Our multi-part series on local climate action continues with an episode dedicated to one of our country's major sources of greenhouse gas emissions - electricity. In particular, we discuss the decades of work by local activists to get Austin's publicly-owned electric utility on a path to zero emissions. There's just one problem... the Fayette Power Project, Austin's last remaining coal plant.

Guests include Kaiba White (Public Citizen Texas), Amber Mills (MOVE Texas), Annie Fierro (Sunrise Movement), and Makenna Jonker (City of Austin Electric Utility Commission).

Want to learn more about what we discussed in this episode? Check out our list of links below...

** Public Citizen's Stop Burning Coal Petition -https://publiccitizen.salsalabs.org/keep-your-promise-atx-stop-burning-coal/index.html

** The Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign - https://coal.sierraclub.org/

** MOVE Texas - https://movetexas.org/

** Sunrise ATX - https://www.instagram.com/sunriseatx/

** City of Austin Electric Utility Commission -https://www.austintexas.gov/content/electric-utility-commission

In this episode of The Austin Common Radio Hour, we kick off our multi-part series on local climate action. Guests include Laura Jay (C40 Cities), Shane Johnson (Sierra Club), and Luis Miranda (Ground Game Texas and Sunrise El Paso).

Want to learn more about what we discussed in this episode? Check out our list of links below:

* Austin Climate Equity Plan - https://www.austintexas.gov/page/austin-climate-equity-plan

* C40 Cities Climate Action Planning Guide - https://bit.ly/3PhBvfo

* C40 Cities List of Cities With Climate Action Plans - https://bit.ly/3FCwlGw

* Zero Energy Project List of Cities With Climate Action Plans - https://zeroenergyproject.org/all-cities-with-climate-action-plans/

* Ground Game Texas El Paso Climate Charter - https://www.groundgametexas.org/en/campaign-el-paso

* Sunrise El Paso Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/2RHL40BRHdWXYhhIa6siCb?si=9205a1e915bd4a28

We're back with another election episode!

In this week's episode, Austin Common Radio Hour host Amy Stansbury talks with Julie Oliver (of Ground Game Texas) about Prop A, which if passed, would effectively decriminalize marijuana in Austin and ban no-knock warrants by police.

Don't forget to vote! Election Day is May 7th and early voting lasts from April 25th to May 3rd.

Our series on the March 2022 Texas primaries continues with an episode focused on several Texas Legislature races impacting the Central Texas community. In particular, this episode features candidates running in Texas House District 51 Democratic primary, including Claire Campos-O’Neal, Cody Arn, Maria Luisa “Lulu” Flores, Matt Worthington, and Cynthia Valadez-Mata.

Early voting for the Texas primaries starts on February 14th & Election Day is March 1st. The ballot is pretty long, but if you care about climate change, health care, and criminal justice reform, there are two really important local races on your ballot - the Travis County Commissioners Democratic primary(Precincts 2 & 4).

To explain it all, Austin Common Radio Hour host Amy Stansbury sat down with all the candidates running (Brigid Shea, Bob Libal, Margaret Gómez, Susanna Ledesma-Woody).

Not sure which precinct you live in? You can look that up here -https://www.traviscountytx.gov/maps/gis-comm-pct.

PS - In case you want to skip ahead in the episode to listen to the candidates running in your precinct, here are some useful time stamps... Start to 10 minutes - an intro civics lesson on the primaries & what a county commissioner even does

10 to 1:02 - Precinct 2 election

1:02 to the end - Precinct 4 election

On January 25th, Austinites living in District 4 (north/east Austin)will have the chance to elect a new City Council member. (Greg Casar, the current District 4 Council member, is leaving his seat early to run for Congress.)Austin Common Radio Hour host Amy Stansbury sat down with 5 of the candidates running to replace Greg - Isa Boonto, Monica Guzmán, Jade Lovera, Melinda Schiera, and José "Chito" Vela.

Give it a listen and get all your election questions answered!

Earlier this month, global leaders met in Scotland for the COP26 summit to discuss the biggest problem facing our planet - climate change. The two-week long event just wrapped up, but before it ended, Austin Common Radio Hour host Amy Stansbury sat down with two Austinites who made the trip to participate in this historic event.

Topics of discussion include the role of cities in fighting climate change, overcoming climate dread, and polices at the local level that are helping to reduce emissions.

Guests include Roshan "Rosie" Khan from the Rainforest Partnership and Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea.

On November 2nd, Austinites will have to vote on two very important ballot initiatives - Prop A & B. Prop A is about the size of Austin's police force & Prop B is about a potential park swap. Both of them could have a profound impact on the future of our city (and are also kind of confusing). Host Amy Stansbury breaks it all down in our latest episode. Guests include Cleo Petricek, Chas Moore, Bill Spelman, and Mark Littlefield.

PS - There's a lot that can be said about Props A & B. To learn even more, check out our complete election guides here -https://theaustincommon.com/election-guides-november-2021/

Austin is in a bit of a housing affordability crisis. But, it's a crisis that's impacting parts of the city in very different ways. In this episode of The Austin Common Radio Hour, host Amy Stansbury continues with our multi-part series on housing affordability by taking a look back in time at Austin's long history of housing discrimination. Guests include Dr. Kevin Foster (acting chair of the Black Studies Department at the University of Texas at Austin) and Eliot Tretter (author of “Austin Restricted: Progressivism, Zoning, Private Racial Covenants And The Making of a Segregated City").

In the first six months of 2021, the median home sale price in Austin rose by $100,000. So what's behind the crazy increase? And what is being done to try and make housing in Austin more affordable? In this episode of The Austin Common Radio Hour, host Amy Stansbury kicks off a multi-part series on housing affordability in Austin by focusing on the numbers. What does affordable housing even mean? How much affordable housing stock does Austin have? We answer it all with this episode. Guests include Linwood “Woody” Rogers of HousingWorks Austin and Jennifer Carey of Open House Austin.