April 22, 2017
ECOGIG Project Director Samantha Joye attended the 2017 Earth Day Texas (EDTx) Expo and Conference event in Dallas, TX April 21-23. She participated in two panels: Coral Crusaders, a panel about the dangers to and ways to help save shallow and deepwater coral ecosystems and Ocean Conservation - Thinking outside the box. She also spoke to science marchers after the Dallas Earth Day march.
Founded in 2011 by Dallas-based environmentalist, philanthropist and businessman Trammell S. Crow, EDTx promotes environmental awareness by curating an atmosphere for conscious business and community-driven sustainable solutions. The event kicked off Friday, April 21st, 2017 with prominent speakers and exhibitors including Rick Perry, United States Secretary of Energy and Scott Pruitt, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator who both made remarks at the E-Capital Summit.
The conference featured the following speakers:
- General Wesley Clarke, Sr. (Ret.)
- Sylvia Earle, PhD, National Geographic Explorer in Residence
- Sergio Fernandez de Cordova, United Nations
- Katharine Hayhoe, Climate Scientist Texas Tech University
- Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, Texas Department of Agriculture
- JB Straubel, CTO & Co-Founder Tesla
Exhibitors of Earth Day Texas included Toyota Connected, Shell, World Oceans Day, National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, Conservation International and many more. To access the list of conference events, visit http://earthdaytx.org/event-guide/.
With 850 exhibitors, more than 260 speakers, and 150,000 attendees expected, families experienced fun, easy-to-navigate, interactive and educational events and activities including:
- Green Speakers Series – notable speakers showed attendees how to build a sustainable future by sharing their own experiences and passion regarding critical environmental issues. Topics included big agriculture to home gardens, city-wide to national policy, ancient traditions to innovative technology and from oceans to atmosphere.
- Plasticity Texas – The Plasticity Forum convened global experts from across the plastic spectrum to share experiences on opportunities and challenges with plastic sustainability and inclusion in the circular economy. The event offered “a big conversation on the future of plastic,” and discussed design, innovation, materials, recycling and solutions.
- E-Capital Summit – The summit was co-produced by Earth Day Texas, PRIME Coalition and Austin Technology Incubator. The E-Capital Summit brought together foundations, family offices, philanthropists, incubators, national laboratories, and cutting-edge clean technology companies to form new relationships and partnerships to accelerate our future economy.
- EARTHxFilm – EDTx’s inaugural film impact festival showcased films and emerging media that explore conservation, science, the environment, and honor the heroes working to protect our planet. Their aim is to turn awareness through art and media into action and impact.
- EARTHACK– An environmental hackathon in partnership with HackDFW, EARTHACK brought 1,200 college and high school “hackers” to Fair Park to solve real issues plaguing the world within 36 hours. EARTHACK occured Apr. 21-23 and included appearances by celebrity judges.
- Legal Symposium – Sponsored by Domtar Corporation, BSNF, Mary Kay and Fox Rothschild LLP, the symposium included a series of discussions of environmental thought leaders with diverse perspectives on relevant legal issues reconciling environmental protection and economic development, as well as issues of interest in today’s political climate.
- Alternative Fuel Vehicle Odyssey – The first Alternative Fuel Vehicle summit featured industry speakers, workshops and presentations on alternative fuel vehicles.
- Music Series – Attendees enjoyed the music series over three days. Performances included The Texas Gentleman, Atlantis Aquarius, Chucho, Kirk Thurmond & the Millennials, Matt Tedder, Medicine Man Revival, The Roomsounds, and Vincent Neil Emerson.
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