The New Orleans City Council unanimously approved the Neighborhood Power Plan - a $30 million proposal by Together New Orleans (TNO) and allies to strengthen the local power grid by installing solar batteries at over 1,600 homes, community facilities and businesses.

Funded with Entergy settlement dollars, the plan will not increase utility rates.

According to The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate, New Orleans Mayor Elect Helena Moreno called the endeavor "the largest single investment in community-led sustainability the city has ever made."

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10 months after Valley Interfaith leaders in Brownsville led a community outcry about the impact of clay dust emanating from a Milwhite industrial plant on the South Padre Highway, the company agreed to cease operations in that location.

In December of 2023, Valley Interfaith leaders told graphic stories about the health impacts of  Milwhite plant operations at an assembly they organized.  In addition to new skin conditions developing among infants and adults, excessive white dust, noise and truck movement was making life intolerable for nearby residents.

"We’re literally breathing in the dust particles,” said Valley Interfaith leader Adhlemy Sanchez.

Valley Interfaith challenged the Mayor of Brownsville to address the situation, and the City of Brownsville responded.  They soon filed a lawsuit, as did the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).  On October 28, 2024 the City announced the resolution of the lawsuit, in which Milwhite Inc. agreed to stop crushing operations at their plant.

City of Brownsville and Milwhite, Inc. Reach Beneficial Resolution for Residents, City of Brownsville

Video: Valley Interfaith Leader Stories, Rio Grande Guardian 

Valley Interfaith to Hold Town Hall Meeting on Milwhite Relocation, Rio Grande Guardian [pdf]

Brownsville Leaders Sympathetic to Residents Living Next to Milwhite Industrial Plant, Rio Grande Guardian [pdf]

Following up on a commitment leveraged in a nonpartisan accountability assembly last fall, Pima County Interfaith leaders met with Rep. Kirsten Engel to advance the PCI agenda of issues.  Leaders engaged with the legislator around concerns related to education, food security, the environment and health -- and potential opportunities in the upcoming legislative session to advance these concerns.

Rep. Kirsten Engel had attended the Pima County Interfaith Accountability Session in September, along with other candidates, and publicly committed to collaborating with leaders, if elected.  

Candidates State Case for Election inside packed Pima County Forum, KOLD News 13

Valley Interfaith is drawing a connection between stories of cancer-related deaths, three gas stations and a benzene plume moving through a neighborhood blocks from St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in McAllen. Leaders are in the midst of a research campaign with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Texas state legislators and County Commissioners to get to the bottom of the benzene plume. Discovery of the toxic gas plume emerged from a listening campaign about the concerns of Rio Grande Valley residents.

"Keep San Angelo Beautiful joined forces with the city of San Angelo, Butts Recycling, 3D's Plumbing, Acme Iron and Metal, Hawkins Batteries, Firestone on Concho, Sam's Club, Trashaway and Stripes to help spruce up neighborhoods throughout the city by accepting residents' refuse and debris...Volunteers from West Texas Organizing Strategy, the River San Angelo Church, 1st Community Federal Credit Union, Lifepoint Baptist Church and the Young Professionals of San Angelo helped organize and operate the event."

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