Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea has been a mainstay of the Austin environmental movement for decades. Though she’s seen many gains in that area since her political career began, the relentless changing climate of our region has kept up the challenges as well. “Nothing else will dictate the fate of the region more than the […]
Brigid Shea
Currently the Precinct 2 Travis County Commissioner, Shea also co-founded Save Our Springs, is a former Austin City Council member and has been an advisor to LCRA, Seton, and the City of Austin in the past.
Posted inTravis County
Shea continues search for creative solutions to climate crisis
As an environmentalist, Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea spends a lot of time thinking about worst-case scenarios. Still, the commissioner’s approach to leadership is far from doom and gloom. In fact, as the climate crisis worsens across the globe, Shea is driven by her search for creative solutions within Travis County borders. The county got […]
Posted inTravis County
Brigid Shea: Seeking local solutions for global problems
If you’d asked Brigid Shea 30 years ago where she’d be in 2022, the Travis County Commissioners Court likely wouldn’t have topped her list. Nevertheless, the outspoken environmentalist and former City Council member, who broke into the political scene co-founding the now-iconic Save Our Springs Alliance, has made herself a comfortable home there. “I had […]
Posted inElections
Shea cruises to Precinct 2 win
Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea defended her eight-year commissionership last night, resoundingly winning the Precinct 2 primary – and de facto the entire election given the substantial Democratic majority in Travis County – by fending off progressive challenger Bob Libal. “I am honored to have the support of so many of the voters in Precinct […]
Posted inTravis County
Shea: A career spent combating the climate crisis
In the summer of 1988, Brigid Shea unfolded a copy of The New York Times and read a front-page story that changed the trajectory of her life, about a NASA scientist who had testified to Congress about the life-threatening consequences of releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The article helped fuel a three-decade career dedicated […]
Posted inEnvironment
Travis County presents local climate strategies at U.N. climate conference
Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea is one of five elected officials selected by Local Governments for Sustainability USA, or ICLEI, to attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 26th Conference of the Parties, commonly known as COP26. The U.N. climate conference is partly responsible for drafting the 2015 Paris Agreement, aimed at preventing a […]
Posted inTravis County
As Covid-19 and climate crisis continue, Brigid Shea persists
A tumultuous 2020 brought oceans of hardships for many, and Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea said she still can’t quite believe everything that happened this year. “Covid-19 has been just surreal,” Shea said. “Are we really living through a global pandemic that has altered everyone’s lives and killed millions of people? The answer is yes, […]
Posted inTransportation
TxDOT to hear case for Livable Oak Hill design
Mediation between environmental organizations and the Texas Department of Transportation seeking a compromise in a lawsuit over the state’s controversial plans for the Oak Hill Parkway project will take place Tuesday. The plaintiffs – Save Barton Creek Association, Save Oak Hill, Fix 290, Clean Water Action and the South Windmill Run Neighborhood Association – continue to […]
Posted inTravis County
As the planet warms, Brigid Shea is planning Travis County’s response
Commissioner Brigid Shea may have been elected to handle issues at the county level, but her focus is global. “My major focus in running for reelection, I believe very strongly as community leaders that we have to do more to prepare people for climate change,” she says. She’s appalled by the state and federal governments’ […]
Posted inTravis County
Shea stays busy accepting what can’t be changed, fighting for what can
On June 24, 1988, this sentence appeared on the front page of The New York Times: “Higher temperatures can now be attributed to a long-expected global warming trend linked to pollution, a space agency scientist reported today.” The scientist was NASA’s James Hansen. His historic testimony to Congress, Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea told the […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Contact
H2Oh no… Like country rubes dazzled by the mystic arts of the boardwalk illusionist, sometimes we journalists are so awestruck by an apparent attempt at math that we lose all professional incredulity and report it with gushing deference. Such it was then that when Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea recently told a gaggle of reporters […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Parking and … other … concerns
Still hanging around… We have it to thank for our intimate knowledge of celebrities’ lunches, Capital Metro’s train delays and the president’s spontaneous thoughts, so why not also give Twitter pre-emptive credit for helping to establish a working urban cable transit system in Austin? That would at least be the will of Travis County Commissioner […]