2024 Dallas program agenda

From biking around White Rock Lake to birding at the Trinity River Audubon Center, Dallasites are increasingly enjoying the outdoors. However, at the same time, we’re increasingly polluting our environment.

Dallas is in severe nonattainment for ground level ozone pollution, White Rock Lake and the Trinity aren’t safe to swim in, and summers are just getting longer and hotter due to climate change.

We see the solutions to all of these problems all around us: renewable energy, electrification of homes and vehicles, investments in wastewater infrastructure, green infrastructure, and so on. We have prepared the following recommendations for the City of Dallas to take in 2024.

Clean Energy

Texas leads the nation in renewable energy production. From solar and wind to geothermal, we have an abundance of clean energy options and opportunities. With large federal investments in energy efficiency and electrification, we also have the opportunity to harness those federal incentives to significantly reduce energy usage across the region. By using energy more efficiently and tapping into our vast renewable resources, we can move to energy that doesn’t pollute and never runs out. Environment Texas urges the City to:

• Adopt software that automates the permitting process for residential solar, such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s SolarAPP+ 
• Launch a public education campaign to let residents know about federal tax credits and rebates available to weatherize and electrify homes
• Promote Texas Power Switch, which offers Dallas residents electricity plans powered by 100% renewable energy 

Clean Air

Dallas is failing to meet federal standards for smog and soot, putting our residents at increased risk of respiratory problems and even premature death. Climate change will worsen air pollution as rising temperatures speed up the formation of ozone. Environment Texas urges the City to: 

• Pass Forward Dallas 2.0 and remove polluting industry from residential neighborhoods
• Expand the use of electric vehicles, including in the city fleet, buses for DART and local school districts, and for the general public.
• Transition city owned lawn equipment to all electric models and promote electric incentives for both residents and commercial lawncare companies
• Continue to fully fund DART and encourage the development of neighborhoods that are bikeable, walkable, and integrated with transit
• Allow residential uses in commercial areas by-right and reduce minimum lot sizes to avoid sprawling development and its associated environmental impacts

Clean Water

It’s unsafe to swim in the Trinity River, White Rock Lake, and Bachman Lake due to high levels of pollution. Our 2020 report Texas Stormwater Scorecard gave the city a grade of just 56% for its efforts to fight stormwater pollution. In addition, carcinogenic PFAS “forever chemicals” and lead in school drinking water pose risks to public health. Environment Texas urges the City to:

• Work with regional partners to invest in wastewater infrastructure and end sewage spills
• Provide incentives for developers and property owners to build and maintain green stormwater infrastructure
• End the use of toxic AFFF firefighting foam
• Work to get lead out of school and daycare drinking water

Wildlife and Open Spaces

Dallas parks and recreation facilities are often outdated and insufficient to serve the needs of residents, hundreds of migratory birds die in Dallas every year due to building strikes, and key pollinator insects are dying off en masse across North Texas. Environment Texas urges the City to:

• Implement the 2024 parks and recreation bond to invest $345 million in parks and trails
• Promote Lights Out, Texas to reduce bird mortalities in urban areas
• Landscape city-owned properties with native plants and establish a program to maintain and expand city-owned pollinator prairies