HARC will begin its fifth decade in 2023, in what promises to be a time of unprecedented change.
We are an independent, non-partisan research hub, focused on identifying and implementing scalable solutions at the intersection of sustainability, resilience, and climate equity. Our mission is to apply science to drive energy, air, water, and resilience solutions for a sustainable and equitable future. Our agenda for the next three years is outlined in our 2023-2025 Strategic Plan.
It is estimated that the world’s population will increase 13% by 2030 to 8.6 billion people. The United States and the State of Texas are experiencing similar levels of growth and are estimated to reach populations of 359 million and 34.9 million, respectively, in 2030. The additional energy required to support this phenomenal growth will increase pollution, further strain water supplies, exacerbate food insecurity challenges, and make efforts to address human starvation more difficult. These perplexing realities are complicated by the changing climate, which is producing increasingly more extreme weather.
From 2010 to 2022, Texas experienced, and was adversely affected by, 66 severe storms, seven droughts, six tropical cyclones, six floods, three wildfires, and two winter storms. These were billion-dollar disasters. Poor and impoverished people are impacted the most by these natural disasters, and are rightly demanding thoughtful and consistent actions to address not only community resilience challenges, but also the social, economic, and environmental inequities they face.
A sustainable, resilient, and equitable future truly hangs in the balance.
Fortunately, the energy sector has started to transition to zero and low carbon sources of energy, including clean hydrogen, geothermal, and large scale renewables. This is a much needed focus since scientists have linked the recent more powerful and frequent natural disasters to fossil fuels. Exponential growth of energy efficiency and clean, small electric grid-connected sources of electricity (including demand response, roof-top and community solar, and storage) are needed to ensure grid reliability and resilience, and to reduce energy burdens and inequities. In the near term, we must also reduce the threats and impacts from diminished water quality and supply resulting from droughts and flooding, and extreme heat resulting from climate change. The loss of biodiversity, stresses from land use changes, and aging infrastructure must also be addressed.
HARC’s work is centered in Texas and along the Gulf Coast; however, we are committed to engaging all levels of government, the private sector, academia, philanthropy, and communities to create sustainable resilience and climate equity solutions that are replicable and scalable across the country.
Over the next three years, we will focus on applying our independent scientific analysis and research, technology validations, and solutions’ implementation on the following four priorities:
These priorities demonstrate HARC’s commitment to addressing the most pressing sustainability, resilience, and climate equity issues facing the world today.
We look forward to the challenge and to applying science to find the right solutions.
Sincerely,
John Hall
President and CEO
