercial and weapons waste, leaking burial sites, and the threat of irradiated fuel reprocessing. She has challenged unnecessary nuclear waste transport and coordinated national and international opposition to deregulating nuclear waste that would allow it to be dumped as ordinary trash or made into everyday household items.__ #### M.V. RAMANA __M.V. Ramana is the Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security and Professor at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He is the author of Nuclear is not the Solution: The Folly of Atomic Power in the Age of Climate Change (Verso, 2024) and The Power of Promise: Examining Nuclear Energy in India (Penguin, 2012). Ramana is a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials and the International Nuclear Risk Assessment Group, and contributes to the annual World Nuclear Industry Status Report. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Leo Szilard Award from the American Physical Society.__ #### EDWIN LYMAN __Edwin Lyman is an internationally recognized expert on nuclear proliferation, nuclear terrorism, and nuclear power safety and security. Based at the Union of Concerned Scientists since 2003, he has testified numerous times before Congress and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and has published in Science, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and Arms Control Today, among others. He co-authored Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster (New Press, 2014) and is a member of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management. Dr. Lyman received the Leo Szilard Lectureship Award from the American Physical Society in 2018. He holds a doctorate in physics from Cornell University.__ #### YAZAN ALWADI, PH.D., S.M. __Yazan Alwadi, Ph.D., S.M., is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His research focuses on the health impacts of environmental exposures, including nuclear power plants, extreme heat, air pollution, and climate-related hazards. Drawing on training in engineering, biostatistics, and environmental health, he integrates exposure science and epidemiologic methods to address complex public health questions. Prior to academia, Dr. Alwadi spent a decade leading multidisciplinary teams on major international energy infrastructure projects across the Middle East, Europe, and Asia before completing his Ph.D. in Environmental Health and S.M. in Biostatistics at Harvard University.__ #### DAVID WEISMAN __David Weisman recently retired as Executive Director of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, a utility ratepayer watchdog organization where he served for 21 years. Before his advocacy career, he produced award-winning environmental documentaries for PBS and directed the Texas Legacy Project, an oral history of prominent Texas environmentalists. He also spent four years organizing with the Oaks Project, including petitioning, legislative lobbying, and media outreach. At the Alliance, Weisman wrote legislation adopted into California law and played a key role in the shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station and negotiations to retire the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.__ ###

Close to 100 anxious area residents gathered a week and a half ago inside a plush Marriott hotel meeting room a short hike from SeaWorld on San Antonio’s Far West Side to voice their concern about a massive AI data center going up blocks away. They complained about noise and dust and loss of tree canopy from area data center construction (and there’s a lot of it these days) only to be told that the company up for review, Vantage Data Centers LLC, is complying with all existing local ordinances. One woman, who said she was part of a military family recently relocated to San Antonio, said bright lights at night were disrupting her sleep. She got little sympathy from company representatives or regulators from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) at the front of the room. Others complained about water use and potential contaminated water discharge from Vantage Data Center’s expanding footprint only to be told that the facility’s “closed-loop” cooling system made water a non-issue. When challenged, the TCEQ reps admitted that they didn’t actually bring any members of their water team to the meeting so they couldn’t, in fact, answer any water-related questions. There were no fact sheets or maps provided for residents. And at times it was unclear what facility was being discussed. * * * __Location of Vantage Data Centers LLC TX2.__ __Images from TCEQ's May 28, 2026,__ public hearing__. Images: Greg Harman/Deceleration__ * * * ### TCEQ Blocks Most Questions Simmering tensions grew increasingly strained as the night wore on and panelists deflected most questions that fell outside of the parameters of the permit in question: a federal Title V operating permit for Vantage’s TX2 facility at 5207 Rogers Road, a two-story, 215,000 square-foot data center expansion being built just blocks away. It is the second major facility on the 30-some-acre lot. A three-story data center is already operating—at least partially. Vantage's Rogers Road operations lifted off without a hearing or local input. A letter filed by opponents in February states that the TCEQ approved the original air permit the same day it was filed by the company. The federal permit in question is required now, however, due to the area’s poor air quality and Vantage’s desire to now more than double its existing 32 diesel generators approved for the location to 65. Residents were outraged at the lack of consultation and how advanced operations are already. > “What pisses me off is seeing Third World infrastructure fricking being developed and [people] being forced to deal with low air quality issues,” said a resident of the Alamo Ranch community, who described himself as a combat veteran and cancer survivor. > "I was in Kuwait where they don't care to have standards, you know, fumes, toxic dust, everything floating around. … Why are we knocking in so many of these data centers in such a small area that's already zoned for residential?" ### Scale of the Project Vantage’s TX2 facility would join a larger Vantage facility with an associated gas-fired power plant and dozens of generators capable of firing up anytime that power is threatened by brownouts or blackouts or during summertime peak demand hours when the state grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, requests heavy users—like data centers—to stop drawing power from the grid. Unsurprisingly, the company representatives at the hearing took a broad view of what would quality as an emergency triggering the need for backup power. > “Vantage doesn’t necessary have insight into all of the end uses of all their customer-tenants on the racks,” said Emily Weissinger, of the global engineering group, Ramboll, on behalf of Vantage Data Centers. > “I will say that data center industry in general serves a broad variety of uses including emergency call centers and driverless cars, so I think in that sense it very much would be an emergency when a lot of these data centers do lose their power.” Vantage is building another facility farther to the west—this one at 14720 Omicron Drive, nearby other operating centers, including Microsoft—that could have as many as 84 diesel generators. Few in the audience could have been aware that Vantage also plans for gas-fired power plants at both locations that would run constantly—a fact not included in the federal operating permit that prompted this hearing or volunteered by any of the panelists. Questions off that veered from the specific permit were frequently swatted down by the panelists. > “Is anybody going to monitor the air quality [during construction]?” asked a woman named Mattie _who said that Vantage’s operations would be 500 feet behind her home. “I already have_ three air purifiers for my home from when they cleared the land. … There was no dust abatement.” > “There may be other elements in the TCEQ that monitor air quality, such as ambient air quality, however we are not that,” said Alfredo Mendoza, of TCEQ’s Air Permits Division. “We are the Title V operating program.” What about informing the public and media about future permits when water is discussed? “That’s operating under the assumption that they are going to have a water permit,” said Katelyn Ding, a TCEQ staff attorney within the Environmental Law Division. “That’s not what we’re here for today.” ### Water Use & Air Quality While the Houston Advanced Research Center expects Texas-based data centers could be sucking up 160 billion gallons per year by 2030, Michael Duplantis, vice president of environmental health and safety for Vantage’s North American operations, said by using a “closed loop” cooling system with a 25-percent glycol mixture the company could limit TX2's total water use to approximate that of a 30-room hotel. Another speaker describing her concerns as ranging from water to air quality to energy urged a more comprehensive discussion. From the TCEQ she received mostly incoherent bureaucratese in response. “I can’t speak on behalf of New Source Review, that’s an entirely different section of TCEQ,” said Mendoza. “We are a Title V, the federal permits operation program, and we incorporate New Source Review by reference. We don’t issue them.” > “So this meeting is about air quality, but it’s not really,” the frustrated questioner concluded before stepping away from the mic. The boos from attendees only grew louder as the night progressed. It was Vantage’s Duplantis who sought to break out of TCEQ’s administrative jargon in an attempt to calm the waters. He described the permitting process as “two-step,” whereby the state issues some permits, but that the increasing scale of desired operations have kicked some aspects up to federal regulators. This hearing allowed TCEQ to collect community concerns that they will summarize and deliver to EPA. The feds will use that information to help determine if they will grant the required federal air operating permit. > “[TX2] is of a size and a magnitude that they need to put more controls on top of us to make sure we do the things we should do,” said Duplantis. This fact was seized upon by Adrian Shelley, director of the nonprofit Public Citizen’s Texas operations, who accused the TCEQ of “reverse engineering” the amount of anticipated pollution recorded in the draft permit to assist the company secure its objective. * * * ### How Big is Vantage Data Center TX2? __How Big is Vantage Data Center TX2? Deceleration puts up the drone to see.__ Follow Deceleration on YouTube. * * * ### 'A Sham Permit' For instance, Shelley said, the TCEQ regulators calculated the company’s existing batch of generators at 113 hours of expected annual use per unit. However, for TX2 they reduced the hours for proposed new generators to 57 annual hours. This helped keep the total expected pollution below 100 tons per year, a threshold that would have otherwise triggered a need for pre-construction permits. > “[Vantage] adds another 32 generators and [the TCEQ] just halved the number of hours of operation in order to stay under that threshold,” Shelley said. “They’re just reverse engineering the math,” Shelley said. “That’s not the way it’s done. … As a result, we’ve got a sham permit. We have a permit that’s not based on actual emissions calculations.” Those emissions matter, as one child in attendance testified on the mic, especially for residents living with asthma. Diesel generators and gas-fired power plants, after all, release a range of pollutants that are directly harmful or assist in the generation of unhealthy air quality, including ground-level ozone. But it wasn’t until hours into the meeting that the elephant in the room emerged when Shelley, followed by a staff attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project, raised the issue of the power plant. > “Vantage cannot obtain power for the data center from the utility,” said Gabriel Clark-Leach, a senior attorney with the Environmental Integrity Project. “So it has arranged to have a power plant constructed on the same site as the data center. This power plant is designed to run at maximum capacity every hour, every single day. It will also emit ozone-forming pollutants as well as hazardous air pollutants like formaldehyde.” It is unclear if the power plant at the Rogers Road location is already operational. Vantage did not answer Deceleration's question on the matter. Many of those attending applauded Shelley’s complaint that a comprehensive hearing should have been convened to allow the community to discuss the power plant plus the data center plus the dozens upon dozens of diesel generators as one permit. “The EPA has determined in other facilities, the Stargate facility in Abilene, that a co-located data center and power plant should be treated as a single source,” Shelley said. “And that should be done here.” ### And a Gas-Fired Power Plant? However, the 150MW power plant was yet another element of the company’s operations the panelists weren’t discussing. Mark Freeman, Vantage Data Center’s Vice President of Global Marketing, provided Deceleration the following statement: > _“Vantage Data Centers appreciates everyone who took the time to participate in the TX2 hearing and share their views. While the hearing focused on a specific air permit, we understand that community members raised broader questions about growth, environmental impacts and how projects like this fit into the future of San Antonio. We take those concerns seriously. Our approach is to continue listening, provide clear and factual information, and work in good faith with regulators and the community as the process moves forward. We are committed to operating responsibly and being a constructive long-term partner in the communities where we build and operate.”_ As frustrating as the hearing was for most residents in attendance, it would not have happened at all without the intervention of two state electeds—Texas state Rep. Philip Cortez (District 117) and Texas state Senator Roland Gutierrez (District 19)—who requested a hearing from TCEQ. __Vantage Data Centers LLC Rogers Road location. Image: Greg Harman/Deceleration__ __Images from TCEQ's May 28, 2026,__ public hearing__. Images: Greg Harman/Deceleration__ ### Tying it Back to CPS Energy DeeDee Belmares, a local community organizer who assisted in a block walking effort involving Public Citizen and the Southwest Workers Union, said the City-owned electric and gas utility CPS Energy could do more to check the expansion of data centers in the city. Accounting differs on how many data centers are already operating in San Antonio. While the local water utility reported just over 20 tied into their system at a May 2026 public meeting, an industry-run Data Center Map shows more than 50 data centers in the city (while another industry source, Baxtel, lists 69). January 2026 CPS Energy data showed 59 new data centers somewhere in their pipeline between those already contracted for power and those pending review. > Belmares says that CPS Energy is expecting demand to sour in the years ahead in keeping with, in part, a modestly growing population. But they have been slow to break out how much of that demand is actually predicated on data centers. “We’re seeing it in San Antonio, we’re seeing it all across the state: bills are going to go up because CPS wants to meet the demand of the data centers," she said. "They’re saying residential demand is going up, but also month’s board meeting…where is it on the commercial side? Why don’t you show us both sides? For those working in energy justice, like the Climate Justice San Antonio coalition, June will be a "month of action" activating the public while hounding CPS Energy and Council members on issues of data centers, rate hikes, and a shifting utility generation plan, she said. A "phone zap" event hosted by CJSA this past Sunday was advertised with this announcement: > "We're calling CPS Energy board members and letting them know community will NOT stand by while our rates are raised, disconnections continue, and data centers have the red carpet rolled out for them." ### What's Next? Members of San Antonio's City Council have expressed mixed feelings about how much reform may be required, as was displayed in a May 2026 public discussion with some praising the jobs-creation potential of the centers as others leaned into misgivings. Cities with stringent zoning rules have the most influence on a process that is still largely beyond their ability to control, limits revealing themselves in Hill County, which recently rescinded its first-in-the-state moratorium on data center development. City officials, led by D6 Councilmember Ric Galvan, have begun exploring breaking data centers into their own zoning classification to better control where they build. Currently, the head of development services said the zoning landscape of overly permissive of data centers, allowing them most everywhere not specifically designated as residential. However, the only elected official we spotted at the hearing was Texas state Rep. Josey Garcia (D-124). But, yeah, the TCEQ did schedule it on a Spurs game night. > "Our Development Services Department is holding stakeholder meetings to discuss future zoning efforts," Cavazos wrote Deceleration (full quote in our Water & Power newsletter). "They have already held one meeting, with the next meeting scheduled later in June." _Deceleration_ will update this story with meeting details when they are available.

Trump’s unprovoked war with Iran has so far proved to be an unmitigated disaster with one, largely unfortunate, upside: It’s revealed the inherent instability of an economy entirely dependent on fossil fuels. The economic shockwaves emanating from the Middle East as Iran maintains its pressure on a major artery in the global circulation of oil have woken the world up. Now, people and their governments around the world understand, for reasons entirely unrelated to climate change, the urgency of abandoning oil in favor of solar and wind and those renewable sources of energy that can guarantee stable and affordable electricity. So, this month, we’re looking back at an international conference with somewhat serendipitous timing, the first-ever Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels meeting, which took place at the end of April in Santa Marta, Colombia, and throughout which the war in the Middle East was a constant topic of conversation. Happy Reading, Syris Valentine * * * ✏️ Follow all the Deceleration newsletters! Only at Deceleration.news. * * * __Painting a banner during the people's assemblies portion of the__ first-ever Conference for the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, __. Image: Courtesy__ ## The Fossil Fuels Phaseout Has Begun Picture a beach on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, and images of aquamarine waves sloshing onto sun-washed beaches as jungle-covered hills roll behind them will likely dominate your cerebral landscape. Nowhere in your mental picture will you likely find a deepwater port where millions of tons of coal tumble into cargo ships bound for Europe. In Santa Marta, however, idyllic oceanside scenery and a planet-threatening export meet. Given the city serves as a main terminal through which coal leaves Colombia, the country’s Minister of Environment and Sustainability, Irene Vélez Torres, felt that Santa Marta would be an ideal location for the first-ever Conference for Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, which brought together at the end of April ministers and diplomats from 57 different countries from around the world to begin the search for a way to free the world from an economy chained to fossil fuels. The city and its surrounding region shows all that we have to save in that quest and the challenges that come with it. > “When COVID hit, the second largest coal company in the region decided to close [two mines] overnight and left us a hole,” Vélez Torres said during a press briefing at the opening of the conference. “We currently have enormous mining pits and an environmental damage that we still don’t know how we are going to repair.” The damage wrought by these open pit mines is immediately evident in satellite imagery where the verdant landscape is otherwise only interrupted by mountain folds, farm tracts, and the occasional town — many of which sit a short walk from a mine’s edge. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

Welcome to Water and Power, a monthly newsletter about the elements of our survival—and those who seek to profit from them. Water & Power highlights reporting found at _Deceleration_ , but also offers links to critical stories from other publications, prepares you to engage on these issues with notices of events around the bend, and always offers unique content exclusively for newsletter subscribers. If you know someone who would appreciate this research and analysis, pass it along. Subscribe to this and our growing roster of Deceleration newsletters. — Greg Harman * * * ## Extreme Drought to Extreme Storms: Texas's New Whiplash Weather Requires Greater Preparation Once upon a time, Texas’s Hill Country was celebrated as “the Land of 1,100 Springs.” This ecological wealth is not always obvious, as most of the state’s ecological gems have long been hidden behind barbed wire, a state where virtually all land has been sold off as private property. Today we know a mere shadow of what’s been lost. San Antonio’s sacred Blue Hole flows only after the heaviest of rains, and only for a day or so. The rest of the water making up the San Antonio headwaters is pumped-in recycled water. Jacob’s Well outside Wimberley is becoming better suited to spelunking than floating. Big Spring was a big spring…but its flow today is pumped in like the San Antonio. “The future of many Texas springs is clearly not assured, and that should be cause for concern for us all,” Larry McKinney wrote back in 2005 in Texas Parks & Wildlife Magazine. > A study published in 2024 sought to update a 1975 survey of Texas springs, finding that 11 percent of springs had gone dry by 1981. They found another 30 percent of Texas springs had gone dry since 1981—“an increase of 173 percent, or 2.7 times more,” the authors wrote. (No wonder the residents of San Marcos have rallied against pressing in of water-ravenous AI data centers, no? It's not just them.) 🌀 'Ditch The Data Centers' petition from Climate Justice San Antonio seeks to block new data center development in the city. Drought continues to grip much of Texas, deeply across the Hill County and South Texas. While we’re getting a bit more rain than is typical this month, it will take much more to break the drought. And it’s not just Texas. More than 60 percent of the entire United States has entered some level of drought in recent months. Andrew Ellis, a climatologist at Virginia Tech University, said that a warming planet is compounding the hardship of declining rainfall patterns. > "While precipitation remains the primary driver of drought, increased air temperatures lead to greater water loss from the soil through evapotranspiration, intensifying the effects of dry spells," Ellis said. So-called “flash droughts” are being driven more often by heat patterns (as opposed to rainfall) and bring severe risks to agricultural systems via rapid soil moisture depletion. That shift is making forecasts more difficult. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas—Recent rainfall in South Texas has pushed off the projected date of emergency water restrictions in Corpus Christi by three months, the city announced Tuesday, amid growing hope that a powerful global climate phenomenon this year could wash away the region’s historic drought. Lake Texana, the smallest of Corpus Christi’s three reservoirs, rebounded from record lows last month when it received its first inflows in eight months. Worst-case projections in mid-April showed the lake going dry by summer. Now it should last until early next year, at least. > “We are pleased to share the positive news,” said Nicholas Winkelmann, chief operating officer of Corpus Christi Water, in a Tuesday announcement. It’s one small step in a regional water crisis that has developed over decades. But the short bridge that recent rains provided goes a long way to helping the region narrowly avoid a disaster, local water planners say. Expectations of a powerful “super El Niño” event this year suggest that intensely wet weather could return to the Coastal Bend of Texas this fall, potentially putting water into the region’s largest reservoirs, which have fallen to critical levels. El Niño is a cyclical climate pattern driven by warm currents in the Pacific Ocean that shift jet steams and weather worldwide. Typically, El Niño has brought cooler and wetter weather to the Gulf Coast in late fall and winter. This year, record warm water in the Pacific Ocean could produce the strongest El Niño pattern in a century. Forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center indicate “increased probabilities of a strong to very strong El Niño possible this fall.” Earlier this year, water planners in Corpus Christi worried their reservoirs could empty before El Niño appeared to save them. The recent boost to Lake Texana significantly lowers that likelihood, according to John Michael, an engineering firm executive who has spent 44 years working on water infrastructure in the region. > “We’ve just got to get through this year,” said Michael, local vice president of Hanson Professional Services, an engineering firm with offices around the country. “I’m much more optimistic today than I was three months ago.” The city of Corpus Christi initially projected a “Level 1 water emergency” in November. As drought deepened, the city said in March that the emergency could come as soon as May. Then in April, it said the emergency would come in September. If levels continue to rise in Lake Texana, 100 miles northeast of Corpus Christi and linked to the city by pipeline, it could meet the region’s domestic and industrial water needs well into next year. By that time, planners hope El Niño will end five consecutive years of record-breaking heat and drought. Dry spells in Texas have been known to conclude with deluges, said Matt Lanza, a longtime Houston meteorologist and co-founder of the website Space City Weather. > “We’ve had some false starts the last couple years,” he said. “We are hopefully beginning to see the end of the drought in South Texas, but only time can tell.” __Water sits 30 or more feet below the base of a fishing pier at Lake Corpus Christi on April 28. Image: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News__ Narrowly avoiding a water disaster doesn’t mean that Corpus Christi has solved its water crisis. The region’s largest source of water, the Choke Canyon Reservoir, has received three minor inflow events and zero major inflow in the last 15 years, according to Texas state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon. The next-largest reservoir, Lake Corpus Christi, hasn’t logged inflows in five years. Both reservoirs combined are about 8 percent full, as the region’s industrial complexes continue to draw large volumes of water daily. A return of moderate rainfall could keep Corpus Christi from emptying its main reservoirs, but it wouldn’t likely fill them up anytime soon. > “We are in drought, but we also have the water shortage,” said Juan Peña, lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Corpus Christi. “Drought is … short-term. The water shortage is more long-term.” For now, Corpus Christi remains at the mercy of rain. Almost all of the city’s emergency water supply projects are hung up with complications and delays. Last week, a state administrative judge sent the permits for Corpus Christi’s largest emergency project, in Sinton, about 25 miles north, into a hearing process that could take years. The city had previously said it needed the project to start producing by November and was already laying pipeline. Corpus Christi also drilled emergency wells along the Nueces River but found the water saltier than expected. Now the city is urgently advancing plans for one of the largest groundwater desalination plants in the country, which could treat up to 21 million gallons per day of brackish aquifer water for Corpus Christi’s supply. -30- _Previously published by_ Inside Climate News _._

The past week the world learned—from both local and national news—that the ostensible progressive congressional candidate for newly-gerrymandered House District 35 has been posting antisemitic conspiracy theories on her campaign social media feed. This was not news to us. A few months back, one of the groups that organizes locally for Palestinian rights gave a heads up to followers of Galindo’s Instagram account. Looking at the screenshots and posts they shared, we saw some pretty bog-standard conspiracy discourse about “the Jews who own Hollywood,” alongside admonitions to follow “Jesus as a radical” who has been fighting the “synagogue of Satan” for the past 2,000 years. No, it wasn’t antisemitic in the ways that term has been weaponized against anyone who opposes Israel’s genocidal military campaign in Gaza, or the occupation, displacement, and immiseration of Palestinians since the formation of Israel in 1948. No, it wasn’t a critique of Zionism as a political movement that responded to Europe’s anti-Jewish pogroms and genocide in reactionary ways, turning to settler colonial forms of nation building—not unlike those that produced the United States, Canada, and Australia. > It was just your basic conspiracy talk about Jewish cabals secretly running global politics, indistinguishable from what might appear on the social media feeds of Nick Fuentes or Candace Owens. And sadly, Galindo is not the only influential community leader we’ve seen who doesn’t seem to be able to distinguish between antisemitic memes and legitimate criticism of Israel as a state or Zionism as a political movement—and more broadly between conspiracy thinking and grounded historical analysis. The organization who contacted us had reached out to Galindo, they said, but she’d responded defensively and blocked them on social media. As a small publication that doesn’t chronicle campaigns or issue voters’ guides, we privately mulled what to do. Seeing Galindo’s campaign gaining traction in the community, we circled back to the organizers who’d messaged us to see if anything had changed. It hadn’t: we scrolled through a flood of Instagram posts claiming Israel was running DHS and ICE en route to occupying the U.S., and that “billionaire Zionist Jews” were trafficking women and children in South Texas. Then the news went splat all over. We can’t tell people how to vote (literally, as a 501c3 organization). But seeing the way Galindo’s candidacy risks undermining the already-fragile solidarities we need in this moment to effectively counter global fascisms and ethnonationalisms, we do feel it’s important to share some context that we hope can help our readers make better sense of things—or at least to know where we stand. The first point we want to make is that while it is dangerous—and itself antisemitic—to conflate Zionism with Judaism, the state of Israel with Jewish people, or to treat all criticism of Israel as antisemitic, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to identify when criticism of Israel _is_ grounded in anti-Jewish racism. This is especially true as fascist elements of the right jump the ship of Christian Zionism for the shores of an older, more nakedly antisemitic Christian nationalism. Much criticism of Israel is not antisemitic; even much of Galindo’s early discussion of local economic ties to Israeli occupation and genocide was not. Scrolling through her Instagram to try to figure out what in the world happened to someone we remember as a powerful organizer around gentrification and housing, and meeting up recently to share our concerns, we could see that even her later conspiracy posts at bottom rested on deep grief and rage at impunity. > So many of us carry this wrenching pain: at the impunity of U.S. war profiteering and military aid to Israel, of Israeli state terror against Palestinians, of ICE kidnappings and Epstein trafficking—all of this unfolding on stolen Indigenous lands, even as a leading candidate to oversee oil and gas regulation in Texas has called for deporting all Native Americans in the greater ICE purge. Those conditions are real, and it is imperative for all peoples of conscience to forcefully oppose them. > But also for that reason, because these horrors _are_ real, it is that much more important to recognize the bright line between structural analysis of power and harmful conspiracy theory or white supremacist disinformation. Just because a lot of criticism of Israel is not antisemitic, that doesn’t mean _none_ of it is. So how can you tell the difference? Though not without its own critiques, one place to start is the Jerusalem Declaration. Developed by international scholars working in Jewish, Holocaust, Israel, Palestine, and Middle East Studies, the Jerusalem Declaration is an alternative to the IHRA definition that federal and state agencies have used to malign, censor, fire, and detain those calling for Palestinian freedom and human rights. According to the Jerusalem Declaration: > “What is particular in classic antisemitism is the idea that Jews are linked to the forces of evil. This stands at the core of many anti-Jewish fantasies, such as the idea of a Jewish conspiracy in which ‘the Jews’ possess hidden power that they use to promote their own collective agenda at the expense of other people. This linkage between Jews and evil continues in the present: in the fantasy that ‘the Jews’ control governments with a ‘hidden hand,’ that they own the banks, control the media, act as ‘a state within a state,’ and are responsible for spreading disease (such as Covid-19). All these features can be instrumentalized by different (and even antagonistic) political causes.” According to this definition, support for Palestinian calls for basic human rights, freedom from occupation, and full citizenship is not antisemitic, nor opposition to Zionism as a form of nationalism, nor “evidence-based criticism of Israel as a state … includ[ing] its institutions and founding principles.” Rather, criticism of Israel is antisemitic when it draws on “the symbols, images and negative stereotypes of classical antisemitism,” as described above. The longest running example is the Christian stereotype of Jews as a shadowy cabal plotting global domination, which drove centuries of displacement and ethnic cleansing in Europe before codification in an early 20th century Russian hoax called _The Protocols of the Elders of Zion_ —tropes Galindo has only tripled down on as criticisms of her have mounted. Another way to distinguish critiques of Israel rooted in human rights from these long-lived conspiracy theories is to learn from intersectional, left, and antifascist Jewish analyses of antisemitism. Just as there can be no pro-Jewish politics that ignores Palestinian suffering or is rooted in Islamophobia, struggles against white supremacy must recognize and oppose antisemitism as a very old form of racism, rooted in Christian dominionism and later taken up as a central plank of fascist movements. So when a political candidate or community leader or your uncle on Facebook posts an antisemitic meme, it must be named as such and refused. It strikes us as no coincidence that those who responded most quickly to Galindo’s online activities were those most intimate at the local level—that is, offline—with Palestinian solidarity work. If Galindo had spent time organizing on the ground in defense of Palestinian lives since the onset of the genocide, she would probably know this already. As organizers reported telling Galindo: > “Antisemitism (or any form of marginalization) has no place in pro-Palestinian, anti-Zionist, or justice-centered movements.” Palestinian solidarity movements have taken great care to disentangle Judaism from Zionism, anti-Zionism from antisemitism, not only in service of building intersectional alliances against all forms of white supremacy, but also because when people can’t tell the difference between antisemitic tropes and cries for justice, it is the pro-Palestine movement—which is to say, Palestinians, Muslims, immigrants, international students, people of color more broadly—that will shoulder the blowback and state repression that results. We’ve found this infographic by Jews for Racial and Economic Justice to be a helpful resource in visualizing the fuller and more liberatory understanding of antisemitism we need in this moment, recognizing that we cannot isolate fights against antisemitism from fights for Palestinian, Black, Indigenous, and trans/queer liberation (or vice versa): __Download a copy from the Jews for Racial and Economic Justice__ here__. Or for those who prefer a more text-based, linear analysis of the same information, see JREJ’s 2017 report__ “Understanding Antisemitism: An Offering to Our Movement.” The quick defense of Galindo by many in the community—friends and neighbors who are legitimately anguished by the violence of Israel and ICE, and desperate to see a progressive challenger to neoliberal, collaborationist Dems—raises the urgent need for all of us to be able to distinguish a principled and historical analysis of power from the seductions of conspiracy thinking. In “Why Conspiracy Theories Are Corrosive to Social Movements,” antifascist researcher Shane Burley writes: > “Opposition to the current state of the world is not synonymous with fighting for a liberatory future. And the inability to parse out this reality has revealed instability across a radical left that often clamors after any ally in the struggle against systemic injustice. Without safeguards and clarity on the mission, nearly any voice against the status quo can be mistaken for a friend — including those who want to replace it with something even more deadly or whose analysis relies on conspiracy theories.” What’s dangerous about what Galindo circulates—and, really, what’s dangerous about the memification of thinking in the social media era, and its substitution for actually organizing offline with other people across differences—is that it mixes something valid, something we feel on a visceral level (the obscenity of genocide and our complicity in it, from our legacy media outlets and universities to us as individual taxpayers) with something bogus and dangerous (the idea that a “Jewish cabal” stands behind it all). > As Naomi Klein points out in _Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World_ : conspiracy theories “get the facts wrong but often get the feelings right.” But in confusing the latter for the former, Galindo unwittingly gives comfort to fascist elements in ascendance, which are only too happy to see a progressive candidate take up their own toxic rhetoric—as seen in the many apparently right-wing accounts posting approval on Galindo’s Instagram posts, as first flagged for us months back, all largely unchallenged by Galindo. This is what fascism researchers have long called a “red-brown alliance,” or a “political collaboration or synthesis between fascists and radical leftists.” As elaborated by Three Way Fight, a journal of anti-fascist research: > “Such alliances strengthen the far right, spread ideological poison and confusion among left-minded people, and are disastrous for building liberatory movements. Fascists have been pushing red-brown politics for generations – sometimes openly, sometimes by repackaging their ideas to sound leftist. Unfortunately, sections of the left have repeatedly gone along by forming coalitions with far rightists or offering platforms for far right propaganda.” More recently, political science researchers have described these tendencies as diagonalism—the way online spaces in particular have functioned as a left-to-right pipeline, mixing wellness culture and QAnon (“MAHA”), environmentalism and anti-trans disinformation.  In this moment, as we struggle to build the mass movements capable of defeating fascism, ethnonationalism, and theocracy globally, we have to be able to tell the difference between reality and conspiracy thinking. For without a good analysis, which depends on our ability to recognize and resist the easy scapegoating preferred by reactionary forces, effective organizing becomes impossible. We too wish we had a principled progressive candidate for D35. And so we lament that a grassroots voice with values that resonate with many has been swept up by the lures of diagonalist politics and popular support on social media, leaving the key campaign elements she launched with—participatory democracy, people over profits, an end to ICE warehouses and surveillance tech and US genocide funding—without a real champion. But there's a greater risk in play: A failure to recognize Galindo's politics for what they are only props the door to the fascists and racists who hate us all equally and would be only too happy to see us perish together.

This week organizers from Freeport, Texas, traveled to Tokyo to file formal complaints against the country’s banks funding an LNG export facility in their community—one of nine operating liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities is located, were in Tokyo, Japan, More than $3.85 billion flowed to Freeport LNG in recent years from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), both state-run financial institutions, and several private banks. They helped launch Freeport’s LNG export operations, which began in December 2019. Japan’s state-run power company, JERA, owns a fifth of the plant and also buys its gas. The Freeport area-based organizers Melanie Oldham, Manning Rollerson, and Gwendolyn Jones, via their complaints, ask the banks and companies to stop supporting Freeport LNG. The organizers filed the complaints via email to the Japan Center for Engagement and Remedy on Business and Human Rights, or JaCER, which acts as a non-judicial intermediary between companies and people alleging abuses. > “We have a very poor town, poor infrastructure, a lot of problems, so if Japanese financiers of Freeport LNG really care about human rights at all, we're telling them to take our complaint seriously, answer it, answer our questions, our demands,” Oldham, the founder and director of Better Brazoria, said during a press conference in Tokyo on May 19. The organizers are demanding Japan Bank for International Cooperation allow JaCER to investigate whether Freeport LNG aligns with the bank’s own investment guidelines on how its projects consider environmental and human rights. Freeport LNG has had several operational issues over the years, including an explosion, and the facility regularly violates its state-issued air permit. It has much political and cultural sway in Brazoria County and is expanding, despite all of its issues. Some of the same banks that directly invested in Freeport LNG, like Mitsubishi UFJ (MUFG), Mizuho, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), have collectively spent at least $38 billion on U.S. LNG projects as of April 2025, according to an analysis by the Sierra Club cited by Oil Change International, which arranged the organizers’ trip to Japan. Japan’s energy plans are wedded to the U.S. continuing to pour billions into fossil fuels. Japan has $36 billion earmarked for oil, gas, and mineral projects in the U.S. as part of a trade deal between the countries, including a massive oil export terminal 30 miles from Freeport, which started construction this month. Japan has doubled-down on its investment in natural gas, considered both an affront to China aligned with its goal of becoming a global fossil fuel superpower. This is the first time that U.S. residents have filed complaints with JaCER, according to Oil Change International, but not the first time one has been filed against a bank for funding an LNG project. Rainforest Action Network’s Japan team filed a complaint against MUFG for its investment in the Rio Grande LNG project outside of Port Isabel, Texas, in September 2024. The group said MUFG, by investing in the LNG project, was risking the “infringing on the rights of Native American tribes,” specifically the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, whose sacred lands are where Rio Grande LNG is, according to the tribe’s chair, Juan Mancias. On a livestreamed call from Tokyo, Manning Rollerson passed along this message to a staffer with the office of U.S. Congressmember Randy Weber, R-Beaumont: > "So you tell Randy [Weber] for me that every energy policy he has with a foreign government ... that it's my mission as a father, a grandfather, a husband, to make sure that the governments know that they will be held accountable just like the industries." Rainforest Action Network Japan representatives told me, when I was reporting on MUFG’s investment in the Rio Grande LNG project for Cronkite News, that their complaint was never addressed. It still hasn’t been. But JaCER told me they couldn’t disclose anything about their investigation. Rollerson, who is the founder of the Freeport Haven Project, first went to Tokyo in January 2025, telling the Japanese Parliament, or Diet, that it had made a deal with the devil (ie. Trump) by investing in U.S. oil and gas. He said that Japan still hasn’t addressed the concerns he has about Freeport LNG. > “Why do I have to keep coming back to this country to ask the government and investors to do due diligence, to make sure the human aspect is part of the equation,” Rollerson said at the Tuesday press conference. “When you have somebody that you invest in, you have to take responsibility to what you invest in, to show good business and good leadership.” JaCER acknowledged receiving Deceleration’s request for comment but did not respond to our questions.

When President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on the country’s southern border in 2019, usurping the role of Congress, some argued at the time, the folks living in the region couldn’t have known what it would mean for their lives and livelihoods. The action authorized the movement of massive amounts of money for border wall construction, some of which had already begun under President Obama. “We didn’t know what that meant,” said Tricia Cortez, executive director of the Laredo-based Rio Grande International Study Center. > “People go birding, biking, fishing, they have their quinceañeras; they do all sorts of things on the river. We just didn’t know what that meant. Soon we found out and got involved right away with Earth Justice on a lawsuit at the federal level and been at it ever since.” For many of the river lovers gathered in San Antonio from around the U.S. last week, convened for the annual conference of the River Network, which describes itself as a “national network of water, justice, and river advocates,” the border wall project is an offense for the harms it is already causing one of the Americas’ great rivers. During a three-hour presentation, panel discussion, and audience Q&A on Thursday, prominent border wall opponents presented a damning survey of the environmental and humanitarian cost of what we’re told is border security. Since the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was formed in the wake of 9/11, more than $400B has been spent by the agencies charged with immigration enforcement. Contracts for border barriers, floating buoy systems, and “smart walls” are announced by the billions. In the fall of 2025, $4.5B was unleashed for more barriers in the U.S. Southwest, quickly followed by another $3.3B that included land and water barriers in the Laredo area. "The new contracts announced Thursday include a total of 56 miles of new border wall to be built in Laredo and 66 miles of waterborne barrier to be put in the Rio Grande there," _Border Report_ reported at the time. __Trump's national emergency declaration harms communities: Tricia Cortez, executive director of the Laredo-based Rio Grande International Study Center, speaking at the River Rally.__ Last week, after federal officials sought to calm tensions across the Big Bend by saying that section of wall had been cancelled, _The Texas Tribune_ announced a $1.7B contract had been awarded for “border wall in Big Bend Texas.” As Cortez tells the audience, the border wall isn’t “a this or that.” It’s a massive pile of all of the above. Federal maps show the entire border between Texas and Mexico lined by either physical walls (bollards), water-borne buoys, or some combination of vehicle barriers and technology and patrol roads. __Source:__ U.S. Customs and Border Protection Before being saddled with the weight of a national boundary, the river was a natural joining place for millennia: a shared lifeblood cutting through high desert and thorny subtropical lands. Like the still-celebrated avian migratory corridor across the region, what became the Texas-Mexico borderland was one of the Americas' most traveled migratory and trade corridors. Extended families settled on both sides of the river. But: “When you think of the wall, think of these things. These are the key kind of features,” Cortez says, pointing to a projected list. > “Big Money > “Massive land grab > “Waiver of laws and protections for Americans," it read. “This is about a massive taking of land that is privately owned, that is publicly owned, and putting it into the hands of the U.S. government permanently,” she said. “It is a massive land grab. Probably the most egregious part of the whole … waiver of laws that doesn’t happen anywhere else in this country except for us on the border.” And in spite of all that money and energy, things aren’t performing as their boosters might hope. __Wrecking one of the Americas' greatest rivers? Principal Engineering Geomorphologist Mark Tompkins.__ It didn’t take long for rain-caused erosion to nearly topple a section of Trump’s prized border wall during his first term. Now in term two, floating buoys—oversized brightly colored markers, many wrapped with razor wire, started under Texas Governor Abbott, picked up more recently by Trump—have already started to silt over and form islands in the heart of the Rio Grande’s channel. But, most concerning, is what will happen with these miles upon miles of buoys and wire are swept away by a 10-, 20-, or 30-foot wall of water (or worse). After all, the Rio Grande, in spite of being increasingly drenched by razor wire and bound on one side by rising metal walls, is still an “untamed” river, said engineer Mark Tompkins. __Mark Tompkins presenting at the River Network's River Rally last week. Image: Greg Harman__ > “It’s really hard as an engineer to get my head around that this has actually been reviewed in any real cautious way,” he said. The regulatory reviews usually assigned to multi-billion dollar federal projects like these “normally inject some sanity and some review into what is, make no mistake, a massive unprecedented change to a river corridor.” As with the border barriers on land, these aquatic deterrents benefited (and suffer from) many waived federal regulations, Tompkins said. None of the mishaps came as a surprise for Tompkins. The collapsing wall? Privately built by Fisher Sand and Gravel, a company later sued by the federal government for violation of international laws for the flood risks they created. > “This wasn’t even a real flood and that’s a real problem when you have this thing undermined and tipping into the river,” said the engineering geomorphologist, an expert in landscapes and how construction projects can alter them over time. Of the buoys he said there is “no way” that they can be secured within what he described as a “soft-bedded river” like the Rio Grande. Some stretches were already removed once due to problems with the anchoring systems. __Trading life on a living river for a border wall's shadow: Borderlands residents Jesse Fuentes, Elsa Hull, and Sam Karas.__ Amidst the constant assault on the river in the name of border security are disappearing lifeways and people, as other members of the panel modeled. Jesse Fuentes ran rafting adventures on the river for years and sued Governor Abbott to stop the buoys with some success, claiming they damaged his kayak rental business. The U.S. Department of Justice joined in under President Joe Biden, arguing the buoys were a threat to "navigation and public safety and present humanitarian concerns." Then voters got involved, boosting Trump back into office. That settled the DOJ case. __Jesse Fuentes, third-generation paddler of the Rio Grande. Image: Greg Harman__ Fuentes said he spent roughly 45 years getting out on the river. > "My daddy did it til he was 88. And my granddad did it til he was 86. So that river means a lot. When I saw things happening to it, I decided to get help," he said. For a time, Fuentes shuttled reporters on the waters documenting the loss of river access. But with rapid acceleration of security activities and related infrastructure, he has since been nearly blocked from the river entirely. He hasn't been out on a kayak since last fall, he said. Fuentes describes in a soft-spoken manner witnessing the inhumane treatment of immigrants seeking a better life in the United States at the river. It's behavior much of the rest of the country has since witnessed with the empowering of ICE in U.S. cities far from the southern border. > “What I saw on the river is what I saw in Minneapolis,” Fuentes said, referring to the sustained abuse of local communities by ICE agents carried widely by television news in 2025: “people being mistreated. Being treated like animals, being herded left, right.” “It was an opportunity for us as a human species to do good, but we chose to do bad.” Elsa Hull said she moved to the river decades ago with a love for the waters and myriad creatures making it their home. She arrived thinking U.S. Border Patrol existed to help local residents. Her mind has changed over the years, as she saw her land trespassed upon by federal agents, as helicopters hovered dangerously close over her home, as agents “stalked” her and family members on their own land. > “I caught two Border Patrol agents walking down the road in front of my house with masks and hoods on. Why are they hiding? Why?” she asked. “They are the ones that cause us to fear for our safety.” __Panel Discussion & Q&A last week about federal and state border wall efforts at the River Network's River Rally in San Antonio.__ How much of the border wall proper will "spill over" into the expansive Big Bend further west and northwest along the river's reach remains an open question. This much-beloved and remote landscape sees little notable migratory traffic (apart from a modestly growing population of black bears and bighorn sheep). But it has still had to rally itself to resist encroaching federal wall and river projects. A coalition of five Big Bend area sheriffs recently signed a joint letter in favor of border security—but against a border wall. The recent contract announcement flew in the face of promises from the head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection just days earlier. “Big Bend National Park has some just, like, unbelievably huge granite cliffs. It would be kind of silly to put like a 30-foot border wall on top of a 90-foot granite cliff,” Scott told the Washington Examiner in early May. "It's not just the Rio Grande that we're worried about," said Sam Karas, a river guide and reporter at the _Big Bend Sentinel_. "I live on Cibolo Creek and that becomes a river for four months out of the year, so we're concerned about all those waterways as well." Hull closed her presentation that, like Fuentes’s, included photographs showing off the natural beauty of the lands and waters she calls home, saying: “I will never feel safe again living next to this wall.” > “Please understand that what happens on the border does not stay on the border,” Hull said. “The lawlessness and brutality that the borderlands residents have been subjected to for decades has now spilled over into the rest of the country.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection awarded a $1.7 billion federal contract listed for border wall construction in the Big Bend region, fueling public confusion over the project after a previous assurance from a top agency official that no barriers would be built at the region’s national park. The contract, awarded Monday, is designated “for border wall in Big Bend Texas” in its description. The $1.7 billion allocated in the contract is the single-highest amount awarded for a contract in Texas related to the border wall, according to listings on usaspending.gov, the U.S. government’s official public spending database. A second contract for $4.5 million was awarded on Thursday for “resource monitoring support” of border wall construction in a separate area of the Big Bend region. The new awards come a week after CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott told the __ Washington Examiner there would be no border wall built at Big Bend National Park because of pushback from local residents. Scott’s statements to the _Examiner_ and a statement from CBP last week to _The Texas Tribune_ indicated the agency would instead pave roads along the border in the national park and use digital surveillance equipment. CBP did not respond to an immediate request for comment about the $1.7 billion award. Opponents of wall construction in the region have seen their frustrations with the project mount as communication from the Trump administration about the project has been limited, and there have been few formal announcements about plans in the area. > “We obviously, at this point, don’t trust anything, but it’s like a roller coaster,” said Lico Miller, a business owner in Terlingua, a small, rural town a few miles west of Big Bend National Park. An interactive “Smart Wall” map on the CBP website shows the agency planned to install roads and “virtual wall” technology that would alert Border Patrol agents when people cross the border in the “Big Bend 4” region. The $1.7 billion award is intended for a Big Bend “segment identified as BBT-4,” according to its description. CBP officials took down the Smart Wall map in late April, but later added it once more with changes in mid-May. The map currently states that no is wall planned around the national or state park despite the awarded contract. > “They have made it a mission to obfuscate and make this as confusing of a process as possible,” said Laiken Jordahl, National Public Lands Advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “From constantly changing the online smart wall map — I mean, they’ve made dozens and dozens of changes to that thing without announcing any of them — to taking it down entirely.” Jordahl said that even paved roads along the border would likely be harmful to wildlife in the region and could make border crossings easier in areas where terrain would otherwise be difficult to traverse. He also said roads would inevitably make barrier installation easier in the future if CBP changed its mind later on. On Thursday, the Trump administration waived environmental protections in the Big Bend region in preparation for construction, according to a federal notice first reported by Marfa Public Radio. The notice described Border Patrol’s 517-mile Big Bend sector as “an area of high illegal entry.” The sector is the least busy of the nine sectors, with agency apprehensions in the region accounting for 1.3% of more than 237,000 across the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2025. Residents point to the infrequency of border crossings in the area as only adding to the confusion and frustration. > “We’re 1.3% of the problem. What is this billions of dollars stuff when we are not an issue?” another Terlingua business owner Cynta de Narvaez said. Thursday’s waivers follow similar action in February, when Trump administration officials waived over two dozen environmental laws to clear the way for a 150-mile-long border barrier through West Texas that initially included Big Bend National Park. Advocacy groups in the region filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in mid-April arguing it had illegally waived those environmental laws and need Congress to sign off. -30- _This story was_ previously published_by the_ Texas Tribune _._

Welcome back to ICE Watch. It's been a little over a month since I wrote last. A lot has happened since our edition on the master plan to fill ICE warehouses (and more since we highlighted women on the front lines of the ICE resistance). While our attention has been bounced between a war and data centers no one wants, increasing encroachment on our privacy, dismantling of our public services, gutting of our voting rights, the erosion of academic freedom, and the pivot away from science as the basis for sound environmental, health, and economic policy, one monumental piece of legislation has loomed over the heads and hearts of many Texans: SB4. Grab your tea, coffee, Zoloft, or emotional support pet, and read on to learn more about how this hacienda _novela_ unfolds. The once-blocked effort by Governor Abbott and crew to turn Texas into a massive immigration force on top of all those federal agencies is paused, albeit partially and temporarily. Read deeper for details. _—Roxana Rojas_ _If this newsletter speaks to you, be sure to share it with your friends, family, and community. Is there a story not being covered that you’d like to see? Join as a paying supporter and engage in the comments below. Let me know what you want to see in the next newsletter!_ 🫀 Check out all of Deceleration's monthly and weekly newsletters. * * * __"Our Tax Dollars Fund Prisons for Toddlers" banner at an anti-ICE rally at CoreCivic's Dilley Detention Center. Image: Greg Harman__ ## **Judge Allows State of Texas to Take on More Immigration Duties** We have seen domestic violence victims targeted for immigration enforcement when calling for help. We've seen high schoolers getting sent to detention days before graduation for expired tags. We have seen terminally ill U.S. citizens make a life-threatening trip to Mexico to see their deported parents as their last dying wish. We have seen children waiting for the school bus get picked up and thrown into detention camps. All of this under the guise of public safety, law, and order. Meanwhile the sick are not making it to their doctor’s appointments out of fear of getting detained because of the mandatory question health-care provider offices now have to ask in Texas: “What is your legal status?” Meanwhile in the state with some of the highest domestic violence rates, people are not making the calls for help. Meanwhile DPS is stretched thin to respond to events such as highway car accidents because of its new marching orders to enforce immigration law. This is not making our state or our country safer. Clearly, there's much evidence to the contrary. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

_Click above to enjoy the Deceleration Podcast. Or join us at_ Apple Podcasts_,_ iHeart_,_ Amazon Music_,_ Goodpods_, or_ a dozen other platforms_._ * * * Texas is getting hotter—nearly four degrees hotter in just the last few decades. The last 10 years all rank among the hottest years ever on the planet, with residents forced to navigate sometimes months upon months of 100-plus-degree days. We know our unhoused neighbors, residents without sufficient cooling, or those with medical conditions are highly vulnerable to heat stress and wildly undercounted heat-related death. But imagine trying to survive this monster heat in a 6x9 concrete box—without air conditioning—and you have a recipe for mass suffering and death. A judge already ruled the fact of most Texas prisons having no A/C unconstitutional. Now we’re waiting for the fix. This week, Deceleration speaks with Dr. Amite Dominick, founder & president of Texas Prisons Community Advocates (TPCA), about her long-standing advocacy for the incarcerated. She details how the fight began, the response from those in elected power, and why it’s very possible a breakthrough is right around the corner.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced proposed changes Monday that would allow gas power plants, data centers and factories to begin construction on non-polluting components such as piping, wiring, cement pads and other support structures before obtaining air-emission permits. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a news release that the “proposal works to provide solutions to issues that have held up critical American infrastructure and advance the next great technological forefront.” The changes will undergo a 45-day public comment period. The action comes as the Trump administration moves to reduce an array of environmental protections to speed construction and win a global AI race with China and other adversaries. Big Tech companies like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Google are furiously working across the nation to build the data centers—massive facilities with networked computer servers—to power the energy-intensive new technology. > In pursuit of winning the AI race, President Donald Trump last year issued an executive order to revoke many guardrails that could slow down AI development. As data centers wait in long queues for grid upgrades before coming online, tech companies are increasingly seeking facilities with their own natural gas-fueled power plants, which have years-long construction times and climate consequences. As part of their grid upgrades to serve data centers, utilities are also building gas plants. The construction definition rules announced by Zeldin would also add language to say that prohibited construction activities do not include “clearing vegetation, grading, surveying, soil compacting and stabilization … and excavating land.” The prohibition of construction prior to permit issuance, waived under the proposed new rules for wiring, piping and cement pads, would also exempt utility services bringing electrical, water, wastewater or telecommunications services to a property site or building. > The definitions have been a critical part of the Clean Air Act that Congress passed decades ago to protect public health, said David Baron, a senior attorney with Earthjustice. Without them, Baron said, it will be “much, much harder for communities to protect the air they breathe.” __Data center infrastructure in the United States. Source:__ NREL Under the current rules, small amounts of site clearing and grading could occur. But companies aren’t allowed to invest what now can be hundreds of millions of dollars and carry out extensive work before obtaining a permit. Significant investment and construction on projects prior to permit issuance only makes it more “politically difficult” to reject air permits for facilities promoted as bringing hundreds of jobs and significant tax revenues to local communities, Baron said. “That shouldn’t be a consideration here,” Baron said, noting that the law directs regulators to determine whether the site is appropriate for the proposed facility and whether the air pollution controls are adequate. The EPA proposal “will really undermine those kinds of factors being given fair consideration.” Keri Powell, a senior attorney for community health and the air program leader at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said under Zeldin’s proposed new rules, a gas plant could be nearly complete, except for technology central to the air permitting process. > “Once you have the layout of the plant … there’s going to be a lot of sunk costs there,” Powell said. “The political pressure that would be brought to bear on a local agency or state agency that’s charged with making those [permit] decisions would be very, very high. It’s difficult already for those agencies. They’re under a lot of pressure.” The moves by the EPA are similar to other actions underway in Virginia, just outside the nation’s capital, which currently has more operating data centers than any other state or nation besides the U.S. In January, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality released guidance called “Construction Activities Permissible Prior to Receiving an Air Permit” just days before term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Trump ally and data center cheerleader, left office. While the EPA rules apply to major new source reviews, such as larger electricity generating facilities, the DEQ guidance applies to minor new source reviews, including backup diesel generators, which virtually all of the state’s data centers rely on for power in the event of grid failures. In that guidance, DEQ said it would be permissible to start construction on the buildings housing the computer equipment so long as the building didn’t also house the backup or electrical generators requiring the air permit. It would not be permissible to lay foundations or install and connect generators before the permit is received, DEQ explained, but it would be allowable to “extend ductwork” needed for potential emissions “several feet from building structure in accordance with good construction practices.” The DEQ memo was the “result of receiving many inquiries from facilities regarding the interpretation of ‘begin actual construction,’” according to a spokesperson. “This clarification memo is simply a formalization of responses that DEQ had previously provided to permittees to clarify this interpretation.” In 2024, the state’s largest electric utility, Dominion Energy, said its data center customers needed 3.5 gigawatts of power, the equivalent of electric use by almost 900,000 homes. Now, requests from data center developers exceed 70 gigawatts, almost three times Dominion’s record peak demand of 25 gigawatts in January.

ICE agents aim for easy pickings: like stealing children from school bus stops in San Antonio, Texas. Children who, not incidentally, are legal residents of the United States with their protected status granted by U.S. courts. ICE is also chaining pregnant woman to hospital beds. And recently, legal US resident Darisbell Quintero, one of hundreds of other pregnant women caught up in Trump's mass deportation campaign, miscarried inside the Prairieland Detention Center in North Texas, according to _The Dallas Morning News_. Had the baby lived, he or she would have been a US citizen and yet still likely joined a skyrocketing number of children now held in the United States, echoes of the 1940s Japanese internment camps in the U.S. They would have also suffered from abominable conditions like Liam Ramos, another legal immigrant with protective orders. Ramos's capture in Minnesota and subsequent flight to Texas, woke the nation to this practice of child internment—possibly in the CoreCivic facility in Dilley, an hour South of San Antonio, where unsanitary foods and water, medical neglect, and abuse are well documented. > “Come in the Right Way” remains a popular slur on the Internet but it no longer fits what is actually happening on the street. With nearly 8 in 10 of the more than 60,000 being detained have no criminal history to speak of, a growing number of these are actually lawful US residents who “came in the right way”—many making their cases before judges that their lives were at risk in their home countries—before being given legal residence here. * * * Related: 'Protests of ‘Abolish ICE’ Reach Texas Dems as Trump’s Agents Count the Holes in the Dead' * * * Now those promises of courts, judges, and former presidents are either being broken at the top or rogue agents are doing the work of the courts for them and violating those agreements. Either way it is a shame on our nation. Rightly or wrongly, the United States has long celebrated itself as a shelter in the storm of an often brutal world. It has long been promoted as a land of justice and a force for good, especially after the Civil War when the French gifted us the Statue of Liberty to mark our long-delayed break with slavery and the slow, winding, and now suddenly reversing road to racial equality. While there's wide room to debate these national narratives, they are useful in providing a compass pointing toward how we expect our nation to behave. > And when we consider the words inviting the “tired huddled masses yearning to breathe free” we are forced to consider the overwhelming evidence that this current regime is—through ICE and the growing deportation industrial-complex most clearly, but not exclusively—betraying the better angels of our human natures and the promises of our nation. When the most vulnerable are threatened by persecutions in other lands, our instinct and sometimes practice, is to open our doors and provide temporary shelter—and in tens of thousands of cases a year, refugee status for extended allowing for extended residence and sometimes a pathway to citizenship. The number allowed has ranged over the years depending on global conditions and the changing administrations setting the rules. Since the 1980s it has shifted from 120,000 under President Reagan, to 50,000 during Trump's first term, up to 125,000 under Biden, when nationals of war-decimated Afghanistan, the collapsing Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and a hemorrhaging Venezuela made up nearly half of all cases. > Last year, Trump closed the door to virtually all refugees—all except White South Africans, mostly Afrikaners. More than a dog whistle, this move placed white supremacy at the front of US immigration and refugee policy. Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson have long alleged a “white genocide” in South Africa, a country where apartheid segregated and priortized the needs of white people well into the 1990s (as well as other conspiracy claims about race in the U.S.). But “the idea of a ‘white genocide’ in South Africa is completely false,” according to reviews of policy and crime data from that country, where four out of every five farm deaths decried as racially inspired are of Black people. Back in the U.S., in an attempt to fulfill his campaign pledge to unleash the largest mass deportation in the history of the United States, Trump has set about betraying our nation's promises—including to those Afghans, many of thousands granted legal protected status, we should remember, for assisting US forces during our 20-year war against the Taliban in that country. (A 20-year period that allowed for the flooding of the world's drug market with Afghanistan heroin.) Many of these Afghans (perhaps including a family I met recently in San Antonio) are now being offered a vicious non-choice: Either a return trip to Afghanistan likely imprisonment and possible death at the hands of the ruling Taliban, or a one-way ticket to … the Democratic Republic of Congo, now suffering severe humanitarian breakdown and massive internal armed conflict and as many as 4 million moving toward starvation within months. > “America’s word is worthless now” George Pierce opened their recent piece at Esquire. “because the president’s word is worthless.” This great betrayal of our allies matches the betrayal within this war on immigrants, where citizen and non-citizen are caught up: Whether we're rolling back voting rights for Black folks, whose enslaved ancestors over 250 years produced the majority of the entire wealth of the United States, and returning to one-party rule across the U.S. South to again deny Black people political represenation, or we’re breaking the law in a myriad of directions for those who turned to the US for life-saving aid, we are in a period of stark and sustained moral offense. Torture and death are hallmarks of the entire detention system today. Last year there were 31 in-custody detention-related deaths, the most in 20 years. And this year seems about to top that, with 18 deaths in the first four months of 2026. Detention guards, who regularly refer to detained people as “bodies” have been caught placing bets on who will kill themselves next. There have been more than 1,000 credible human rights abuses documented in ICE detention. Here are a few other betrayals: Chanthila 'Shawn' Souvannarath was born in a refugee camp in Thailand and entered the United States before his first birthday. He became a U.S. citizen, according to the National Immigration Project, after his father naturalized. In spite of a judge's order barring his deportation, he was deported to Laos. > "This should shock the nation," said Nora Ahmed, legal director of the ACLU of Louisiana. A 10-year-old U.S. citizen with brain cancer was deported from Texas to Mexico with her parents and other U.S. citizen siblings after being stopped while on the way to a medical appointment. Who's caring for her now? An 18-year-old brother still in the US works two jobs to afford her medicine. The legally blind Nurul Amin Shah Alam was allowed refugee status along with his wife and two sons. After Shah Alam got lost after going out to buy a curtain rod for a makeshift cane, he accidentlly wandered into a neighbor's yard. After police brutalized him, taking him four times, he was turned over to U.S. Border Patrol. When Border Patrol realized they couldn't legally deport Shah Alam they dumped him outside a closed donut shop in a Buffalo, New York, winter. He was found dead five days later. Here are some cases involving U.S. citizens from a December report from the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations titled, "Unchecked Authority": * _Andrea Velez, who was detained for over 48 hours despite repeatedly telling officers she was a citizen and having her identification in her bag;_ * _George Retes, an army veteran thrown out of his car while trying to get to work and detained for over three days, resulting in him missing his daughter’s third birthday;_ * _Javier Ramirez, a severely diabetic father of four taken from his workplace and detained for over 96 hours despite having his identification and passport in his pocket;_ * _Julian Cardenas who now suffers from PTSD after he was detained for documenting ICE agents’ conduct and subsequently held for three days;_ * _Ceasar Saltos, who was detained for over eighteen hours despite having a photo ID and birth certificate that verified his citizenship and identity._ The many livestreams documenting the violence of U.S. Border Patrol and ICE agents, the executions of US citizens protesting ICE abuses, all turned the stomach of the majority of Americans. Negative polling pushed Trump to seek to move ICE out of the daily news cycle. Meanwhile, many in the MAGA base have turned on Trump over a rapidly entangling war on Iran that keeps leaning toward the involvement of ground troops, as well as Trump’s allegiance to jobs-stealing AI data centers. While many remain allied with Trump’s scapegoating of immigrants, the day is not far off that broader understanding of ICE in practice—the facial recognition glasses, the databases of undesirable citizens, the attacks on U.S. citizens, and centralization of data and power during this largest presidential grift in U.S. history—will soon awaken millions more. Maybe even those who served in Afghanistan who still value integrity and loyalty. Last month in Dallas, an Afghan man and veteran of the US war against the Taliban living in the U.S. under protected status died in ICE custody. Nazeer Paktyawal, was prouounced dead within a day of being detained. His brother, hearing Paktyawal was not well, called an ambulance to the ICE processing center. But it appears no one inside ever checked on him. This is Capital & Main reporting: _“Paktyawal fought alongside U.S. Special Forces, including the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, as a member of Afghanistan’s special forces and was evacuated with his family when U.S. troops withdrew from the country and the Taliban took over in 2021._ _"[The younger] Paktiawal said his brother inspired his own decision to work as a translator for U.S. troops. After their father died, Paktyawal [elder] joined the special forces to support their family in 2005, and Paktiawal [the younger] took the translator job in 2010 once he finished high school. … He said beyond supporting their family, both brothers believed in the U.S. mission to bring peace and stability to their country and were willing to sacrifice their lives for it.”_ They were willing to sacrifice their lives in the hopes of freedom from the Taliban, with trust in the United States. And could not have imagined this outcome: victims of the United States of American's own War on Immigrants. -30- _UPDATE: The Uzcategui-Laborador family (the two children and stepmother snatched from the Alamo Heights bus stop referenced on opening of this column) are still detained at Dilley, but local community has_ raised $30,000 for legal fees_. The family recently paused contributions until they know exactly what those final fees will be. There is no update yet on the wellbeing of Darisbell Quintero. A public hearing has been called_

Members of Congress from Texas and Wyoming introduced bills recently that would grant fossil fuel companies sweeping legal immunity and shield energy producers from stricter compliance with the Clean Air Act. Republican Harriet Hageman, Wyoming’s only member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, spearheaded legislation that would protect fossil fuel companies from liability for damages caused by storms, wildfires and other climate-fueled disasters. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, collaborated on another bill called the FENCES Act, which would make it easier for states to claim that foreign emissions are driving local pollution. > “Energy security is national security, and we will not self-sabotage our critical industries with a cascade of costly lawsuits and extreme penalties that jeopardize American drilling,” Hageman said in a statement accompanying her bill’s announcement. > “America’s energy producers should be protected from the dangerous legal precedent that would be set by the retroactive punishment of lawful activity.” Hageman’s statement included quotes from fossil fuel lobbyists and executives thanking her and Cruz, whose bill in the Senate is co-sponsored by Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, for introducing the legislation. The bill is being referred to as the “Stop Climate Shakedowns Act.” The FENCES Act, which Lee also cosponsored in the Senate, passed on April 16 in the House, where it was co-sponsored by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, and Rep. Jeff Crank, R-Colo. “I’m thrilled to see the FENCES Act move one step closer to becoming law,” Lummis said in a press release. “This legislation will help drive innovation and economic growth across Wyoming by cutting unnecessary red tape. At the same time, the FENCES Act preserves strong Clean Air Act standards while implementing commonsense policies that account for pollution beyond a state’s control.” The American Petroleum Institute, the largest fossil fuel trade group in the U.S., has lobbied in favor of each bill, according to recent disclosures. A spokesperson for Lummis said the fossil fuel industry did not lobby her to write the FENCES Act or help her craft the legislation. None of the other lawmakers supporting these pieces of legislation responded to questions over whether they had heard from industry lobbyists. ### **“Homegrown Pollution”** Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA maintains thresholds for ozone and regional haze, two types of harmful pollution. If states or cities fail to meet these standards, they have to submit “regional haze plans” detailing how they will cut down on pollution. Emissions from other countries can migrate to the U.S. and play a role in poor local air quality, but they are not always the primary cause. > “That argument is very typically a red herring to distract from the realities of homegrown pollution that is harming national parks—air pollution that is very much controllable,” said Ulla Reeves, the Clean Air Program director for the National Parks Conservation Association. One such homegrown source can be fossil fuels, which generate pollution even before their combustion when they are mined, fracked, pumped and refined. Texas is the U.S.’s largest energy producer, while Colorado and Utah rank in the top 17. Scientists have long known about the impacts of air pollution on human health. Brian Moench, president and co-founder of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, said prolonged exposure to ozone pollution can have a similar impact on a person’s lungs to smoking cigarettes. He estimated as many as 8,000 stillbirths occur in the U.S. annually as a result of air pollution. On April 21, the day before Earth Day, Lee Zeldin, head of the Environmental Protection Agency proposed downgrading the severity of air quality infractions in the greater Salt Lake City area. > “It doesn’t matter where the ozone originates, it’s going to have the same public health consequence regardless,” Moench said. > “The idea that life-saving, health-protecting clean air standards burden people and penalize them is just nuts.” In Colorado, pollution along the front range has vexed residents and regulators for decades, and while the state has taken steps to address the problem, it must redouble its efforts, said Andrew Klooster, a Colorado field advocate with Earthworks. “Colorado is a state that bills itself as an outdoor paradise. Outdoor activities and outdoor recreation is really the selling point of Colorado,” he said. “If you’re relegating a subset of the population to not being able to safely recreate outside, beyond just being a public health issue, that’s an equity issue as well.” In Texas, where a large industrial presence and growing population are taking their toll on air quality, the FENCES Act would be a step back for human health, said Cyrus Reed, legislative and conservation director of the Sierra Club’s Lone Star chapter. > “It just means you’re going to have more sick people and have more of an impact on health care costs, more early deaths, more problems with asthma,” he said. “We feel like, as a government, we should be trying to protect our people and have good air quality, not look for excuses not to do our jobs.” ### **Immune Corporations, Vulnerable Citizens?** Hageman and Cruz’s bills shielding fossil fuel companies from climate superfund laws and lawsuits seeking damages for weather disasters linked to climate impacts of their products are being viewed by some as part of a campaign to delegitimize climate science. “It’s part of a broader attack on attribution science”—research that quantifies how much emissions from fossil-fuels contributed to a specific climate disaster—said Kathy Mulvey, climate accountability campaign director with the Union of Concerned Scientists. Attribution science has “been recognized by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as a critical tool for understanding the impacts of climate change.” This year, those impacts manifested in one of the warmest and driest winters ever for many parts of the West. Across the Colorado River basin, irrigators, cities and industrial users are reckoning with record low snowpack, an ongoing megadrought and the possibility that federal dams will not be able to provide water and electricity to the 40 million people in the U.S., Mexico and 30 tribal nations that depend on them. > “People are really worried about what the summer is going to look like” in Wyoming, said Emma Jones, associate organizer for the Sierra Club’s Wyoming chapter. “It’s really frustrating that [Wyoming’s congressional delegation] is going to just continue giving handouts to these industries that have already harmed our communities for a really long time.” Texas has experienced a full spectrum of climate-related environmental disasters—from snowstorms to wildfires, heatwaves and flooding. In Corpus Christi, where petrochemical plants, oil refineries and other industries account for over half of the city’s daily water usage, schools and hospitals are drilling for groundwater as city officials stare down the prospect of running dry. The cost of rebuilding after these events ultimately lands on Texans, whose burden could be reduced by damage payments from fossil fuel companies, Reed said. (Texas has not filed any lawsuits seeking damages for climate disasters from fossil fuel companies.) > “I’m disappointed that Cruz is using his position as Senator of the great state of Texas to do the bidding of large oil and gas and industrial companies instead of looking out for the health and affordability of average Texans,” he said. Hageman and Cruz’s bills have been referred to each chamber’s Committee on the Judiciary. The FENCES Act is awaiting a hearing before the Committee on Environment and Public Works in the Senate, on which Lummis is a member of the Republican majority.

This year, I’m predicting, Corpus Christi will be inundated with journalists from national outlets wanting their own story about the city’s imploding water supply failures. As the city lurches toward the ignoble status as potentially the first modern U.S. city to run out of water, we are witnessing an echo of shocks felt in much larger cities, like Johannesburg, South Africa, where much of the population suffers under ‘Day Zero’ conditions due to “infrastructure failure, poor planning and weak accountability,” as The Citizen writes. Those of us from state and bioregional projects like _Deceleration_ will also be reporting on the evolving situation. But, as I make clear in this month’s newsletter, this story goes back much further. In spite of that history and all of its lessons, communities across the Laguna Madre area of South Texas—and beyond—are poised to make the same easily preventable mistakes. — Gaige Davila 🌀 __Is there something happening on the coast you think I should know? Let me know in the comments below or at__ ___gaige@deceleration.news___ __.__ * * * __Dwindling water supplies on the Gulf Coast. Lake Corpus Christi Water Level graph, NASA satellite photo from space, and screen grab from__ Deceleration __video about__ rising heat in Corpus Christi__.__ Deceleration __illustration.__ ## **Months Away from Running Out of Water, Corpus Christi’s Officialdom Still Holds Industry More Dear Than its Own Residents** Gaige Davila | Deceleration It’s been about two years since I first reported on Corpus Christi’s water. I shouldn’t be at all surprised that what residents were worried about back then has not only happened—a city so enamored with billion-dollar industry that it pushed into the bleeding edge of water promises to the detriment of residents—but is even worse than predicted. Yet here I am, writing this from just a few hours away in Austin, Texas, after screening the documentary Shifting Baselines by Julien Elie, being surprised for another reason. It has to do with the idea behind the title of the film. That idea was first elucidated by Daniel Pauly, a fisheries biologist who is heavily featured in the film. > Here’s a good Ted Talk listen on the concept of shifting baselines from Pauly himself, but think of it as our collective understanding of “normal” changing imperceptibly, year by year, until the new “normal” begins to collapse. Only then would people notice anything was different at all. For instance, if you were to watch any Corpus Christi council meeting or see its city manager, Peter Zanoni, talk about water, you’d assume the industrial companies and the region’s drought were always there, beyond history, in a productive tension. It’s a convenient illusion for industry boosters. But the people who live there know better. ### This post is for subscribers only Become a member to get access to all content Subscribe now

Average gas prices in the United States are quickly climbing toward $5 per gallon this week as US President Donald Trump’s war with Iran shows little sign of resolution. Where average prices were about $2.98 the day before the war’s launch, they had shot up to $4.48 as of Tuesday, according to AAA’s gas price tracker, as Iran’s restriction of ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz has squeezed global oil shipping and the shipping of other fuel sources like liquefied natural gas (LNG), causing global price hikes. And while Trump has touted America’s supposed “energy independence” as an ace in the hole, achieved by ratcheting up fossil fuel production while canceling solar and wind power projects, data shows that the US has been hit harder by the price shocks than any other major economy in the world, with those that have embraced renewable energy being especially resilient. Although the US leads the world in oil production by a large margin, data from JP Morgan Commodities research, analyzed Friday by MarketWatch, showed that between February 23 and April 27, the US experienced about a 42% increase in gas prices, the fifth-highest in the world. > “The spike in US gasoline prices over the past two months has outpaced everywhere except Southeast Asia, the region most dependent on oil from the Persian Gulf,” explained Yahoo Finance geopolitics reporter Jake Conley. ## Sign up for Deceleration Deceleration is an online journal of environmental justice growing solutions to an overheating world. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Rebecca Babin, senior energy trader and managing director at CIBC Private Wealth, explained to MarketWatch last week that while increased fuel production gives the US a “buffer,” oil is a global market and “it doesn’t operate in a vacuum.” She said, “Global tightness and domestic bottlenecks still show up in gasoline prices.” Meanwhile, some of the countries that have best survived the price hikes include France and Spain, which derive large shares of their power from nuclear energy and renewables, respectively. Craig Hanson and Jessica Isaacs, a pair of researchers at the World Resources Institute, explained last month that while a mix of factors is at play, countries less reliant on fossil fuels generally “find themselves in a better position to withstand the current crisis.” “Every country has homegrown access to at least two clean energy resources—the sun shines, and the wind blows just about everywhere at some point,” they said. “The same cannot be said of oil and gas, where production is concentrated in a small number of countries and exposed to geopolitical disruption.” > “Renewable resources like wind, solar, and geothermal have zero fuel costs, and the fuel cost of nuclear power is quite low. Again, the same cannot be said of fossil fuels, which have costs set by volatile global markets,” they added. “These two advantages are why some of the world’s clean energy frontrunners are faring better than other countries amidst the Iranian energy crisis.” As Reuters reported in late April, the contrast between Europe’s biggest gas guzzlers and green energy adopters is particularly stark. While Albania has kept energy prices in check and even lowered them compared to last year by using its large system of hydroelectric dams, which supply much of its power, countries like Germany and Italy, which still rely heavily on gas, have seen electricity prices spike. Hanson and Isaacs noted that while clean energy investments have helped soften the blow of global price shocks, the effects are not the same across the board. While price hikes for the electricity used to power factories, homes, and cars have been blunted by the availability of alternative energy sources, others, like heat—which are more reliant on natural gas—have still been affected. Still, though, they said the crisis has shown that in addition to environmental sustainability, “clean energy systems’ greatest benefits today might actually be price stability and domestic energy resilience.” While Trump has continued his efforts to choke off any federal investment in renewable energy and double down on oil and gas production, other nations have taken the war’s price hikes as a sign to further accelerate their transition away from fossil fuels. Germany and several other European Union members, for example, have announced expedited timelines to expand offshore wind and solar investments, explicitly citing the volatility in oil markets caused by the war. Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the energy price shocks showed that “the only real energy independence from the Middle East is renewables.” note to our readers Join Now -30- _This story was_ originally published_by_ Common Dreams _._

En un día típico soleado del sur de Texas, fui a hacer una compra rápida al H-E-B, el súper cerca de mi departamento en Brownsville, Texas. Estaba dando una vuelta por la tienda y, justo cuando estiré el brazo para agarrar unas salchichas del congelador, todo oscureció ante mis ojos. > «¿He muerto?», pensé. «¿Es esto el más allá?». Cuando oí los gritos de otros clientes y se encendieron las luces, vi las caras preocupadas de la gente. Esto no fue para nada la primera vez que viví**** un corte de electricidad en Brownsville, una de las muchas comunidades del Valle del Río Grande, que en si abarca cuatro condados a lo largo del río Grande/Bravo y del golfo de México. El Wall Street Journal suele referirse a esta región entera, en la cual viven aproximadamente 1,43 millones de habitantes, como una de las más pobres del país. Brownsville ha sido recientemente clasificada como la segunda ciudad «más necesitada» de Estados Unidos. Los impuestos no se reinvierten de forma fiable en laconstrucción de infraestructuras básicas.**** En cambio: nos encontramos con muros fronterizos de miles de millones de dólares. Se producen cortes de electricidad debido a ráfagas de viento, tormentas o un consumo elevado durante épocas de temperaturas extremas. El servicio de agua es aún peor. No es raro que los hogares o negocios de Brownsville y de todo el sur de Texas sufran cortes de electricidad o se enfrenten a otros problemas de infraestructura, como la escasez de agua y los avisos de hervir el agua. En algunas zonas, la población carece por completo de acceso al agua corriente o a la electricidad. La zona de Brownsville sufre de infraestructura en mal estado debido a la falta de financiamiento, la mala gestión de los recursos municipales y diversas formas de explotación. La población de esta región del sur de Texas, que sufre las consecuencias de infraestructura deficiente, es mayormente de origen latino, indígena o morena, y la pobreza es una epidemia. __Elementos que suele contener un kit de emergencia. Imagen: Venisha Colón__ Como resumió recientemente un economista local: > «El 42,2 % de los niños de McAllen… y el 39,2 % de los de Brownsville-Harlingen viven por debajo del umbral de la pobreza, y muchos de ellos se encuentran en una situación crónica de inseguridad alimentaria, sanitaria y de vivienda». Los efectos del cambio climático, como las inundaciones y las olas de calor, empeoran la situación. Texas ha registrado un número récord de catástrofes declaradas por el estado y se está ganando una reputación a nivel nacional por sus frecuentes declaraciones de catástrofe, como la tormenta invernal de Texas de 2022 y el huracán Harvey de 2017. La página web de la Oficina de Gestión de Emergencias del condado de Cameron indica que, entre 1953 y 2024, Texas ha sufrido de 374 declaraciones de desastre; en promedio es casi seis desastres al año. El número de desastres y su gravedad, debido al cambio climático, están aumentando, como hemos podido comprobar en los últimos tres años, con la tormenta invernal Uri y la devastadora inundación que dejó más de 50 centímetros de lluvia en el Valle del Río Grande el año pasado. Estas crisis cada vez más frecuentes han obligado a familias y organizaciones a idear sus propias soluciones para la supervivencia diaria, y también durante condiciones meteorológicas extremas. Soy del Valle del Río Grande y llevo varias décadas viviendo aquí, y he vivido seis tormentas tropicales devastadoras. Mi difunta abuela, cuya familia llevaba varias generaciones en el Valle del Río Grande, me enseñó a ayudar al prójimo. Un día se encontró en las calles de Mercedes, Texas, con un hombre de México que necesitaba un dólar, y lo llevó a su casa para darle de cenar y un lugar seguro donde dormir. Que una persona ayude a otra es fundamental; sin embargo, un grupo de nosotros nos dimos cuenta de que, a medida que aumentaban los desastres, se necesitaban recursos diferentes. Me convertí en miembro fundador del South Texas Environmental Justice Network (una red dejusticia ambiental del sur de tejas), que se centra en encontrar formas de llegar a las personas más afectadas por los desastres y de crear vías de ayuda inmediata. Uno de los proyectos que hemos desarrollado es el Kit para una recuperación justa. Creamos estos kits pensando en nuestros vecinos afectados por las crisis climáticas, pero descubrimos que muchos los necesitaban para su supervivencia diaria. Cada kit puede incluir un sistema de filtración de agua de alta calidad, jarras grandes, un detector de monóxido de carbono, repelente de insectos no tóxico, un sistema de carga de baterías solares, guantes, equipo de protección individual (EPI) y mucho más. Los kits Just Recovery, diseñados por nuestros miembros, se preparan para cada familia en función de sus necesidades e incluyen información de contacto por si necesitaran asistencia técnica. > Bryan Parras, un defensor de la justicia medioambiental de Houston y miembro de la organización Another Gulf Is Possible, es el diseñador principal de los kits. Me contó cómo le inspiraron los desastres cada vez más frecuentes provocados por los huracanes en la costa norte de Texas. «Sería en Texas y luego en Luisiana, empezando por el Katrina, luego el Rita, después el Ike y el Gustav», dijo Parras. «Y así sucesivamente». __Miembros de__ South Texas Environmental Justice Network__(SOTXEJN) repartiendo kits a familias en una conferencia sobre preparación para emergencias en Alamo, Texas, en 2023.__ Al igual que Bryan, yo también he sido testigo de un aumento de las catástrofes en la costa sur. La zona cuenta con refugios de refrigeración obligatorios para hacer frente a las altas temperaturas, pero nunca son suficientes. El año pasado, se encontró a una familia muerta en su casa de Brownsville debido al calor extremo y a la falta de aire acondicionado. Pregunta a cualquier persona de la región y te contará una historia personal de supervivencia ante una catástrofe relacionada con la vida en el sur de Texas. El coche de mi compañero se inundó durante una tormenta; mi padre fue rescatado cuando el agua se llevaba su coche. Mi departamento estuvo sin electricidad durante tres días durante la tormenta invernal Uri en Texas. Un verano, mis zapatos baratos se me rompieron por culpa del asfalto caliente. Estas catástrofes tienen graves consecuencias en una región que ya se ve doblemente afectada por la catástrofe cotidiana que supone la pobreza. No solo faltan los productos de primera necesidad, sino que también puede resultar difícil encontrar los artículos necesarios para prepararse ante una catástrofe o recuperarse de ella. Bryan me explicó cómo, con el paso de los años, los «Just Recovery Kits» pasaron de ser un kit para situaciones de catástrofe a convertirse en un kit que satisface las necesidades cotidianas de las personas. > «Muchas de nuestras comunidades parten de una situación en la que se encuentran en desventaja con respecto a la mayor parte de la población; les resulta mucho más difícil recuperarse de las catástrofes», afirmó. «Pero si contamos con productos que les ayuden a avanzar poco a poco hacia una situación más equitativa, ese es precisamente el objetivo de los kits: mejorar su calidad de vida, su salud y su capacidad para anticiparse a las emergencias, y proporcionarles aquellas cosas que no pueden permitirse o que no son una prioridad: “Tengo que comprar comida antes que mascarillas, lo siento”». Dina Núñez, una activista comunitaria de Brownsville, se ha visto obligada a recurrir a estos kits a diario. Afirma que no confía en el agua que sale del grifo de la Junta de Servicios Públicos de Brownsville (BPUB). Aunque el agua de la zona cumple en su mayor parte con las normas federales sobre agua potable, sigue habiendo debates sobre su seguridad. El Grupo de Trabajo Medioambiental enumera una variedad de contaminantes presentes en el agua que son conocidos como causantes de cáncer. «Lo uso [el kit] con frecuencia, sobre todo el filtro de agua; lo uso todos los días», me dijo en español. «Sabemos que el agua está contaminada, sin duda. De hecho, vino una agencia a mi casa a hacer análisis del agua. Analizaron el grifo y nuestro pozo, y el resultado fue que el agua de la ciudad está muy contaminada». Añadió que el aumento de las olas de calor extremo significa que la empresa de servicios públicos, que ya le está fallando con el agua de mala calidad, también está subiendo continuamente el precio de la electricidad. «Ellos [la empresa de servicios públicos] siguen sin querer asumir la responsabilidad», afirmó. «Es como si en realidad no filtran el agua. Y se avecinan facturas muy elevadas. En épocas de mucho calor, la tarifa por consumo [en kilovatios] sube independientemente de si la usamos o no; la BPUB no deja de aumentarla en nuestras facturas mensuales de electricidad». El South Texas Environmental Justice Network ha repartido 200 kits a familias viviendo en los condados de Cameron e Hidalgo durante los últimos tres años. Nuestra organización también tiene previsto crear una red, o «centro de resiliencia», formada por familias que cuenten con estos kits y que puedan recibir y difundir información vital en caso de emergencia, así como ayudar a otras personas de su vecindario. Es necesario informar a la empresa de servicios públicos sobre las formas de satisfacer las necesidades de la comunidad. Hasta que se introduzcan mejoras, el South Texas Environmental Justice Network seguirá buscando soluciones, como la entrega de kits de ayuda a las familias que los necesiten.

Like most of their neighbors across the planet, Texas residents are on voyage into the sizzling unknown. In recent decades, heat and humidity across the state have risen steadily as the heat-trapping gases pumped out by fossil fuel combustion continue to clog the atmosphere. Texas, a land of highly variable weather, is fast emerging as one of the fastest warming states in the U.S. And it's keeping a dangerous pace with flood-, storm, and fire-prone states like Florida and California as a national epicenter for costly billion-dollar disasters. > The heat hitting in recent years has exceeded anything local inhabitants have ever faced. Climate scientists are increasingly confident heat this extreme hasn’t been known on Earth for more than 120,000 years—possibly much longer. There are political and structural challenges to navigating this heat. In the second most populous state in the U.S. a full 80 percent of residents live in cities—where the amount of concrete and asphalt artificially raises temperatures as much as 10 degrees or more. __There's been an average rise of roughly 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit across Texas since 1970. Climate Central graphic.__ What Texas cities can do about offsetting or slowing that heat remains to be seen. MAGA-aligned state and federal leaders are actively climate hostile, forcing renewable projects to the margins, while continuing to subsidize the most polluting forms of energy. Federal dollars previously reserved for social services or climate adaptation are have been clawed back even as state elected Republicans continue to block potentially lifesaving policies for climate action. For instance, cities like Houston, San Antonio, and Austin had sought to require heat and shade breaks for workers inside of their respective city limits. But statehouse Republicans clapped back with legislation seeking to still such progressive impulses. The bill that came to be known as the “Death Star” bill by opponents—declared unconstitutional by a Travis County judge but cleared by the Third Court of Appeals—forced a rewrite of many local ordinances, including the one seeking to require heat relief. Yet the challenge of survival remains. > While heat is the most deadly of all weather-related phenomena, most counties and cities across Texas still fail to accurately track heat-related deaths. As _Deceleration_ has reported, nearly 600 state residents died in 2023 from extreme heat, according to a survey of state data. That's still a fraction of the deaths that likely occurred, according to published findings from a recent study by a climate scientist at Texas A&M. Last month, San Antonio officials presented their “Heat Resilience Playbook” to local elected leaders. The 43-page document outlines existing and emerging actions intended to blunt the force of all this new heat on residents. "The playbook has 52 action and they are divided into new actions, existing actions, and improvements," said Resilience and Sustainability Director Laura Patiño. "I’m happy to share that 80 of these actions are ongoing." __Deceleration Video__ The need is real and pressing, she emphasized. > "San Antonio has experienced a series of records," Patiño said. "We are experiencing hotter and longer heat seasons with more frequent heat days and documented heat related illness." Since 2022, for instance, there have been roughly 2,400 documented cases of heat illness in the city, she said. "Those impacts are not evenly distributed," she added. Residents in hotter pockets of the city with less tree canopy and higher income strain are most at risk, she said. Ongoing projects include the application of reflective coatings to area streets in hope of bringing down temperatures, analyzing of heat vulnerabilities across the city, and expanding cooling center access and improved heat-related communications to local residents. A study of shade at area bus stops is expected to be completed this fiscal year. And a partnership with the City of San Antonio and Centro San Antonio is expected to deliver 1,000 trees downtown by 2035 as part of a "Trees Everywhere" initiative. A hub for resources and information about extreme heat—including the location of cooling centers for residents—has been corralled at sa.gov/hotweather. San Antonio's Heat Resilience PlaybookEfforts to blunt the impact of extreme heat on local residents.San Antonio's Heat Resilience Playbook.pdf6 MBdownload-circle However, although local residents (who rallied in the thousands over the years for the original animating climate action plan, ultimately passed 2019) could be credited for putting the heat plan in motion, the outcome of a grassroots campaign demanding the tracking of heat-related deaths is still unclear. * * * Related: "San Antonio Heat-Death Tracking Effort Advances Over Staff ‘No Action’ Recommendation" * * * While heat-related deaths will be tracked and reported starting this summer, Patiño said that it's unclear exactly how reliable that data will be. Metro Health has been researching the best way to track heat-related deaths, she said, including researching best practices in both Texas and Arizona and entering into dialogue with the Bexar County Medical Examiner, who has importantly to date refused to track heat-related deaths. > “Tracking deaths to heat is complicated and our team will continue to research methods to better estimate the impact that heat is having on our community," Patiño said. > "Currently the most standard method of collecting that data is through death certificates. Metro Health will add death data to their current heat-related illnesses dashboard starting this year." Metro Health's heat illness dashboard previously included a line for heat-related deaths, but the department stopped including them in their monthly reports a couple years ago as _Deceleration_ highlighted the unreliability of the data without the Bexar County Medical Examiner's participation. Metro Health Director Dr. Claude A. Jacob told the Heath Committee members that beginning this summer that heat tracking nonetheless will again be rolled into the monthly reports, including provisional death certificates from any heat-related deaths logged. __Community activists in October 2025 wave “Count the Bodies/Cuenta Los Cuerpos” placards after the Governance Committee advanced a proposal to begin tracking heat-related deaths in San Antonio. Images: Greg Harman__ The City of Austin, meanwhile, released its Heat Resilience Playbook in 2024, boasting 56 actions meant to reduce heat’s impact on residents. Last year, the City of Austin—with a commitment to reach net-zero greenhouse gas pollution by 2040—announced it had been awarded $70,000 to develop heat survival strategies alongside three other U.S. cities (Miami, Fla., New York City, and Washington, D.C.) as part of the C40 Heat, Health, and Equity Challenge Fund. Last fall, the Austin-San Antonio region was selected as a “climate resilient communities accelerator” zone by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. That put in motion a two-year effort involving local governments across the fast-growing I-35 corridor of Central Texas, including Austin and San Antonio. “We are the fastest growing region in the United States and live in the state with one of the highest number of federally declared disasters per year,” Patiño said at the time. “Yet, there is a strong culture for collaboration that can be leveraged to ensure we are improving quality of life for residents in the region for years to come.” El Paso, which struggles with dangerous drought and some of the hottest daily temps in Texas, recently approved its own climate plan when nearly half of the City Council members were absent. However, the plan doesn’t mandate or enact any specific policies. > “We’re not adopting a specific policy yet. It’s more of a guide that will essentially bring those policies forward,” _El Paso Matters_ quoted District 5 city Rep. Ivan Niño. “And that’s the time the council can start talking further (about) what they want to advocate within those specific policies.” _Deceleration_ reached out to Metro Health with questions about what changes are anticipated in heat tracking of heat-related deaths and we were referred to the Office of Resilience and Sustainability.