Austin is about to incur a hefty carbon footprint as SXSW kicks off, but thanks to the folks at MakeMeSustainable (MMS), people have an opportunity to walk the sustainability talk. The 'Interactive Carbon Tree' was designed specifically for SXSW in an effort to mobilize attendees at the conference to reduce their collective carbon impact. Check it out here: http://makemesustainable.com/sxsw...

I wonder: why wouldn’t the APD drug cop and the data miner want the world to know what they’re up to? They’re heroes, after all! Cleansing our streets of the dreaded indoor weed farmer. They should be proud. They're like The Punisher and Microchip....

After being closed to new subscribers for a period of time, Austin Energy's GreenChoice program is extending its green arms for Austinites far and wide. Claiming to be the nation's most successful utility-sponsored green power program, GreenChoice is an opportunity to walk the sustainability talk. ...

Vandals are smashing SUV rear windows around town and not stealing anything. Austin Energy's fuel charge goes up in January. Trinity U. school officials discover multiple firearms in a student's dorm room after the student checks out for winter break. ...

Photo by mirsasha on flickr In June an APD officer sped 139 miles/hour through a funeral procession on Mopac; he resigned in November. Ford recalling over a million trucks and SUVs because of a faulty engine sensor. The Austin Energy Alt-Car Expo is coming next October. Texas Legislative Conference (who?) names Lt. Gov. Dewhurst as Texan of the Year. New state law set to go into effect January 1 charges $5 per each strip club......

Photo by hamron on flickr Austin City Council is pretty much ready to sign a contract setting up red-light cameras at 15 intersections (to start with). Big Brother - er, APD - is watching your energy usage. And Austin Energy is cool with that! Southeast Austin standoff this morning ends with cop shooting the suspect. Round Rock police on the lookout for a suspected stalker. Local company under Neil Bush (Dubya's bro) is being investigated......

Providing incentives for hybrids and investing in renewable technology are just a few of the environmental issues highlighted by U.S House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who spoke at City Hall yesterday. Speaking of her "New Direction Congress", she stood with U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett, city council members, and Austin Energy head Roger Duncan to highlight Austin's leadership in finding alternative energy sources and reducing energy consumptions. According to the Statesman: "The boast of a clean energy......

City Manager Toby Futrell announced a couple days ago that she will be retiring in May 2008. Ms. Futrell has served as city manager since 2001. She had been expected to retire sometime next year, since the city council recently approved a pretty sweet retirement package for her. Futrell has worked for the city since 1976; her current annual salary is $240,600, and the retirement package ensures her $167,000 per year. During her service......

While the final figures are just now coming out, last week already seems like a distant memory. Estimated amount, in cubic yards, of sanding material used to clear street locations: 1,349 Austin Energy customers who experienced a power outage: 35,000 Water mains repaired by Austin Water Utility: 16 Calls to EMS dispatchers and Austin Fire Department: 2,133 Calls to 311: 11,370 Collisions reported to the Austin Police Department: 599 Estimated number of canceled flights......

We'll update this post as things develop. 11am - Tuesday, January 16th Governor Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst are sworn in indoors, under the inaugural theme, "Texas: Imagine the Possibilities." The requisite downtown parade has been canceled because, well, there's no one there. Firewood vendors are making a killing CapMetro: UT Shuttles, AISD Magnet Routes, 'Dillo routes are closed The Travis County Commissioners Court meeting has been postponed As of 9:30am, approximately 570......

If you didn't already have the day off of work or school courtesy Martin Luther King, Jr, you probably do now courtesy Mother Nature (or the rapture, your choice). Even the MLK parade is canceled! Austin roads are wet and slippery, the temperatures are dropping, and everything is going to get worse before it gets better. If you absolutely can't stay home today, please take a minute and familiarize yourself with the Emergency Conditions......

Having suckled at the teet of local residents more than adequately this year, Austin Energy's spitting out a little back next year. Starting January 1st, Austin Energy will cut electricity rates for "most users" by a hefty 8 percent. From Austin Business Journal: The move comes after the city-owned utility earned more than it expected in November when warm weather caused power users to turn up the AC when they ordinarily would've just opened the......

Our own Austin Energy will snip the ribbon to their newest, most greenest power plant on Tuesday. Christened the Mueller Energy Center, part of the gigantic Mueller redevelopment project, the design and function of the building sports some pretty radical new fuel-saving developments. Utilizing the best technology available, the capabilities of this project point down exciting new avenues in energy conservation. Then again, this is what people have come to expect from Austin. This......

Power lines versus trees: it's an epic Austin battle. The current solution (hacking 'em back) is less than superb; urban trees are one of the things that makes Austin great, plus they probably help combat the heat island effect (admittedly, we are not scientists). In hopes of finding a more elegant solution, Austin Energy has opened a competition to colleges and universities to find a better way to integrate power lines in urban areas......

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and Austin Energy are hosting a 1-day Green by Design Workshop on November 4, 2006 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It's a short program, aimed at current or future homeowners, that provides information about how to make your home as green as possible. Space is limited - sign up now! Austin Energy and the Wildflower Center both have a variety of programs aimed at helping local residents......

Tuesday night (August 1) is National Night Out, a nationwide activity that aims to promote safety awareness in neighborhoods. You can register with the City of Austin to participate. One of the main things they ask you to do is to leave your porch light on. By doing so, you show your solidarity with your neighbors in wanting to decrease criminal activity in your neighborhood. You can also host (or find out if there......

The Task Force appointed by City Council to suggest new zoning regulations for the suburbs near downtown will present its suggestions to the Planning Commission tonight at 6:30 P.M. in the Assembly Room (1st floor) of Town Lake Center (Austin Energy), 721 Barton Springs Road. They'll present them to City Council on Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 6:00 P.M. at the Austin City Hall, Council Chambers, 301 W. 2nd Street. The suggested zoning restrictions......

Lowe's home improvement store, which opened on Brodie Lane in January, is being honored by the U.S. Green Building Council and Austin Energy's Green Building Program, for "setting new standards in energy-conscious and environmentally conscious building design." We're not sure exactly what this means. What new standard are they setting? How does this new standard relate to the existing LEED standards that the U.S. Green Building Council has already set? Has the building complied......

Four days after those crazy storms, there is still a sizeable number of Austinites without power. Austin Energy says that 90% of the outages may have been caused by falling tree limbs. They are sending out Solid Waste Service trucks today to pick up any spoiled food for residents who have been without power for 48 hours or more (call 311 if this includes you). Austin Energy is hoping to have the power up......

The storms that slammed Austin last night cut a sizeable swath of destruction, uprooting trees, flooding major streets (we might as well have been swimming down South Lamar last night) and knocking out power across the city. The Statesman reports that roughly 17,000 customers remain without electricity as of 10am on Friday, with KXAN quoting Austin Energy saying that repairs may take up into nighttime. The Austin-Travis County Emergency Conditions Information Page lists several schools......

ERCOT sent this press release: ERCOT – the entity that manages the statewide electric grid – has declared an emergency and has ordered that utilities drop or stop serving 1,000 MW of load statewide. Austin’s share of that emergency order is 37-40 MW. Austin Energy begun rotating blackouts in Austin about 4:20 pm to comply with our share of the load shedding requirement. The state’s problem is due to unseasonably hot temperatures plus generating......

Future Austinist writer Michael Favia sent us a text just minutes ago, letting us know that a massive power outage is creeping across South Austin. Apparently Austin Energy says that the outage is "known" and "big" -- and it's centered around Barton Springs and Lamar, which, dammit, is right next to where we live. It's not surprising, considering that when we got in our car at lunchtime the thermostat was in the high 90s and......

Last night two underground explosions turned off the power to almost 6,000 residents downtown. Apparently a road crew hit the primary line which caused the the secondary power line to explode, leading to a burst of flames out of a manhole. The News8 article says that Austin Energy wasn't aware that there was a road crew digging in the area, and we're guessing these guys didn't dial before they dug.......

We were just browsing around treehugger.com, when found out about a green-friendly event happening around these parts tomorrow: the Sustainable Shopper's Ball is an Austin-based pro-green organization that promotes local "businesses, non-profit groups, and educators that contribute to the outstanding quality of life that Austin provides for its rapidly growing population." Tomorrow, at the Sunset Valley Farmers Market at Toney Burger Center, they're hosting their first-ever outdoor Green Living Festival, bringing together a bevy of......

Today is the last day to vote early in the District 48 Run-off. We won't comment except to recommend googling "Ben Bentzin" and look at the fifth result. That is all. A Waco man has been sentenced to life in jail for sexually abusing a young girl he was helping to raise. 14 dogs (half of them puppies) were stolen from a local breeder. Not the puppies! Austinites are worried that Austin Energy is......

Austin-based Whole Foods is purchasing the largest share of wind energy credits in the nation. They will be the first major national corporation to buy enough renewable energy credits to make up for all of their energy usage. This USA Today article quotes someone from the EPA as saying that if one company does it, surely others will soon follow. We can always hope! Good on ya, Whole Foods! On that note, we'll remind......

The South Texas Project, known as "the Nuke" in Austin, has been providing cheap electricity for several years. Austin owns a 16 percent share of it. A company from Princeton, N.J., company spent $5.8 billion on an energy portfolio that includes another 44 percent of the plant. Although the sale should not affect Austin, some people are worried about this move. From the Statesman.com: "There are always catastrophic possibilities that nuclear plants can inherently......

*Photo from GardKarlsen.com* From Austin’s KVUE. A large portion of Southwest Austin, including Barton Creek Mall, is without power. Austin Energy is aware of the problem and is working on it. Traffic lights around MoPac and 360 are out and you're encouraged to avoid the area. For continuing coverage on this breaking news event, please refer to their site......

One thing that Austinist is always keen on is getting free stuff. We once waited for two hours in freezing weather outside a newly opened CompUSA, just to get our clammy claws on a free DVD player. Which farked our Zoolander DVD shortly thereafter. This offer, however, won't have you standing in long lines for cheap knockoff goods. Plus you'll be doing your part to minimize our city's energy consumption as we head into......

Austin Energy, already provider of the nation's top Green Power Program as ranked by the U.S. Department of Energy, is now boldly taking the initiative and thinking, as it were, outside the house. They're applying their model of low-impact energy consumption to the one sector that desperately needs it - namely, transportation. Compact hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight can achieve gas mileages anywhere from 50-70 MPG, which......