Protest News

Dallas joins Global Climate Strike to urge action on environmental crisis

Teen activist Greta Thunberg has inspired a global initiative.

Courtesy photo

We may not have Greta in town, but Dallas is nonetheless joining a worldwide strike to call attention to a global climate crisis.

The Global Climate Strike is a series of protests and other activities, from September 20-27, designed to raise awareness of the climate breakdown and encourage politicians and business leaders to take urgent action.

According to CNN, 4,638 events are slated to take place in 139 countries. Millions of people from Sydney to Manila to Athens to London to New York to Miami are marching.

Organizers include environmental organizations, students, labor and humanitarian groups, and company employees. In some cities, students are taking the day off from school to participate.

In Dallas, the events begin on September 20 and run throughout the week, which can be followed via a Facebook event page.

The face of the protest has become Greta Thunberg, an inspiring 16-year-old activist from Sweden who has been making appearances before political bodies such as the National Assembly of Paris in July, and on TV shows like The Daily Show in September, to convey a sense of urgency.

She's in the United States to attend the U.N. Climate Action Summit in New York on September 23. (She came via a zero-emissions boat, a trip that took two weeks; she does not fly because of the environmental impact.)

Thunberg is speaking about the shrinking wiggle room we have in terms of carbon emissions before we're no longer able to undo irreversible climate breakdown.

Thunberg quotes a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an intergovernmental body of the United Nations, which states that, in order to limit catastrophic temperature rise, we have to lower our carbon emissions.

"We have 425 gigatons of carbon dioxide left in our co2 budget, and we emit 42 gigatons of co2 every year," Thunberg says. "At our current emissions levels, our remaining budget is gone within 8 and a half years."

Following Thunberg's lead, the Global Climate Strike has been primarily youth-driven, but other environmental groups around Dallas are joining in.

To kick off the week, activists will meet at 7 pm at the west end of the Continental Bridge/Margaret Hunt Hill/Ronald Kirk Pedestrian Bridge for a rally. This is a peaceful, nonviolent, nonpartisan event.

It promises to be pretty dramatic, since it entails a march across the bridge culminating in a symbolic "die-in." When it gets dark, the group will be joined by the North Texas Light Brigade for a light display and photo op with the Dallas skyline as a backdrop.

Participating organizations include youthful groups like the Sunrise Movement Dallas, Young Advocates Committee, and Zero Hour - Dallas.

But it's pretty much a laundry list of every group in Dallas that cares about the environment and quality of life: Dallas Sierra Club, Dallas Peace & Justice Center, Earthworks Oil & Gas Accountability Project, Environmental Justice Committee, Pax Christi Dallas, Social Action Council of the First Unitarian Church of Dallas, Southern Sector Rising, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Veterans For Peace, Chapter 106, and more.

The schedule of activities is as follows:

Friday, September 20, 7 pm
Kickstart event for Global Climate Strike Week of Action
Continental Bridge/Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, 2901 N. Beckley Ave., Dallas

Saturday, September 21, 10 am
Zero Hour Dallas hosts "Dallas Youth Climate March
Collin County Courthouse, 2100 Bloomdale Rd., McKinney

Monday, September 23, 10 am
Codepink Greater Dallas and Veterans For Peace hosts "Tell BlackRock: Divest from Fossil Fuels and War"
5910 N. Central Expy. (just north of Mockingbird Station)

Monday, September 23, 5:30-7:30 pm
Dallas Sierra Club hosts "Climate Change Walk" through downtown Dallas
Main Street Garden Park, 195 S. Harwood St.

Tuesday, September 24, 11:30 am
The Young Advocates Committee hosts a Climate Strike
University of Texas at Dallas

Thursday, September 26, 10 am
Bee for the Planet - Dallas hosts "Swarm Dallas to Save the Planet" including a BEE Flash-dance & die-in
Grassy Knoll

Thursday, September 26, 6 pm
DISD Board Meeting
5151 Samuell Blvd., Dallas
Students, parents, and supporters are encouraged to sign up to encourage DISD to adopt a climate action plan. Call 214-762-3163 to coordinate.

sustainability

happy go lucky plano

Dallas neighbor dazzles on new list of happiest cities in America

Photo courtesy of Visit Plano

undefined

A new happiness study has ranked Plano one of the happiest cities in America this year, and it once again landed on top as the happiest city in Texas.

Plano has moved up on the list and ranks as the 16th happiest U.S. city in 2026. Last year, it was 17th.

WalletHub determined the happiest cities in America based on 29 relevant metrics based on "positive-psychology research" across three main categories: emotional and physical wellbeing, income and employment, and community and environment. As with most WalletHub studies, it compared the 182 most populous U.S. cities.

Fremont, California claimed the top spot as the happiest city nationwide for another year. Bismark, North Dakota and Scottsdale, Arizona, respectfully, rounded out the top three.

Here's how WalletHub ranked Plano across the three key dimensions:

No. 15 – Emotional and physical wellbeing
No. 22 – Community and environment
No. 72 – Income and employment

Plano and its residents have continued improving their city year after year, whether its through opening new bakeries and restaurants, inviting fun pop-ups for locals, or having a strong job market.

Plano's happiness far outshines the rest of North Texas; according to WalletHub, Irving is the 70th happiest city in the country, the third-happiest in Texas, and the second-happiest city in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro. Garland ranked farther behind as No. 92 nationally, and more DFW cities ranked even lower: Grand Prairie (No. 106), Dallas (No. 111), Fort Worth (No. 113), and Arlington (No. 119).

The report additionally found that Dallasites spend the third-most amount of time at work in the nation. The city ranked No. 180 in the national analysis of U.S. cities with the "fewest work hours."

WalletHub also emphasized that money doesn't buy happiness — after a certain point.

"For decades, researchers have explored the science of happiness and identified several core factors, including mental well-being, physical health, strong social ties, job satisfaction, and financial stability," the report said. "Still, income has its limits — studies show that earning more than $75,000 a year does not lead to greater happiness."

Six-figure earners in Plano aren't necessarily as happy as those who don't make as much, as a separate financial study from SmartAsset revealed these big earners are only taking home about $72,653 after taxes and adjusted for the cost of living.

This is how other Texas cities ranked in the report:

No. 39 – Austin
No. 128 – Houston
No. 135 – Lubbock
No. 137 – El Paso
No. 140 – Laredo
No. 143 – Amarillo
No. 150 – Brownsville
No. 154 – San Antonio
No. 155 – Corpus Christi

wallethub plano reports