Environment Texas – Wild & Scenic Film Festival

On Thursday, September 25th, Environment Texas will host their Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour Event at the Austin Film Society Cinema — one of the premier movie theaters in Central Austin. For the first time ever in Austin, this event will bring together a community of nature lovers, advocates, and change-makers to experience films that spark action and celebrate the beauty of our planet. 

After the films, they will host a panel discussion with environmental leaders about the films in the context of Texas’s environmental challenges. 

WHO IS ENVIRONMENT TEXAS? 

Environment Texas, a project of Environment America, is a policy and action group with one mission: to build a greener, healthier world. Environment Texas is part of The Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to social change. Environment Texas has one mission: to protect the natural world. 

They advocate ideas and actions to guide our country onto a greener, healthier path. Their network of 30 state environmental groups promote clean air, clean water, clean energy, wildlife and open spaces, and a livable climate. Their members put grassroots support behind their research, public education, advocacy and litigation. Together, their staff, members and other supporters are committed to winning changes that allow nature to thrive and our children to live healthier, more enriching lives. 

WHAT DOES ENVIRONMENT TEXAS DO? 

To protect wildlife and their habitat, conserve natural resources, and address climate change, Environment Texas is working to reduce consumption, ensure products are built to last, and shift policies toward a system where all materials are reused, recycled, or composted in a continuous cycle. Environment Texas is working to protect our health and environment by making polluters pay for the toxic messes they create and eliminating the use of toxic chemicals that make their way into our water, air, communities, and homes. They promote solutions that will help our country to go fossil fuel free, promote carbon-free transportation, reduce power plant pollution, preserve tropical forests, and more, and they are working to protect our public lands from exploitation and development, save America’s remaining wildlife, and defend our oceans from drilling, plastic pollution and other threats.  

Environment Texas is protecting the water we drink and the air we breathe by holding polluters accountable, strengthening state and federal protections, networking with local clean water champions, and more. They are also working to reduce energy waste, convince companies that own and operate buildings with big, flat, sunny roofs to use them to generate electricity from the sun, and build public support for policies that will help America run on renewable energy. 

HOW THE WILD & SCENIC FILM FESTIVAL HELPS. 

Ty Gribble, Clean Water Policy Associate, Environment Texas, says, “Hosting Wild and Scenic has helped us connect with our community by reaching out to organizations and making connections with other environmental groups. Thanks to films like Boca Chica –which is about the impact of SpaceX on local beaches in Brownsville, TX — we have met activists in our community and learned more about issues in our backyard.” 

Ty goes on to say, “Our favorite thing about putting on this event has been seeing all of the great short films on tour! Wild and Scenic has a broad catalogue of films that are relevant to the issues we’re working on. We were able to find films about our home state (Boca Chica) and several of our core campaigns (Wildlife Crossings, Eliminating Plastic Waste, etc), while also learning about plenty of new issues!”