Uber and Lyft, which have been legally operating in Austin for about a year, may soon be subject to new regulations. The City of Austin is considering a move to require drivers with ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft to undergo fingerprint-based criminal background checks. The effort...
Leaders from Austin's interfaith community were also in Paris last week for the UN Climate Conference. Yaira Robinson and Bee Moorhead from Texas Interfaith Power and Light have been blogging prolifically about their experiences in Paris. You can read through their whole series, dubbed "Boots 'N' Berets" here>> One of their blogs features an interview with Travis County Commissioner Brigid...
Austin Mayor Steve Adler certainly kept himself busy while in Paris, making the case for cities to lead in the global fight against climate change and touting some of Austin's environmental success stories. In an interview with Bloomberg News in Paris, Adler spoke of Austin's recent solar purchases...
Over the past two weeks, history has been made in Paris. Hundreds of leaders from around the world have been in France for the UN Climate Conference since Nov. 30th, hashing out what could be the world's first real global accord on climate change (previous attempts in...
Nearly a thousand people gathered at the Texas State Capitol building on Sunday for the Austin Climate March, demanding serious action on climate change from the world's leaders. The event was held in advance of the UN Climate Conference (which began on Monday) in an attempt to drum...
The Austin Recycles Games have begun! From now until March, Austin Resource Recovery will be calculating the average pounds of recyclables collected per household in each of Austin's10 city council districts. Each district will then compete for two prizes - most overall recycling and most improved. The winning districts will receive...
Building on lessons learned during the drought, Austin Water is proposing to move to a permanent one-day-per-week watering schedule. In a press release, Austin Water said they realize this would be a significant change for the community, which is why they are now soliciting public feedback as they move the proposal on to...
The much anticipated UN Climate Conference (also known as COP 21) officially began this week in Paris. More than 100 world leaders met in Paris on Monday to kick off two weeks of negotiations aimed at forging an international agreement to fight climate change. Although the agreement itself won't be enough to...
The General Manager of Austin Energy, Larry Weis, has resigned to take over a new job as CEO of Seattle City Light. As the Austin American-Statesman reports, Weis will start his new job leading Seattle's electric utility on February 1st, pending approval from Seattle City Council. More info>>...
Natural gas or renewables? That is the question a long-anticipated study by a local consulting firm has tried to answer. The study, which was released on Monday, concluded that yes, it does make economic and environmental sense for Austin Energy to build a new $500 million natural gas plant. Financially, the study...