The Sierra Club Alamo Group's first meeting of 2026, is Tuesday, January 20th, features Bill Barker, FAICP, FITE, of San Antonio. He will discuss the challenges posed by increasing extreme heat, and how they can be addressed.

PROGRAM SUMMARY: It is now hotter than it’s ever been, and it will continue to get hotter throughout our lifetimes. It is also now dangerously hot during summer months, as can be seen by increasing heat-related illness and deaths. There are also clear economic and environmental impacts. This presentation will summarize the current and projected extreme-heat situation in San Antonio and alternative technologies which can be used to address it.

SPEAKER: Bill Barker moved to San Antonio in 1997 to be Planning Director for VIA Metropolitan Transit. He has served as Executive Director of Solar San Antonio, a Project Manager in the City’s Office of Sustainability, and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the UTSA graduate urban and regional planning program. Currently, he is an advisor to the Great Springs Project and a member of the Executive Committee of the Alamo Group of the Sierra Club.

First working in mission simulation at NASA (Houston) for the Apollo lunar mission, his career then took a more terrestrial turn with the US Department of Transportation and North Central Texas Council of Governments. Bill has served as a consultant for public and private clients in seven states, Canada, and Mexico as well as the US DOE, DOT and USAID. He has been engaged in “think tank” projects with the UTSA Center for Urban and Regional Planning Research, Houston Advanced Research Center, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Gas Research Institute, the National Academy of Science Transportation Research Board, and the Center for Urban Transportation Research.

Bill is a Fellow of the Institute of Transportation Engineers and the American Institute of Certified Planners. He has a B.S. in physics and a M.A. in urban affairs.

Contact Information: barker@greatspringsproject.org

MORE INFO about this event: https://act.sierraclub.org/events/details?formcampaignid=701Po00000r85AhIAI&preview=true

The Alamo Group of the Sierra Club holds its general meetings the 3rd Tuesday of most months. They're always free and open to the public.