Earth Day-Bay Day 2005 Memories
Mayor Henry Garret Proclaims
April 23 as Earth Day-Bay Day in Corpus Christi, Texas, and
April, 2005 as Earth Month.
Earth Day brings thousands to Cole Park
Participants push for more renewable sources of energy
By Matthew Sturdevant Caller-Times
April 24, 2005
Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times (photo)
Hattie Fischer, 4, pets a 12-week-old
Flemish giant rabbit at the bird rescue and education center
booth at Earth Day Bay–Day Saturday at Cole Park. About
90 agencies took part in the event.
URL:
http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_3725702,00.html
David Potter has powered his home with the sun and wind for
seven years, and he said if more people used renewable energy
sources there wouldn't be a need to rely heavily on fossil
fuels.
"I'm absolutely opposed to fossil fuels," he said.
Potter was among hundreds of people who ran educational booths
at the free seventh annual Earth Day-Bay Day festival held
this year in Cole Park. Organizers estimated about 10,000
people came to the event, which featured exhibits on everything
from renewable energy to fishing demonstrations and native
Texas plants.
"Whatever people come to see and do, we feel strongly
that they're going to take home some message that will have
a long-term benefit," said Monika De La Garza, spokeswoman
for the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, which sponsored
the event along with the Coastal Bend Bays Foundation.
Members of the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter were also
at the event, protesting drilling for gas at Padre Island
National Seashore. Rusty Middleton, conservation co-chair
of the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter, said the recent energy
bill has adverse effects on the environment as does drilling
for gas at the seashore.
On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 249-183
in favor of an energy bill that allows oil drilling in an
Alaska wildlife refuge, included a provision to protect makers
of a gasoline additive from water contamination lawsuits,
and the bill left out a proposal for higher automobile fuel
economy requirements. The Senate has not voted on the bill,
which was praised by the White House.
Middleton said wind energy should be Texas' main priority.
"That's where we need to be going."
At one tent, several exhibitors explained the benefits of
renewable energy methods, such as wind turbines and solar
panels to provide electricity.
Potter said the solar panels on his home and the wind turbine
in his yard are enough to power all the appliances in his
home - an entertainment center, television, dishwasher, refrigerator,
stereo and many more.
The process is feasible for most homeowners, although a wind
turbine can cost from $600 to $10,000 and a 75-watt solar
panel can cost about $600, which means powering a home would
cost thousands of dollars in start-up costs, he said. Potter
does not have air conditioning, but he could if he added a
couple of solar panels, he said.
Renewable energy is a better resource than fossil fuels because
of the compromising situations that arise from the demand
for gas, oil and coal, said Brian Hill, an EnviroCitizen campus
fellow at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
"It's free and we can always use it," Hill said
of wind and solar energy.
In the past month he has organized about 300 students to
petition the university to make sure 20 percent of its energy
comes from renewable sources. As someone who has served almost
eight years in the Texas National Guard, the reliance on foreign
oil concerns him.
"I'm in the Armed Services," Hill said. "I
love my country. I protect my country, and this is just one
other way to do it."
Contact Matthew Sturdevant at sturdevantm@caller.com, or
886-3778.
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