Fort Worth sponsoring clean air contest

The contest is open to all Fort Worth residents with a current Fort Worth water account.

The City of Fort Worth, Texas, along with Green Mountain Energy, is sponsoring a contest titled, We're All About Clean Air. From the promo flier:

"Tell us in 500 words or fewer what you or your family do to keep Fort Worth air cleaner. How do you keep vehicle emissions as low as possible? Why are you doing these activities to help keep our air clean."

The contest is open to all Fort Worth residents with a current Fort Worth water account. One winning entry will receive $500. provided by GME. Judging of entries will be by "a team of City of FW employees." Deadline is April 15 so, get a move on.

I know what some of you cynical naysayers are thinking. "Mayor Mike Moncrief's Dirty Ol' Town, one of the biggest smog peddlers in the Barnett Shale, has some nerve to put on such a sham contest." I agree. Their motives are suspect.

That's why I couldn't resist entering the contest, just to see how fair it is, assuming my entry is worthy in general. (see below) I drew a little bit outside the lines with my effort but carefully followed the Rules. With any luck, the hizzoner in chief himself will be one of the judges. (My biggest challenge was editing out all the four-letter words I originally used.)

If Hell freezes over and I win this thing, I hereby pledge my winnings to Texas OGAP to help bring local, state and federal reforms to a dirty and dangerous industry.

Win or lose you, too, can help. Just click on the link above and look for the Red Donation Box. You'll feel better afterwards.

We’re All About Clean Air

The Power of Just saying NO!

Remember, just a few years ago, when you could see the Fort Worth skyline without a cloak of ozone haze? Those days are gone, replaced by orange and red ozone alerts, warning us to stay indoors.

How did this to happen to our once beautiful city and what can we do to safeguard the most elemental ingredient to our well-being?

Because fossil fuel extraction, delivery and generation are leading sources of air pollution, a sustained effort to reduce the impact of these dirty fuels in our daily lives is essential.

Switching to fluorescent light bulbs and adjusting the thermostat are helpful but a return to the clean air our children deserve requires a deeper look in the mirror.

Living in the heart of the Barnett Shale region can be a real test of ones’ principles. Individual decisions to improve air quality feel pointless when concern for clean air takes a back seat to economic development.

In our household we started with easy things like, improving attic insulation, driving a fuel-efficient vehicle, recycling, growing some of our own food using organic methods and using native plant landscaping.

But the most important thing that our family has done to help clean the air in north Texas was to NOT sign a gas drilling mineral lease. When the drillers tempted us with a $12,500. signing bonus we resisted. But standing on principle didn’t feel that satisfying. We wanted to do more.

In 2005, sensing that other people believed as we did but felt helpless against corporate and municipal power, we began a neighborhood outreach to bring greater awareness of the impact of urban gas drilling on air quality and other issues. Fort Worth Citizens Against Neighborhood Drilling Ordinance (FWCanDo) was founded and has since become a nationally recognized resource of useful information on the harmful environmental practices of the gas drilling industry.

Building on that success, we began an event called, Fort Worth Prairie Fest, where a variety of conservation-minded companies and organizations set up in our front yard to promote their products and initiatives. About 400 area residents attended that first event in 2006, learning about clean energy and taking nature walks in nearby, Tandy Hills Natural Area.

Our modest outreach took root. Now in its fourth year, Prairie Fest has become the foremost environmental festival in north Texas helping thousands of people learn what they can do to clean up the air. We are especially proud that Prairie Fest is 100% solar-powered.

In 2009 our umbrella organization, Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area, achieved non-profit status. All profits from Prairie Fest now go towards restoration of the 160-acre city-owned, prairie park that not only inspired our activism but also helps clean the air.

We take our commitment to clean air and a healthy environment seriously. For us, Earth Day has become so ingrained in our daily lives that we barely notice the appointed day. By saying NO to gas drilling we learned the power of our principles.

Don and Debora Young

Fort Worth, Texas