How GREEN is Austin REALLY? (Houston, San Antonio: sales, house, neighborhood)

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by jobert

I'm biased because my spouse and I are LEEP AP's and I'm invested in solar stock. Not to mention, future evidence is found in today's Statesman:


statesman.com

I think that's incredible....wind is certainly a step in the right direction, though the "always on" nature of electrical grids will never let wind farms be more than an adjunct of carbon-powered plants until they find a way to generate energy with constancy(not just when its windy)....same with solar panels, which don't work so great on cloudy days(hence only the desert SW can be considered realistically for them to be a large alternative with viability.....

Just awesome, but wait a sec...the Chinese are building it?

Wait a sec!

First, why can't we manufacture our own alternative energy infrastructure?
This is the best, and possibly only, way to jumpstart out national economy....so are we going to outsource THIS as well?

Nonsense!

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by Nomadic9460678748

Also . . . as an apartment dweller it would be nice if there were more recycling opportunities for us troglodytes. We may not be fabulous homeowners, but we do produce rubbish. We've made efforts to have management strengthen the presence of recycling receptacles in the complex to no avail. Also, quite a few residents aren't really properly educated as to what can and cannot be recycled so the one bin our complex of 30+ units must share ends up loaded with people's extra trash. It stinks. Literally and figuratively.

Anyone think those fabulous red and grey trains will do anything for Austin's "green-ness?"

Indeed, I remember the communal dumpster on my old Parmer megaplex started reeking about a day before garbage day(overflow). People threw used diapers, couches, chairs, white goods, batteries, gunk, funk, god knows what.....and they had fewer dumpsters than needed to save a few bucks, so they made more people walk farther....and zero recycling possibilites......like a calcutta/rio mound of living junk, the dumpster would take on a powerful stench/stink once a week.....

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by Nomadic9460678748

I'm only guessing . . . perhaps because it means less carbon emission resulted in the creation and transport of the product? I have a friend who will only drink Iconoclast wine (from out in Fredericksburg I think . . . it's good stuff, but drinking is bad kids! ahem) as opposed to Argentian, Chilean, or even Californian wine because the idea is that there weren't trucks driven across the way to deliver the stuff. So perhaps by extension of you think of people who only buy local produce and things they're hoping to reduce emissions, discourage purchases of products imported longer distances, and thus reduce one's "carbon footprint." Plus, the hope is that locally-owned stores will have their finger on the community's pulse and do a better job of providing them with products better-suited to their needs. Think BookPeople versus Borders.

That's my guess. (I'm starting to dig these emoticon thingies!)

I knew that with the bottled water thing for years(energy to manufacture plastic bottle, transport same bottle, and dump same bottle(degrade)....but just started learning about the waste, huge huge waste, from our mega-groceries just like H-E-B's recently...so much is trucked all over the country, and the world sometimes(mexico, central america, canada, South America, etc.).....and Texas "imports" a larger share of foods than states such as Cal and the midwest that grow the stuff....
(eg, not a whole bunch of wheat and corn, actually none, grown in Texas).......The Super Wal-Mart, H-E-B, Albertson's and Safeway grocery concept sucks the life and energy out of the land and nation, and gives us for the most part a pretty crappy palate of foods......and most quite wastefully grown and transported as well....

We need imagination and local sourcing.....with as little outsourcing as possible for things we can't grow here.....

NOW!

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Your post is in many ways ridiculous.

What is a belching SUV? A Chevy Tahoe emits no more greenhouse gases than a Mercedes.

Is Whole Foods for skinny people? Does their premium lasagna have less fat than another? We do almost all of our food shopping at HEB and I have a BMI under 25. Is that good enough? I eat bacon sometimes too.

So do you propose taxing us all more so that I can install my own solar panels or private windmill?

I think a "green revolution" is just as unlikely in Austin as it is anywhere else. A steady march on the other hand seems possible and perhaps even probable. It is hard to prove but I think Austin already has more small cars vs. large cars than other cities in Texas.

As a "wired" city Austin has many people that do not drive to work at all. I know many software people that live in Austin and work for California software companies.

You ignored an issue that could be more pressing than anything else - water. San Antonio is already suffering serious pain and Austin may only be a few years behind.

Auquifers are certainly a huge issue.....if not for several organizations, the Edwards aquifer would prob have been subsumed by new subdivisions west of DT on riverside and such in the 90's.....Texas has the SALINE gulf surrounding its south end, and a ton of barren rock in much of the west, from Austin west........the brazos and other little rivers in Texas are little trickles compared to the great lake base of much of the 20th century growth....

indeed, as Hoffdano hints at, if Texas plans on being a top 1-2 or so growth state in the US for the next 20-40 years, where will the water come from? Can they desalinate and pipe in Gulf water?.....who knows?

There IS something worth more than gold in central Texas.....this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwards_Aquifer

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by jobert

I'm biased because my spouse and I are LEEP AP's and I'm invested in solar stock. Not to mention, future evidence is found in today's Statesman:
statesman.com

I think you mean LEED. Ha Ha

USGBC: LEED (http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19 - broken link)

[jobert]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

I think you mean LEED. Ha Ha

USGBC: LEED (http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19 - broken link)

The letters are similar so the typo didn't jump out at me. LEED v. 2.0, so I'm LEED legacy. People in the profession are notoriously bad spellers, you should know that. It's become a self-deprecating inside joke.

[artsyguy]

I saw a lot of this; however, you are in favor of Austin. So I don't know why you post these double edged posts. We all know where you stand.

Originally Posted by inthecut

OR, do you see hellish traffic, belching SUV's and trucks, mega "fat folks" groceries like H-E-B's, public transport an afterthought at best, same old energy hogging options, and an abject lack of bike only paved trails city-wide?

So, is Austin just another metro full of energy whores, or are we actually something different,a trend of better, newer, different things to come?

Can we reasonably expect a "Green revolution" in Austin anytime soon?

[datx]

We've got a long way to go. IMO, one of the biggest problems towards making Austin sustainable is a complete lack of regional coordination on defining an urban growth boundary. As a region, we continue to sprawl and place greater stresses on the environment and infrastructure. Hill country mountain tops continue to get leveled and replaced with asphalt. But, since most of the hill country sprawl is occurring outside the Austin city limits, we aren't very well empowered to affect change. Inside the city limits we have archaic zoning ordinances that inhibit density. I'm not a density-at-all-costs person, but until we encourage people to live closer together, we will continue to encourage unsustainable lifestyles.

[CptnRn]

How green is Austin? This recent article at Impact News is an excellent summary of the leadership role that Austin that Austin has had nationally.

Nation follows Austin's LEED (http://impactnews.com/central-austin/283-news/6609-nation-follows-austins-leed - broken link)

Forerunners to LEED
Started by the Austin City Council in 1985 (and first called the Energy Star Program), the Green Building Program became part of Austin Energy in 1998, was a charter member of the USGBC and hosted the national organization’s first conference. It pioneered the first comprehensive rating system in the country, taking into account factors such as climate, building and energy efficiency, water and materials, durability, health and safety for commercial, multi-family and residential properties. Rather than assigning a numerical value, the program scored buildings on a five-star scale.

Rating its first home two years before the USGBC became a nonprofit, the Austin program served as an early model for the national LEED certification system.

“Our staff participated in the development of LEED,” said Richard Morgan, manager of Austin Energy’s Green Building and Sustainability program.

[eepstein]

Austin a green city?? Well let me see here.

1.) More huge gas guzzling SUV's and trucks (per capita) than any other city in the country. Hence low rates of environmental consciousness overall.

2.) Capital of the most ozone polluting state overall in the nation.

3.) Among the worst public transportation of any similar size city in the nation.

4.) Less than 1% total hybrid ownership (the few on the road are almost certainly driven by former Californians.)

5.) Next to no bike lanes or any money set aside for bike trails/lane in the city limits.

6.) No smog testing for vehicles in Travis County.


Yes, I would say Austin and Portland, OR are neck in neck with regards to Green living!!

Originally Posted by ATXIronHorse

Trucks and SUVs far outnumber hybrids. Austin, like everywhere else in Texas, is designed around cars. Lots of big-box retailers and large chain grocers (why must it be locally-owned to be "green", though?). I don't know anyone who bikes to work. Public transportation here is a joke. The only one I know who walks to work lives across the street.