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San Antonio is First in Texas to Close Coal Plant
A coal-fired power plant that has supplied electricity in San Antonio since the 1970s will be the first in Texas to shut down.  The move by San Antonio’s community-owned gas and electric company, CPS Energy, comes as many coal-fired plants nationwide face the prospect of stringent federal regulations on mercury and other emissions. The announcement to shut down the Deely plant in 2018 could pressure the state’s energy companies to focus their efforts on alternative power sources. The Deely facility was supposed to be retired in 2030, but to meet the anticipated environmental regulations, CPS Energy would have to install a $550 million “scrubber” — equipment that helps decrease emissions. The company decided the scrubber would not be a wise financial investment, opting instead to close the facility and put its money in newer forms of energy, including natural gas, “clean coal” and solar, CPS spokeswoman Lisa Lewis said . . . MORE

Texas Has Statewide TV Recycling Law
Environmentalists and local government leaders have praised Texas legislators for passing a bill that will have TV manufacturers take back and recycle obsolete televisions, keeping toxic materials such as lead and mercury out of Texas landfills and water sources. SB 329, sponsored by Senator Kirk Watson (D-Austin) and Representative Warren Chisum (R-Pampa), requires manufacturers selling TVs in Texas to offer free, convenient recycling programs for Texas residents. “We applaud Governor Perry for signing the TV TakeBack Recycling bill into law,” said Robin Schneider, Executive Director of Texas Campaign for the Environment. “This bill is the long-awaited companion to the Computer Takeback Law that Governor Perry signed in 2007. TV takeback in Texas is long overdue, so this law is a crucial step toward bringing free and convenient recycling to all Texans”. . . MORE

Neighbors want recycling plant demolition halted
Saturday, January 22, 2011 – CORPUS CHRISTI
Residents near a derelict Corpus Christi waste recycling plant are demanding a stop to plans to demolish the plant for fear the demolition would spread contamination to their neighborhood… READ MORE.

UT researchers in quest for cleaner coal
Saturday, January 22, 2011 – Austin
In a four-story test plant just behind a warehouse-like research building in North Austin, University of Texas researchers are hoping for a revolutionary breakthrough to the question of how to continue to burn coal without contributing to global warming.  The mini power plant, only big enough to… READ MORE.

E-waste Piles Up, Despite Texas’ “Take Back” Law
January 18, 2011 – AUSTIN
Christine Banks, Goodwill’s vice president of environmental business, says Dell partners with them for computer recycling, and she hopes the State Legislature will put teeth into the take-back law so more companies will step up. She wants to… READ MORE.

Plastic Bag Ban in Effect
Thursday, January 6, 2011 – Brownsville
The city of Brownsville is one of twelve cities across the U.S. to ban plastic bags and the very first in Texas.  City commissioners gave the boot to the bags in 2009, but it wasn’t until Wednesday that the ban officially went into effect. The city worked throughout 2010 to… READ MORE.

Plug In, Turn On, Drive Off
DECEMBER 31, 2010 – AUSTIN
Before the combustion engine pooted its way into the hearts and lungs of civilization, our nation was on the road to electric cars. Anyone who saw the 2006 documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? knows what happened next… READ MORE.

Austin’s Cielo plans W. Texas wind farm
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
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… READ MORE.

Environment Texas and Sierra Club Sue ExxonMobil To Stop Illegal Air Emissions
December 14, 2010
HOUSTON – Sierra Club and Environment Texas filed a lawsuit today in federal district court against ExxonMobil Corporation and two subsidiaries to enforce thousands of violations of the Clean Air Act at the nation’s largest oil refinery and chemical plant complex, located in Baytown, Texas… READ MORE.

Radioactive waste fueling debate…allowing more states to dump in West Texas.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Radioactive waste from more than 30 states could be destined for West Texas if a rule change by the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission is approved in January… READ MORE.

TCEQ Installs New Air Monitor in Flower Mound
Monday, Nov. 22, 2010
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality today announced that results from a new state-of-the-art air monitor, installed in the Flower Mound area, are now available online.  The auto-GC (gas chromatograph) monitor, installed by the TCEQ, will… READ MORE.

Natural gas “fracking” boom in South Texas
November 22, 2010 – SAN ANTONIO
There is an energy boom going on right in our own back yard. Drilling companies have discovered how to unlock a vast supply of energy beneath South Texas. But activists, celebrities and even the federal government are concerned about the effects it could have on our air and water… READ MORE.

Austin City Council approves $299 million for Water Treatment Plant 4 construction contracts
By Bobby Longoria and Beth Wade
Thursday, 18 November 2010 – AUSTIN
Austin City Council authorized the negotiations of several contracts with MWH Constructors Inc. Nov. 18 related to the construction of Water Treatment Plant 4 that will… READ MORE.

New water tower aims to conserve drinking water
November 11,2010 – AUSTIN
Austin Water and the City of Austin unveiled the area’s first water tower that will only hold recycled water… READ MORE .

Alamo Heights recognized for renewable energy usage
November 8, 2010 – San Antonio Business Journal
The Environmental Protection Agency has named Alamo Heights an official Green Power Community for its participation in CPS Energy’s Windricity program… READ MORE .

Renewable energy gets spotlight in S.A.
By Vicki Vaughan – Express-News – SAN ANTONIO
Web Posted: 11/08/2010 12:00 AM CST
Texas Renewables, a four-day convention organized by the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association and CPS Energy, began Sunday as speakers from… READ MORE.

In climate politics, Texas aims to be the anti-California
November 7, 2010
The state has filed seven lawsuits against the EPA, and its members of Congress want to check the EPA’s efforts to curb greenhouse gases. ‘At times they’re their own country,’ one observer says…. READ MORE.

Calif. to Texas oil: Keep your hands off our clean energy!
Nov 05 2010
This week oil companies in Texas learned that when it comes to clean energy, don’t mess with California…. READ MORE.

NRG Energy helps green the nation by investing $350M in Green Mountain
November 5, 2010 – AUSTIN
NRG Energy acquires Green Mountain in order to help grow the nation’s clean energy, win-win for both companies and environment.   NRG Energy … READ MORE .

The 10 Best Cities for Electric Cars
November 3, 2010
On the advent of major releases of electric vehicles, we take a look at the places where they could have the biggest impact. And it’s not where you’d expect… READ MORE .

Austin Energy Green Building to Offer Dual-Certification
November 3, 2010 – AUSTIN
New single-family homes can now earn both local and national certifications by… READ MORE .

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