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Sustainable Energy & Economic Development Coalition (SEED)

Website:

seedcoalition.org/
Type:

Environmental Advocacy
Location:

Austin, TX
Formation:

1989
Executive Director:

Karen Hadden

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The Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition, not to be confused with the Iowa-based nonprofit Seed Coalition, is an environmental advocacy group based in Austin, Texas. The SEED Coalition claims to have 2,500 individual and business members, most of which are based in Texas. The SEED Coalition opposes nuclear and coal power, and supports weather-dependent energy. 1

The Seed Coalition is a project of the Texas Fund for Energy and Environmental Education and is largely synonymous with the organization. 2

Background and Parent Organization

The Sustainable Energy and Economic Development Coalition was founded in 1989. 1

The SEED Coalition has been described as a project of the Texas Fund for Energy and Environmental Education (TFEEE). 2 TFEEE’s tax forms indicate that the SEED Coalition is functionally the same as TFEEE; its listed “mission” is “SEED Coalition works statewide in Texas for cleaner air and water, clean energy, and the protection of public health.” As of 2025, TFEEE’s listen executive director was Karen Hadden, who was also the SEED Coalition’s director at the time. 3

Activities

The Sustainable Energy and Economic Development Coalition states that its main function is to educate its members, including candidates for public utility board seats. 1

The SEED Coalition hosts events for members to discuss and celebrate environmentalist activities. 1

The SEED Coalition tracks environmental legislation in Texas and informs the public on opportunities to provide input. The SEED Coalition also testifies before government bodies on environmental bills. 1

The SEED Coalition opposes the construction of coal power plants in Texas and advocates for increased regulations on permitted pollution levels, often highlighting the effects of plant pollution on local fish populations and brain development in young children. 4 5 The SEED Coalition has played “a leading role in defeating 19 proposed coal plants in Texas.” 6

The SEED Coalition opposes nuclear power and supports replacing nuclear power plants with weather-dependent energy systems. 1 On behalf of the SEED Coalition, in 2023, executive director Karen Hadden entered a statement to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission opposing the renewal of licensing for the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant in Somervell County, Texas. Hadden expressed concerns about “tritium and other [radionuclide]” pollution, degrading plant infrastructure, and a lack of consideration of the impacts of climate change on the plant. 7 In 2010, Hadden was a presenter on problems with nuclear power at an event hosted by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. 8

In 2011, the SEED Coalition joined Public Citizen Texas and We Texans to protest a proposed Texas bill that would permit companies in other states to ship nuclear waste to a facility in Andrews County in West Texas. 9

The SEED Coalition’s website publishes research on coal plants and weather-dependent energy. As of January 2026, the SEED Coalition’s website was last updated in January 2019. 10

Leadership

Karen Hadden was the executive director of the Sustainable Energy & Economic Development Coalition, and has worked for the organization since 2000, initially starting as the clean air project director. From 1980 to 1990, Hadden was a middle and high school science teacher, and was involved in local environmental activism in Austin, Texas. Through her advocacy against coal plants, Hadden connected with SEED, initially representing the nonprofit in a legal case against a coal company as a pollution expert. Hadden is also a co-founder of Solar Austin, a solar advocacy group, and served on the Austin Utility Commission, a municipal body that regulates utilities in Austin. 4 5 11 As of 2026, Hadden was on the board of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. 12

In 2024, Hadden’s salary from the Texas Fund for Energy and Environmental Education was $0. During previous years, her salary ranged from $12,000 to $47,000, and consisted of much of the nonprofit’s total annual expenditure each year. 13 3

Funding

The Sustainable Energy & Economic Development Coalition is a project of the Texas Fund for Energy and Environmental Education. 2

The SEED Coalition has received funding from the Arkansas Community Foundation. 10

In 2015, the SEED Coalition received $10,000 through the Texas Fund for Energy and Environmental Education from the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation for “work around energy efficiency and renewable energy in Texas.” 14

In 2008, the SEED Coalition received a $38,000 grant from the Institute for Energy Research “for a study on the potential for energy efficiency to meet electricity demand in Texas.” 15

References

  1. “Sowing the Seeds of Sustainability.” SEED Coalition. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://seedcoalition.org/downloads/sowing_the_seeds_of_sustainability.pdf.
  2. “SEED Coalition of Austin, TX.” Idealist. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/5ba391dbc2a645c898579d4ee16a8b3b-seed-coalition-of-austin-tx-austin.
  3. “Texas Fund For Energy And Environmental Education Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/742524314/202540529349300644/full.
  4. “Karen Hadden.” Texas Legacy Project. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://texaslegacy.org/narrator/karen-hadden/.
  5. “Karen Hadden.” Texas Legacy Project. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://texaslegacy.org/transcript/karen-hadden/.
  6. “SEED Coalition.” Texas Green Network. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://texasgreennetwork.org/our-members/seed-coalition/.
  7. “DECLARATION Of KAREN HADDEN IN SUPPORT OF LEAVE TO INTERVENE IN COMANCHE PEAK NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, UNITS 1 AND 2 LICENCE RENEWAL APPLICATION PROCEEDING.” Nuclear Regulatory Commission, January 30, 2023. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2306/ML23060A489.pdf.
  8. “Nuclear Loan Guarantees.” Southern Alliance for Green Energy. February 1, 2010. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://cleanenergy.org/news/nuclear-loan-guarantees/.
  9. “Public Citizen, SEED Coalition and We Texans, rally against WCS Radioactive Waste Dump.” Public Citizen. April 20, 2011. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://www.citizen.org/news/public-citizen-seed-coalition-and-we-texans-rally-against-wcs-radioactive-waste-dump/.
  10. “Homepage.” Seed Coalition. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://seedcoalition.org/.
  11. “Karen Hadden.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-hadden-5069a145/.
  12. “Board of Directors.” Nuclear Information and Resource Service. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://www.nirs.org/board-of-directors/.
  13. “Texas Fund For Energy And Environmental Education.” ProPublica. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/742524314.
  14. “2015 Grantees.” Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://2015report.cgmf.org/p/2015-grantees.html.
  15. “Texas.” Institute for Energy Research. Accessed January 4, 2026. https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/data/texas/.
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