What We Do
Polluting industry in Texas and across the Gulf South has a legacy and future of exploiting marginalized people, including communities of color and low- and no-income populations, creating “Sacrifice Zones” – places where health and safety are compromised, ecosystems are wiped out, history and culture are erased, and vital public services are defunded in favor of corporate tax breaks.
At the same time, many of the polluters who trample on marginalized communities are also driving the global climate crisis that puts all humanity at risk. While polluting industries have plagued the Gulf Coast for decades, recent years have seen an explosion of massive new oil, gas, petrochemical and plastics processing and export facilities – each a major new source of greenhouse gas emissions, and each another step toward a more perilous future for our planet.
And, cruelly, we know that coastal Texas and Louisiana communities, already under assault by corporate polluters, will be among those who suffer first and worst from the increasingly severe storms and rising sea levels that result from our changing climate.
For over three decades, Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE) has been focused on fighting alongside frontline communities to restore environmental justice and push back on big polluters. Now, with the Gulf South buckling under an onslaught of heavy industry, and with the global climate at risk at the hands of these same polluters, we believe our mission is more critical than ever before.
Make no mistake: The work we do in frontline communities along the Gulf coast and elsewhere impacts every single Texan — and increasingly, millions of others around the world. That’s why we’re constantly focused on engaging supporters from every part of the state, region and planet to join our fight and help create a better future for us all.
We empower Texans through campaigns that shift corporate and government policy.We also believe TCE is uniquely positioned and prepared to execute on that mission. With a long history of working collaboratively at the grassroots level in communities all across the state, we’ve built a trusting relationship with a broad range of “ordinary” Texans, including current and former fossil fuel and petrochemical workers.
At the same time, while we’re active collaborators in a broad range of national campaigns and global alliances, we’re also focused on taking up strategic, winnable local fights in the Lone Star State.
TCE gets results by using the most effective organizing tools, whether its door-to-door or phone canvassing, tabling, digital outreach, media campaigns, lobbying elected officials, or creative direct actions that shine a light on polluters and help shift policy.
We believe in a just and sustainable future for all Texans.With the Gulf South now at ‘ground zero’ of the global fight to protect the climate we all share, our decades-long campaign for a Texas free from pollution must now – and will – succeed.
TCE remains committed to holding polluters and their pals accountable for their actions, and is more energized and better equipped than ever to help create a just, sustainable future for all Texans.
We know change is built from the bottom up. If we can change our communities, we can change Texas. If we can change Texas, we can change the world.
