Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
guidance. People aren't asking that question too much anymore. A little
more sophisticated approach would have let them remain a player.”
100
Such insight suggests that the all-or-nothing approach of the SOS Alliance
was very effective in building momentum for environmental protection
initially but this oppositional approach is not a long-term political strategy,
a classic weakness of social movements.
101
Although a threat to a local
community can be a tremendous opportunity to galvanize widespread
support, maintaining that support over time requires a transformation
into more constructive forms of politics, something that the SOS Alliance
has arguably failed to do.
The erosion of the SOS Alliance as a central player in Austin politics
was evident in the May 2006 elections, when the organization and other
environmental groups successfully placed a city charter amendment on the
election ballot. Proposition 2 called for limiting municipal infrastructure
and fi nancial incentives for development over the aquifer as well as making
all grandfathering decisions subject to city council approval. The amend-
ment was essentially a call for the community to restate its commitment
to the aquifer and water quality, but was soundly rejected by voters with
69 percent opposed, serving as a decisive loss to the SOS Alliance.
102
At the same time, environmental politics in Austin over the last decade
has evolved to embrace a more collaborative approach between envi-
ronmentalists and developers. An environmental activist notes, “We're
working on a new model of environmental protection with relationships
as the core. The SOS approach is outdated and ineffective.”
103
There are
increasingly indications that the Austin environmental community is re-
placing the confrontational and divisive approach that emerged in the
1970s with a nuanced and compromising politics that refl ects the current
rhetoric of sustainable development. In other words, the singular focus on
protecting the springs has gradually been supplanted by other issues such
as air quality, urban gentrifi cation, affordable housing, and energy use.
The environmental activist simply states that “the focus on Barton Springs
is necessary but insuffi cient to create a sustainable society.”
104
An example
of a new organization that refl ects these values is Liveable City, formed
in the early 2000s to address social, environmental, and economic issues
simultaneously; its executive committee includes several former SOS board
members who became disenchanted with the confrontational and litigious
approach to environmental protection. Other SOS board members created
the Hill Country Conservancy, a coalition of environmental and business
interests dedicated to conservation land development approaches.
105
Search WWH ::
Custom Search