Using less and saving more through ingenuity and efficiency.
One Texas oil and gas billionaire is getting special recognition for what he has done to help a little bird.
How’s this for a mouthful: Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs. It’s basically a complicated way of saying the Defense Department official in charge of figuring out how the military uses and deploys energy in the field. That is Sharon Burke’s position, and in a recent speech at the University of […]
San Antonio is something of a poster-child for smarter water use in Texas. The city has reduced its per-capita water usage by 42 percent over the last few decades, despite one of the fastest-growing populations in the country. At the 2012 Texas Water Summit at the University of Texas at Austin’s Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science Monday, Robert Puente, the President and CEO […]
Next time you buy a Texas tomato, check where it in the state it was grown. The answer might surprise you.
Do you remember the last time you were stressed out? You’re not alone. According to a new study, plants are feeling it, too. The report says that plants have a sort of “stress memory,” and it could help them survive drought. Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have recently confirmed what gardeners have long claimed: after […]
Austin has transformed into a major biking city in recent years. Rising gas prices, chronic city traffic, and limited parking are just some of the reasons why local residents have begun leaving their cars at home and getting on the seat. Having six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong as a local celebrity helps, too. Other factors, however, […]
While some private solar companies are making headlines for their spectacular failures, and fracking has led to an extended stay for fossil fuels, is it too soon to write off renewables? Maybe not. For one thing, the military is investing in green projects. Big Time. As Kate Galbraith reports today for the Texas Tribune and […]
Water is becoming scarcer in Texas, and the solutions being passed around as of late are varied. Desalination, conservation and new reservoirs are all on the table. Another less, ummmm, palatable solution that is already being used in Texas? Treating “effluent” (i.e. waste water) to be used again for drinking, cooking and cleaning. A new video […]
In December, a new thermostat came on the market. This normally wouldn’t be exciting news, but in this case the device — called Nest — was from some of the same designers behind the iPod, and the new thermostat promised to “learn” your habits and program itself. (You can read our earlier story on the Nest here.) […]
Keith Miller set a simple, yet challenging goal for himself a year ago: catch a fish every single day for the entire year. He did it to raise money to help the Junior Hunters and Anglers of America (and, of course, promote fishing) for kids and families. And despite having to endure sickness, drought and […]
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