Sustainability has been the focus of HARC’s work since its creation. Sustainability has three pillars: the environment, the social and economic well-being of people and communities, and the economy. We have focused on two of these pillars over the past two decades: the environment and the economy. The quality of Texans’ lives has been improved because of these efforts.
Climate change is now the world’s biggest challenge. Trillions of dollars will be invested over the next 25 years to address this existential threat, and those investments could drive significant economic growth and millions of new jobs. Well-designed climate change investments could reduce and potentially address another significant sustainability challenge: the huge social and economic disparities that exist in Texas, our nation, and around the world.
HARC intends to be an effective player in forging solutions to these multiple societal challenges, pursuing a broader programmatic agenda. We seek to expand HARC’s mission to include three distinct but complementary programs that center in but are not limited to Texas alone:
- Environmental sustainability — A strengthened and expanded set of research programs to support the protection of the environment and natural resources, particularly addressing the energy transition, evolving energy sources and technologies, and the water supply challenges ahead due to climate change and population and economic growth:
- Energy: Hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and potentially geothermal to ensure that commercialization of these energy resources does not degrade the environment and precious natural resources, nor harm nearby communities.
- Water: Water supply faces current and future water scarcity challenges. HARC can address these challenges by targeting water efficiency and equity measures and developing data sets and analytical tools to inform water policy and decision-making.
- Air Quality: Zero-emitting vehicles powered by electricity and hydrogen since deployment of these technologies are critically important and necessary to reduce various emissions, given the fact that vehicles emit more than half of Texas’ greenhouse gases and various air pollutants. HARC will develop analytical tools to identify the air quality and carbon emissions implications of alternate energy technologies and deployment policies.
- Climate and equity sustainability — HARC’s Climate Equity and Community Resilience Initiative is a growing practice centered on the development and implementation of programs in partnership with government, community-based organizations, and the private sector. These sustainability programs must address the social, environmental, and economic disparities that exist in underserved communities to ensure that the energy transition and other climate investments are inclusive, equitable, and just.
- HARC Consulting — This practice will grow around our research initiatives, including net-zero buildings, net-zero water (in partnership with another non-profit), green infrastructure, virtual reality, and community engagement/community benefits. We will strengthen our research and climate equity programs by increasing our artificial intelligence expertise and leveraging our experience developing software, webs and web tools, and virtual reality applications.
HARC’s priority in this multi-pronged endeavor is to improve the quality of life for all citizens of Texas and the world by:
- Supporting the development of science-based solutions that, when implemented, address and ameliorate the impacts of climate change; and
- Using the increased economic and employment growth of climate investments, including the energy transition, to effectively address many of the social and economic inequities that exist in underserved communities.
