Lead has been found in the drinking water of five more Austin schools. That's according to new data obtained by Environment Texas (via an open records request) from the Austin Independent School District. This new data follows the discovery last September that other nine local schools and...
The amount of solar energy installed within Austin city limits grew 27 percent last year, making Austin 17th in the nation in terms of local solar capacity. That's according to a new report from the Environment Texas Research and Policy Center, entitled, "Shining Cities 2018: How Smart Local Policies Are Expanding Solar Power In...
If you're a consistent reader of AEN or a follower of local news, you've been reading a lot about CodeNEXT lately. (And if you haven't, that's okay too. As a reminder, CodeNEXT is the city’s effort to rewrite its land development code, which is basically a rule book for the city, explaining what...
The debate and discussion around CodeNEXT heated up this week as community and environmental leaders held press conferences and rallies to share their opinions on the city's controversial effort to rewrite its land development code. (As a reminder, CodeNEXT is the city’s effort to rewrite its land development code,...
In the week when Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas, more than 46 industrial facilities released an estimated 4.6 million pounds of chemicals and pollutants into the air (an amount that exceeded legal state limits). That's according to an analysis conducted by the Environmental Defense Fund, Air Alliance Houston...
Now that the flood waters are beginning to recede in some parts of Texas, attention is being turned to the environmental consequences that Hurricane Harvey has left in its wake. More research, studies, and stories will surely be published in the coming weeks and years, but for...
From the First Unitarian Universalist Church - Luke Metzger is founding director of Environment Texas, a statewide, citizen-funded advocacy group for clean air, clean water, and open spaces. He has been involved in dozens of citizen-related environmental campaigns and regularly testifies before the Texas Legislature on...
With less than a month left in the Texas legislative session, it seems like time for another update. Here's a few eco- and Austin-related bills that we've got our eyes on: The issue: Air Quality - As you might know, ozone pollution is a major problem...
Keeping up with everything going on at the Texas Legislature can be hard. That's why last week our radio partner, Shades of Green, brought in a panel of environmental activists to talk about one thing - the Texas Legislature. Our guests included Andrew Dobbs (Texas...
If you've been following along with the news lately, you know that the draft of our city's new land development code (commonly referred to as CodeNEXT) was recently released. Now that it has been in the public domain for several weeks, the question is -...