During (Winter Storm Uri) I saw how vulnerable our communities were due to a lack of alternative energy…. I knew then that Texas needed more alternative energy to help prevent such a collapse from happening again. – Maxwell Davila, Founder of Solaris ATX
Meet Maxwell Davila, a senior at Lake Travis HS and member of the Austin Youth Climate Equity Council. Max is the founder of Solaris ATX, a student-led solar education and advocacy group. Read more about Max’s inspiring work accelerating the clean-energy transition below!
Tell us a bit about yourself!
Hey! My name is Max Davila, and I’m a Senior at Lake Travis High School. A driven leader and student, I’m extremely passionate about our environment and in promoting youth activism to bring youth voices to the table across our city.
How did you first get excited about the natural world, environmental justice, or a green career?
I first was inspired to take action on environmentalism during Winter Storm Uri in 2022. During the event, I saw how vulnerable our communities were due to a lack of alternative energy. During the storm, the weather-impacted natural gas production which had made up the vast majority of Texan energy supply was compromised. This collapse led to thousands losing power and water, my family among them. I knew then that Texas needed more alternative energy to help prevent such a collapse from happening again.
How did Solaris ATX get started? Why a focus on solar in particular?
Solaris ATX started out during my sophomore year of high school when I led a group of students from Lake Travis High School to lobby our school district to bring solar power to our high school. Even though they declined our request to bring solar to our school, we worked out a compromise. They agreed to integrate the construction of solar into one of the new under-construction elementary schools in the district. We thought that solar would be the best technology to bring to the district due to its easy integration into an education setting, whereas other alternative energy technologies like wind and geothermal would be far harder to implement.
What’s next for Solaris ATX?
Going forward, Solaris ATX is extremely excited to continue our mission of bringing sustainable education to elementary schools across our district and the city at large, along with a new addition that we’ve been working on. Recently, we’ve begun working on a new podcast, The Solaris Project, which is meant to bring the expertise of some of Austin’s top sustainability leaders to all so that more people can pursue careers and activism in the space.
