by Hyon K. Rah – Chair, Environment & Sustainable Development Committee

April 2021

It has been over a month since the winter storm caused power outages in over four million households in Texas, affecting about half the state’s population. The power outages meant no power to pump water and treat wastewater, disrupting the water supply. Even in areas where the water treatment system was not damaged, the cold weather caused distribution pipes and pipes in buildings to burst. This not only disrupted the water supply but also wreaked havoc inside the affected buildings, flooding people’s bedrooms, kitchens, and bathrooms and damaging their walls and ceilings. Many who were fortunate enough to still have running water found themselves under boil water orders. Days after the storm, over 14 million people—about half of Texas’ population—were left without access to clean, running water at their homes. News reports of Texas residents lacking water access continued to emerge well after 15 days post-storm.

In Houston, 25% of the city’s residents were affected by the various water issues brought on by the storm. Many homes were left uninhabitable, leaving their residents essentially homeless until the plumbing and structural issues at their homes are addressed. There is a huge backlog of over three months for requests for plumbing repairs, which are essential for getting the homes back to livable states. In Dallas, a city of renters where only about four out of ten residents own their homes, renters were at the mercy of owners and utilities to take responsibility for the repairs and provide water. For the renters in uninhabitable units with water damage, including mold and leaky roofs, relocating to safety posed a logistical nightmare. All this hit the lower-income families the hardest, many already behind in their rents due to the economic peril from the pandemic.

As a sustainability and resilience strategist, the discussion I would like to have in the storm’s aftermath is about how to address the vulnerability of the power grid to unexpected events, which are arguably becoming more frequent due to the changing climate. Possible strategies range across different scales and stakeholders. These include not only household-level energy efficiency measures (including proper insulation) and renewable energy-storage solutions, but also municipal approaches, including cold-proofing power plants and water pipes, and decentralizing energy and water supply and treatment systems.

The members of the Environment & Sustainable Development Committee will dive more into this issue and others as part of celebrating Earth Day this year, on Saturday, April 24^th at 1pm EST. More details for the event, including the registration link, are below:

NFBPWC Earth Day Summit
by and for Business and Professional Women

Join NFBPWC, one of the oldest professional women’s organizations in the U.S., for an Earth Day Summit where we’ll discuss the interdependencies between the environment and the health and well-being of the communities we live and work in.  

This Earth Day, you are invited to join the members of our Environment & Sustainable Development (ESD) Committee for discussions about the impact of the environment on our daily lives, including how seemingly distant events, such as weather-related disasters, are in fact closely related to the choices we make as individuals and as a group. 

This event will showcase the stories of five professional women, each from different career paths and locations around the country, working together to make the communities they belong to more sustainable, equitable, and resilient. 

The event will open with an original song and a visual presentation by Laurie Dameron, an award-winning singer-songwriter, followed by fast-paced presentations by four female leaders.  

This event will be held via Zoom. The link to join will be emailed to all registered participants closer to the event date.

Agenda

• Welcome by Megan Shellman-Rickard (President, NFBPWC)
• Opening Act by Laurie Dameron (Award-winning Singer-songwriter and Chair of Environment Committee, BPW-Colorado)
• The Big Picture: Interdependencies by Hyon K. Rah (Sustainability & Resilience Strategist, Educator, and Chair of Environment & Sustainable Development, NFBPWC)
• The Land We Share: Soil Health, Pollinators & Food by Marikay Shellman (Visual Artist, Author, and a Rancher)
• The Water We Drink: Water Quality & Equity by Susan Oser (TESOL-Certified Teacher and an Editor)
• The Air We Breathe: Health Impacts of the Environment by Daneene Monroe Rusnak (Registered Nurse and Vice President of Advocacy, NFBPWC)
• Recap & Closing 

There will be post-event breakout rooms for informal discussions.

You can register for the event here: https://www.nfbpwc.org/event-4192255.

Join us!