AUSTIN — A progressive business group has sued to strike a 2021 Texas law that banned the state from doing business with companies the state has deemed hostile to the fossil fuel industry.

The American Sustainable Business Council filed suit against Attorney General Ken Paxton and Comptroller Glenn Hegar, alleging that Senate Bill 13 violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Paxton and Hegar did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The so-called anti-ESG law (which stands for environmental, social and governance) has led Texas to divest investments from 16 financial companies, including investment giant BlackRock, Inc. and UBS Group AG. Neither firm is a plaintiff in the suit.

“SB 13 is not just a misguided policy; it is an unconstitutional attack that stifles free speech and punishes businesses for prioritizing responsible investments,” said David Levine, president and co-founder of the American Sustainable Business Council. “By challenging SB 13, we aim to protect the rights of all businesses to operate freely and responsibly.”

The law came about in response to several investment companies adopting investment philosophies that prioritized environmental issues, social issues and corporate governance. BlackRock, which controls about $10.5 trillion in assets, was made a centerpiece of the political uproar in Texas after its CEO announced that it was turning away from oil and gas investments.

BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink has signaled a willingness to make amends with Texas lawmakers by cohosting a natural gas investment symposium alongside Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick earlier this year in Houston. However, the company remains banned from doing business with Texas, according to the comptroller’s office.

The American Sustainable Business Council includes members Etho Capital and Sphere – investment firms that manage index funds focused on climate sustainability. The comptroller’s office has blacklisted “flagship investment funds” from each company, according to the lawsuit.

Since the law’s implementation, state funds such as the Permanent School Fund and Teacher Retirement System of Texas have unloaded billions of dollars in assets once managed by BlackRock and other companies banned from Texas. That has cost taxpayers about $1.5 billion in unrealized financial gains and increased interest payments on government loans, according to economists at the Perryman Group.

Democracy Forward, a progressive legal advocacy organization, is representing plaintiffs.

“Governor [Greg] Abbott should have never signed SB 13. The law is bad for Texas businesses and taxpayers and violates the U.S. Constitution,” said Skye Perryman, Democracy Forward’s CEO. “It is past time for Gov. Abbott, Lt. Gov. Patrick and their associates in the Texas legislature to prioritize the wellbeing of people in the state. Texas businesses, taxpayers, workers, and public employees will be better off if SB 13 is struck down.”

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A new study from the Texas Comptroller shows just how widespread housing affordability challenges are in Texas.

According to the report, Texas is more than 300,000 homes short of what it needs and Texans from major cities to rural communities are struggling with housing costs.

“It means to me that even as Texans who kind of see themselves as being pro-market and wanting to build, build, build, we’re not building enough,” said Steven Pedigo, the director of the LBJ Urban Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. “We’ve got to build more to keep up with the population gain that we’re seeing.”

The study identifies local challenges including: do cities need to better manage large investment groups who can out bid and drive up costs on single-family homes? And how do cities best regulate their land? The latter is something the city of Austin has discussed for years.

“At the local level it remains one of the biggest parts of our affordability toolkit and we have to tackle that,” said Awais Azhar, deputy director of HousingWorks Austin. “It’s interesting that the state is beginning to think about how do they sort of provide guidance to localities to work this localized issue.”

The report noted the pushback some communities, like Austin, have gotten while working through land development code changes.

“Homeowners want to maintain high property values to earn the greatest return on their investments, and they may oppose projects they believe may de-value their property. This resistance can result in project delays, increased costs and even cancellation of new housing projects, exacerbating housing shortages and affordability issues,” the report says.

‘Not about the wisdom of the policies’: City of Austin back in court over zoning notification process

Several years ago, the city worked through a complete rewrite of its land development code — which governs what can be built where — but that rewrite was successfully challenged in court in 2020.

Now, Austin City Council is working through individual changes to its rules, most notably including the passage of the ‘HOME’ initiative which, in part, reduced minimum lot size requirements and allows building of more units on a single-family lot.

Still, housing experts say there’s a lot more to be done.

“I worry that if the city doesn’t do it, the city and state has this kind of back and forth friction and I wonder if we don’t take care of it does the state kind of step in and start to mandate cities like Austin and Houston and Dallas to do more. That may actually happen and we’ll see how that plays out in terms of the politics of that,” Pedigo said.

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black rabbit renovates a mid-century modern home

Tucked away among a residential neighborhood of Austin, Texas, the newly completed Friar Tuck Residence is a stunning reimagined mid-century home that’s as beautiful as it is sustainable. Designed by Black Rabbit and built by Newcastle Homes, this renovation demonstrates the power of thoughtful architecture and an environmentally friendly lifestyle. Spanning 2,294 square feet, the single-story residence is a masterclass in natural light and indoor-outdoor living. A sun-drenched courtyard, enclosed by a Texas limestone privacy wall, creates a serene oasis. The home’s design is not just about aesthetics — it’s also about creating a healthy, natural environment.

images © Leonid Furmansky

natural living inside the friar tuck residence

Inside the Friar Tuck Residence, visitors will find a peaceful atmosphere curated by the architects at Black Rabbit to be free from artificial dyes, paints, and stains. The use of traditional materials and techniques gives the home an atmosphere that is timeless, while maintaining a contemporary feel. A glass volume connects the front courtyard — with its wild garden by landscape studio Native Son Gardens — to the rear pool, deck, and guesthouse, making it an ideal environment to relax outdoors.

The Friar Tuck Residence is at once a contemporary dwelling and a statement about sustainable living. As the architects say, ‘In this reimagined mid-century home, we’ve embraced sustainability through authentic living design principles. By preserving the original single-story form and using passive solar techniques, we’ve created a sunlit courtyard. Our focus on old-world natural materials and processes has resulted in a healthy interior environment, free from artificial additives. This home is a testament to the beauty and simplicity of living in harmony with nature.‘

The Friar Tuck Residence is a sustainable mid-century home in Austin, Texas

the home was designed by Black Rabbit and built by Newcastle Homes

a sunlit courtyard is enclosed by a limestone garden wall

interiors are designed to suit residents with a healthy, natural lifestyle