San Antonio environmental groups are hosting a “Sun Day” this weekend, an educational and family-friendly event calling for the deployment of renewable energy.
At the event, solar ovens, portable solar devices and electric vehicles will be on display. Environmental organizations will be showcasing their efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change, and experts will be available at information tables.
Former Mayor Ron Nirenberg and CPS Energy CEO Rudy Garza will also be giving presentations on clean energy, according to a news release.
The local event is one of several taking place around the world.
In San Antonio, the event was organized by the following local and national environmental and social justice groups: Third Act Texas, Sierra Club, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Eco SA Collaborative, Climate Reality Project and Public Citizen.
The event falls on the solar equinox, one of two days during the year when the sun is directly above the equator, resulting in an almost equal amount of sunlight and darkness across Earth.
The event also comes around the time of the United Nations General Assembly annual meeting, offering an opportunity to “send a message to US and world leaders on the urgent need to accelerate and scale-up the just transition to clean energy,” according to the event’s website.
Local groups will have family-friendly activities available for children with a clean energy and sustainability theme. The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, at Alamo Colleges District ACCESS Welcome Center, 2222 N. Alamo St.
“We want to energize people to support change to and demand cleaner, renewable energy,” said Peter Bella, an organizer with Third Act Texas, in a statement. “We aim to show policymakers that people across the region want more solar power. Sun Day is a beginning of the end to dirty fuels.”
CPS Energy approved a plan to phase out coal power plants from its energy mix by 2028, relying on solar and natural gas to fill its energy portfolio.
This week, CPS Energy announced the purchase of four natural gas facilities near Houston at a cost of nearly $1.4 billion.
Environmental groups have objected to the plan’s continued reliance on natural gas, insisting that all fossil fuel sources be phased out.
Nationally, President Donald Trump and his administration have moved to hinder the deployment of clean energy like solar and wind and fought to undo environmental regulations, has cast doubt on climate science and cut funding for environmental justice initiatives.
