Deceleration Podcast

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Two years ago, the City of San Antonio launched a war on the bird of Elmendorf Lake. The target was the hundreds of cattle egrets who have been roosting at this Westside ecological gem for decades. By razing the island to the ground, and dismantling possibly hundreds of nests, the assault destroyed the nesting ground for many related migratory birds. Many young were killed. The action was justified as protective of military flights at Kelly Air Field on the Southeast side. Data points to one bird strike per year linked to cattle egrets, while literally thousands of strikes per year at all city airfields are logged to other species. Yet the harassment with pyrotechnics and lasers has followed the birds across City park system and even along the river in artsy Southtown. Yesterday, Deceleration caught up with local bird photographer, friend, and defender Alesia Garlock about the newest warning signs: "Bird Mitigation Plan" signage promising dawn-and-dusk bird harassment at Woodlawn Lake. We spoke as dozens of Yellow-Crown Night Herons nuzzled and roosted above us. At least one mother to be was obviously splayed over her eggs. Can San Antonio's War on the Birds end here?

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With much of Texas icing over due to Arctic weather's dangerous slide across the Plains over normally not 10-degree San Antonio, Ralph Garcia has had access to power for no longer than 45 minutes at a time for the last 48 hours. In this sustained cold-weather assault, millions have lost power because of the failure of state energy planners and reduced energy flowing from all power networks, but most conspicuously gas power plants. The climate crisis is no game. But the disabled community is an overlooked, incredibly vulnerable, demographic that often goes overlooked. Now 24, Ralph was born with Muscular Dystrophy and requires a range of treatments every day that require access to electric power. Without power, as hundreds of thousands of San Antonio residents, Ralph and his mom have closed themselves off in his bedroom, packed the window with sheets and blankets to try to stay work. His mother, struggling with the impact of radiation treatment for cervical cancer, was sleeping on the floor beside him during this interview.

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Deceleration talks with housing justice activist Molly Wright about her decision to begin a hunger strike to protest the City of San Antonio's inadequate response to homelessness and housing insecurity.

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Deceleration talks with attorneys and organizers affiliated with the Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights (CDER) about the Rights of Nature movement globally, as well as what it might look like locally in San Antonio.

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Community-based dancer Fabiola Ochoa Torralba discusses her research on "bird movement vocabulary" and the wider projects of decolonizing dance.

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San Antonio poet Jim LaVilla-Havelin discusses the origin and significance of National Poetry Month's Words for Birds and reads one of his poems included in the digital zine "Words for Birds 2020: Poetics for Pandemics."

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Deceleration speaks with local runner, writer, and environmental educator Liberty Heise about her participation in the Monarch Ultra, a 4300km, transnational run that follows the migratory path of monarch butterflies from Ontario, Canada to the Sierra Madre mountains in Central Mexico.

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Speaking with Peter Bella, organizer for March for Science San Antonio, and Gunnar Schade, atmospheric scientist at Texas A&M University about MfS, San Antonio's draft climate action plan, climate denialism, Greg Abbott, and more.

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Members of San Antonio's Climate Action & Adaptation Plan's Technical Working Groups and Steering Committee (plus one consultant) describe their experiences helping develop what could be the city's first climate plan—and their hopes and concerns for its future implementation After more than a year in the making, the plan is being released for public consideration on Friday, January 25, 2019. More at: https://deceleration.news/2019/01/18/san-antonio-climate-action-planning-members-speak/

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Speaking of the struggle to shut down JT "Dirty" Deely: Karen Hadden of the SEED Coalition, San Antonio environmental attorney Enrique Valdivia, and Mario Bravo of the Environmental Defense Fund.