Hey everybody – This isn’t about politics. It’s about the danger that’s killing our neighbors in the Texas Hill Country, and God forbid, some of the rest of us one day soon.
About 11 miles as the crow flies, from where I live on Frontier Lane, Joelle Taylor, a 53-year-old registered nurse, was swept away in her car in fast moving, flood waters after a sudden, hard, overnight rain. She was found dead, in her car, the next day, June 16, under water, near Lower Mason Creek Road and Chipman Lane.
Joelle’s life story is heart breaking. Read about her at Grimes Bandera’s website and pay your respects. This is a life lost too soon in a sudden tragedy that didn’t have to happen.
Last year, 25 campers — little girls ranging in age from 8 to 10 years old, 2 camp counselors and the camp’s executive director — were killed on the 4th of July in Camp Mystic in the Texas Hill Country in another drastic overnight flood.
All over America, we see stories like this on the national news almost every night- 30 people were killed in the US in January 2026, 3 people were killed 3 days ago in the Grand Canyon, 3 days ago, 3 people were killed in the Midwest.
WHO’S THE KILLER?
Oil and gas companies. ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, and BP British Petroleum have a major responsibility for these deaths. They lied to us since the 1950s and 60s about the deadly risk we’re facing, that scientists discovered back then: oil and gas emissions cause highly dangerous, unpredictable climate changes.
Exxon scientists checked the science. “Research shows that the company modeled and predicted global warming with shocking skill and accuracy starting in the 1970s.”
Science.org says so too. “In 2015, investigative journalists discovered internal company memos indicating that Exxon oil company has known since the late 1970s that its fossil fuel products could lead to global warming with “dramatic environmental effects before the year 2050.”
EXXON LIED ABOUT IT
So did other major oil companies. It’s estimated “the largest five stock market listed oil and gas companies”…spent nearly $200 million a year…” to debunk climate change. Now, the good old days are gone. NASA says it will take decades, if not centuries, to repair the damage oil and gas companies did to our planet’s weather.
Today, Exxon Mobil and other major oil companies are getting sued for billions of dollars for the climate damages they caused. The U.S. Supreme Court could gut those lawsuits.
But it’s not just US oil and gas companies. This problem has a long history. Since the industrial revolution started in 1854, 122 industrial producers have released a huge amount of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. It’s growing, making the weather worse.
Today, we have a “get together” obligation to protect our neighbors, our families and our friends. It’s called NET ZERO. We’re Texans. We can do it. Here’s how:
• Open this link and see 8 simple ways you can help stop bad weather: www.unep.org/newsand- stories/story/here-areeight- simple-ways-you-canfight- climate-change-today
• Muscle up. Pressure our local and national governments to pass laws to reduce these killer greenhouse gases.
Jodie Sinclair is an award-winning writer who holds a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and resides in Bandera.
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