Saving the Springs: Urban Expansion and Water Quality in Austin - Politics of Urban Runoff: Nature, Technology, and the Sustainable City - page 58

Defending the Community's Environmental Interests
Environmental protection in the Hill Country was promoted and defended
not only by legal staff at City of Austin, who spent millions of taxpayer
dollars to defend the SOS Ordinance against property owners, developers,
and the State of Texas, but also the SOS Alliance, an organization that
has persevered as a staunch opponent to development and property rights
interests. The SOS Alliance initiated its hardliner approach to environmen-
tal protection during the SOS Ordinance election campaign of 1992 and
continued with subsequent litigation against the municipal government
and developers to enforce and uphold the legislation. The SOS Alliance is
often compared to radical, ecocentric environmental organizations such as
Earth First!, but their tactics are more in line with civil society groups such
as Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council; it
is a confrontational environmental organization that pursues its agenda
in formal legal and political arenas. 96
The environment is framed by the SOS Alliance in preservationist terms
as a pristine landscape to be spared from the wanton destruction of profi t-
driven land speculators and property developers. This is illustrated by
a common mantra of the organization: “Save it or pave it.” The stark,
dualist perspective on the landscape is consistent with the organization's
uncompromising, litigious approach that proved highly successful in the
early 1990s. However, by the end of the decade, many of its earliest and
strongest supporters had moved on, stating that they were tired of the
hard-line approach and the vitriolic political atmosphere it created. 97 A
former executive director of the SOS Alliance notes, “They play only one
way. They're not a fi nesse organization; they're a fi ght-to-the-death orga-
nization.” 98 As such, the politics of environmental protection in Austin,
particularly in the 1990s, can be characterized by a highly partisan attitude
of either saving Barton Springs or being complicit in its destruction. The
environmental politics in the city are restricted to the status of the springs
and the upstream land development activities.
Over time, the militant approach has compromised the credibility of
the organization and its representation of Austin residents on environ-
mental issues. A former city council member with green credentials argues
that “fundamentally, what happened with [the SOS Alliance] was that
they were never able to transition from being an opposition group to be-
ing a part of a governing coalition.” 99 A municipal staff member echoes
this sentiment stating, “It used to be that people would look to SOS for