Green Options

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Wind Energy Systems Technology (WEST) will use old oil platforms to support new wind turbines. Herman Schellstede, CEO of WEST, holds sixty-seven U.S. patents and ten international patents, and is a naval architect and marine engineer. His partner, Harold Schoeffler, is a longtime Louisiana environmentalist, having co-founded Save Our Coast. The company is presently engaging in wind monitoring activities, shown in the picture […]

Texas comes out on top in the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) 2007 rankings of wind energy leaders, not only in its overall total number of wind turbines but in the amount of new capacity added last year.

Texas wind turbines generated 4,446 megawatts of energy in 2007 — enough to power nearly 1.2 million homes. The state added 1,618 megawatts of new wind power capacity last year, more than double the amount of second-place Colorado.

Editor’s note: Welcome to “Tangled Up in Green,” Red, Green and Blue’s weekly debate over the hot issues in environmental politics. Each week, writers Ranjit Arab and Adam Bowman will “throw down the glove” on current events involving environmental policy, legislation and citizen action. Adam and Ranjit are both graduate students in journalism at the University of Kansas, and currently enrolled in Professor Simran Sethi’s “Media and the Environment” course.

Does the town of Holcomb, Kansas sound familiar?

I’m sure it does if you’ve read “In Cold Blood,” or seen the movies based on the book and its author Truman Capote.

In a perverted way that negative association has been somewhat of a godsend. People remember Holcomb; they immediately recall it as the place where a senseless and unspeakable crime was committed.

Unfortunately, it looks like Holcomb may be preparing for a sequel, featuring yet another heinous act. This time it involves the attempts of Sunflower Electric Corp.—along with several lawmakers—to force an expansion of the power company’s Holcomb facilities, which would include two hazardous coal-burning electric plants.

Texas is numero uno when it comes to wind power generation. The Lone Star state has installed wind power close to 5,000 megawatts which translates to enough electricity to power a million homes. The huge turbines, scattered across wide open spaces, conjure up more progressive feelings compared to those generated at the sight of oil rigs or smoke stacks; they are feelings of a changing world, a cleaner world.

Because of the increased demand for wind power installation, the economies of some small locales in Texas are growing and welcoming the change. But this changing tide in the energy industry isn’t without some bumps in the road. Recently, when an unanticipated cold front killed 80% of the wind power in Texas, electricity for some offices and factories had to be cut.

The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) and Washington State University are both developing regional centers to promote energy-efficient technology and “beyond-code” construction.

Both of the “regional building technology application centers” are being funded by a multi-million-dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

In an effort to curb water consumption, the city of Austin is offering free, low-flow toilets to residents whose commodes are more than 12 years old and have tanks larger than 1.6 gallons.

Photo courtesy of Jarhelm via Wikimedia Commons

Citing the latest numbers from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Time Magazine reports that Texas has the distinction of being the state with the biggest carbon footprint in the Union.

Photo courtesy of Ealdgyth at Wikimedia Commons

The threat of global warming has created an opening for many utilities - and even some clean energy supporters - to push for nuclear power as a solution. Texas, in particular, has attracted more interest in new reactors than any other state and could become the biggest building ground for nuclear power plants.

NRG Energy, Energy Future Holdings Corp., and other utilities have proposed eight reactors, which make up 25 percent of all the ones planned in the U.S. In addition to their enthusiasm for nukes - at a time when coal plants are being canceled around the country because of global warming concerns - Texas makes it easier than other states to put up a plant.

As countless Discovery Channel specials have taught me: Throw enough water at any desert region and in a little more than a few days, you'll be staring at a lush paradise. Such is the case with Texas which — together with Oklahoma and Kansas — has received 330 percent its normal rainfall over the past several weeks. Every major river basin in the state flooded — a feat that has not occurred since 1957.

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It's not just the environment that stands to benefit from renewable sources of energy like solar power. According to a new white paper released by the IC² Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, more than "123,000 new high-wage, technology-related, advanced manufacturing and electrical services jobs" could be generated by moving towards solar technologies. This is based on

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Business leaders in Houston say they support California's low emission vehicle standards and have called on Texas to follow suit.

The Greater Houston Partnership, an advocate for area businesses and economic development in the city, passed a resolution endorsing the Texas legislature's move to adopt California tough standards on vehicle emissions.

This announcement may come as a surprise and has put some environmental groups on guard as it reverses an earlier decision the partnership made in

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