Green Ideas, TodayinAustin.com

Lone Star Scene: West Texas wind farmer featured in 'Carbon Nation'

2011-02-28T20:43:52Z

One-armed wind farmer Cliff Etheredge is one of the Texas ties in the new energy solutions documentary "Carbon Nation."

Green Garden Festival, Sunday Feb. 27

2011-02-22T07:56:00Z

Learn about earth-wise landscaping at this free, fun day in the park.

COMMUNITY: Is Green Affordable?

2011-02-22T16:32:49Z

City council approves electric car charging rate

2011-02-20T22:22:56Z

An electric car charging subscription will cost about $46.20 per year for subscribers to the Austin Energy "Plug In Everywhere" program. City Council members voted unanimously on Thursday to approve the rate.

ACC Green Pass is making a difference

2011-02-18T22:30:35Z

Today, Austin Community College posted the results of their annual transportation survey. The text of the article is pasted below. The key findings show that the Green Pass program is at least one factor in an uptick in the use of public transportation to get to ACC. This is great news, and we have really enjoyed working with ACC to make transit available to students, faculty and staff.

Latest Transportation Survey Results Now Available

Results from the 2010 ACC Transportation Survey are now available. Late last year, the college’s Office of Environmental Stewardship invited students and employees to complete a survey related to their transportation needs. Topics included mode of transportation to ACC, use of public transportation, and the college’s Green Pass and Green Car initiatives.

The findings include:

73 percent use a personal vehicle to commute to ACC. This is a drop from 79 percent in 2009.

16 percent use public transportation, up from 10 percent in 2009.

Among those who use public transportation, more than half said they started because of Green Pass.

More than 10 percent own a Green Car.

For complete survey results, click here. Learn about ACC’s commitment to sustainability at austincc.edu/sustainability.

Tagged: green pass, partnerships

Carbon Offset Challenge Grants extended to March 8

2011-03-01T14:13:00Z

Projects reducing greenhouse gas emissions could receive up to $10K.

COMMUNITY: Recycling Field Trip

2011-01-24T06:45:23Z

Going Green: Georgetown transportation gets greener

2011-01-21T20:42:34Z

Residents outside of Austin have a greener transportation option thanks to CARTS.

COMMUNITY: Green Business Networking Mixer

2011-01-20T16:32:20Z

Austin chosen to pilot new green building rating system

2011-01-13T05:00:00Z

Austin is one of 10 cities nationally chosen to test a beta version of a new sustainability rating. The rating system — called STAR Community Index — is designed to help governments measure and improve their sustainability efforts through analytics, mapping and data management. ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability USA, the developers behind the system, hope to eventually roll out the program nationwide. Once complete, the data center will allow cities and counties to rank themselves...

Smart Living: Eco-Warriors fight war on waste

2011-01-10T21:07:58Z

If you don't think your carbon footprint is all that big, consider this: 56 tons of trash are created each year by the average person, with only one-tenth of that waste being recycled. Three women are trying to reverse our carbon footprint.

Austin's Frost Tower earns LEED gold rating

2011-01-04T05:00:00Z

Austin's largest high-rise office building has grabbed one of the most prominent green building ratings in the U.S., officials announced Tuesday. The Frost Bank Tower downtown received The U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification, the second-highest tier on the LEED scale. The national organization rates buildings according to their design, construction and energy and water use. Frost earned the certification under the council's "Existing...

Texas sues EPA over air permitting takeover

2011-01-03T05:00:00Z

Texas filed yet another legal action against the federal government before the new year, charging a recent takeover of the state's air permitting program violates the Clean Air Act. The suit is the latest in an ongoing power struggle between the state and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which took an unprecedented regulatory takeover of the Texas program Sunday. The federal agency had given Texas, and 12 other states, about a year to implement new permitting procedures meant to...

Texas, EPA fight over regulations grows fierce

2010-12-30T18:18:15Z

Tension is escalating between Texas industries and the Environmental Protection agency over greenhouse gas regulations which go into effect Jan. 2.

Austin's Cielo plans W. Texas wind farm

2010-12-28T05:00:00Z

Austin-based Cielo Wind Power LP signed a 15-year agreement to sell energy from a planned 161-megawatt wind farm in West Texas. Under terms of the deal, Xcel Energy will buy electricity produced from the project a Cielo affiliate has planned near Amarillo. The future Spinning Spur Wind Ranch is slated for a plot west of Vega, north of I-40, west of U.S. Highway 385. Xcel will buy the expected 650,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually and receive the associated renewable energy credits for...

Austin Energy reduces fuel charge 15%

2010-12-17T05:00:00Z

Austin Energy lowered fuel charges from 3.65 cents per kilowatt hour to 3.105 cents per kilowatt hour, or an average $66 less annually per residential user, the electricity provider reported Friday. The reduction comes about two months after Austin Energy added an average 82 cents per month charge to customers' bills to finance a state-mandated transmission line build out. Officials said this week falling natural gas prices created savings equal to the 15 percent fuel charge decrease plus more...

Go Green!: Stay green through the holidays

2010-12-18T21:48:32Z

From recycling to reusing, our Adam Krueger shows you ways to stay green this holiday season.

Construction begins on solar farm near Pflugerville

2010-12-16T17:14:25Z

One of the largest solar farms in the nation is on its way to Central Texas. Wednesday, officials broke ground on hundreds of acres east of Pflugerville.

SXSW Makes Austin Greener With Park Pickup Day

2010-12-14T16:32:06Z

Here at the SXSW offices, we believe it is every one’s job to contribute to our goal of environmental responsibility. That’s why, when we're not working hard by planning and organizing amazing things for you to do at SXSW 2011, we all enjoy furthering our Green initiatives!

About 15 of us recently took a Friday afternoon away from the office to clean up Austin's Waller Creek which runs between IH-35 and Red River. We lucked out with mild November weather - the skies were gorgeous and made the cleanup enjoyable. Together we picked up about two dozen bags of garbage that littered Waller Creek from 1st St to 4th St.

While we won't be able to do another park cleanup til after SXSW 2011, we look forward to continuing to make a difference for years to come. For more information about SXSW’s commitment to sustainability, visit our Sustainability Page.

Above: Sales & Marketing employee Val Link cleans up park

Below: Interactive Festival programming assistant Sarah Garcia surveys our hard work!

Photos courtesy of Meaghan Herrmann.

Pflugerville solar farm breaks ground Dec. 15, creates 350 jobs

2010-12-13T05:00:00Z

A planned $200 million solar farm in Pflugerville — the largest of its kind on Texas — will break ground this week, creating about 350 jobs during the next two to three years. Austin Solar LLC, a local startup backed by India-based investors, is the developing the 60-megawatt solar plant through an incentive agreement with the city of Pflugerville. The company is receiving tax breaks in exchange for installing $750,000 in solar panels and small wind turbines. Austin Solar is hosting a...