An analysis of the most recent transit use data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that transit use grew by up to 47% in major metropolitan areas in the U.S. from 2006-2008, with several metro regions in the South and West growing by more than 10%.

The South and West, being more dominated by automobile-oriented development and auto use, have historically struggled to get significant transit ridership. However, the top ten cities with the highest recent increase in ridership include several metro areas in the South and West, including Charlotte, NC (47%), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA (26.7%), Pheonix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ (23.6%), San Antonio, TX (15.1%) and others. This seems to shine a light of hope on increased transit use in the southern and western U.S. in the future.

First, however, why are we seeing a boom in these places?

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This facility is PSEG Solar Source’s first large-scale solar project. It is one of the largest solar projects in the state of New Jersey, which is already 2nd only to California in its amount of installed solar capacity. The MARS headquarters adjacent to the solar garden is the workplace of about 1,200 employees and is where M&M’S® Brand Chocolate Candies are manufactured.

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Is Ross Perot Jr. taking legal action over the head of a rhino he shot and wounded during a trophy hunt?

The son of former American Presidential candidate Ross Perot - Henry Ross Perot Jr. - is reportedly engaged in a legal battle involving South African wildlife authorities over the head of rhino he wounded during a trophy hunt earlier this year.

Perot supposedly shot a bull rhino at Mkhuze game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, but the animal escaped. However, Perot believes he’s still entitled to his trophy - the rhino’s head.

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However, is it changing its stance out of international moral pressure or a major financial incentive (recent deal) in the US? And who is to benefit the most from this shift?

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Computer technology is always about being one step ahead of competitors. Information technology moves faster than light it seems, and by the time your new computer arrives at your doorstep, it is already out of date. Dell, whose computers can be found in most offices, homes, and campuses across the country, has been doing its best to stay ahead of the curve.

Proving it is both environmentally friendly and hip to the trends of popular culture, Dell has just finished installing a grove of solar trees at its Corporate headquarters in Round Rock, Texas.

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European energy giant E.ON “turned on” what is reported to be the largest wind farm in the world this week, in Texas.

The farm contains 627 wind turbines on almost 100,000 acres of land near Roscoe, Texas.

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Global Solar Center just finished a comprehensive, 50-state survey of solar incentives and adoption. Who leads the nation? It is surprising. As they say, it is the states who were “solar laggards” that are now “solar leaders”. But incentives aren’t the only issue.

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Here’s a feather in the cap of renewable energy supporters.

When the (baseload, coal and nuclear) power went out after storms in Muskegon, a mobile renewable energy unit came to the rescue.

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Fairview has become the first town in Texas to build a street lit entirely by low-energy LEDs.

There are 82 light-emitting diodes on the newly constructed Fairview Parkway. The LEDs came from EvoLucia, a division of Sunovia Energy Technologies in Sarasota, Florida.

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Texas start-up Baryonyx awarded two offshore wind energy leases

Which state’s waters will be the home of the United States’ first offshore wind farm? Will it be Massachusetts, where an eight-year battle for a wind farm near Cape Cod seems like it may never end? How about a little further south, in Rhode Island or New Jersey? Will it be Delaware, where Bluewater Wind hopes to develop a project that would provide almost 1/3 of the energy needed by Delmarva Power? What about other Mid-Atlantic states like North Carolina or Virginia, where the Department of Interior says sites with easily-developed shallow water wind resources dot the coastline?

Well, if you answered none of the above, you may be on to something.

Texas General Land Office last week awarded leases to Baryonyx, authorizing the company to develop wind farms on three sites, two of which are offshore, with a total potential capacity of 3,000 megawatts.

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More money was distributed today by the Department of Energy. 141 million dollars to be more precise. This time Hawaii, Maine, Nebraska, New Mexico, the Northern Mariana Islands and Texas will play beneficiaries of the Recovery Act.

As a part of the Department’s State Energy Program, which has been apportioned $3.1 billion, states and territories propose plans to prioritize energy savings, create or retain jobs, increase the use of renewable energy, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And that’s where this $141 million will be going. Each state receives funding according to its needs (population based), with Texas receiving more than half of the allotted $141 million dollars. They will receive $87.5 million.

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Ridley helps find the nests of the sea turtles in Texas along Padre Island National Seashore– the longest barrier island in the world. It’s necessary to find the nests quickly so that they can be protected from coyotes or raccoons, or even the high tide. Sometimes human volunteers can’t find the nests after following turtle tracks, so it’s Ridley and his nose to the rescue!

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Republican Congressman Joe Barton believes wind turbines may slow down the wind, thereby heating up the globe!

How do these people get elected?! graduate college?! graduate high school?! get through the day?!

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Yes, even the wind power is bigger in Texas. The Lone Star State held the top spot again in the just released American Wind Energy Association’s annual industry report.

In fact, if Texas was its own country it would rank sixth worldwide in production, with 7,118 megawatts installed. Texas added 2,671 MW just last year.

The AWEA report breaks down a record 2008 for wind power in the U.S. The U.S. now ranks ahead of Germany as the world’s top wind power producer. More than 8,500 MW of wind power came online last year, the report says, a more than 50 percent jump in U.S. production.

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Would you like a stroke with your cheeseburger? Scientists have found that your chances of having a stroke may actually be related to how many Burger Kings and KFCs are operating in your town. Researchers at the University of Michigan have discovered that the risk of stroke increases with the preponderance of fast-food restaurants in a neighborhood.

In the recently published study, Texas residents with the highest number of fast-food restaurants had a 13% higher relative risk of suffering strokes than those living in areas with the lowest number of restaurants. Each additional McDonalds, Jack in the Box or Taco Bell also increased the risk of stroke by 1%.

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The small city of Lancaster, Texas has had a law on its books banning all chickens within the city limits, but for years it had gone unnoticed and unenforced, until recently.  That changed when a local resident found out that the previously unknown law would now be enforced citing anyone who kept chickens within the city limits.

Local food writer and sustainable living proponent Marye Audet, has kept a flock of 19 chickens on her 2 1/4 acre rural homestead for the last five years in a rural area of town, unaware that she was breaking the law by doing so.

“This is not about us living in a subdivision of $400,000.00 homes and being the Beverly Hillbillies.”

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So you want to take advantage of the sun’s energy somehow but solar photovoltaics just aren’t in the cards? Solar hot water systems may not be as sexy as their electron-producing counterparts, but in most scenarios, you will get more energy bang for your buck—especially if you’re on a budget—because water heating consumes the most energy in a home after space heating and cooling.

After being seen almost exclusively on the rooftops of Jimmy Carter-era homes, solar hot water panels have made substantive advances in recent years, including efficiency improvements, earning some manufacturers the coveted Energy Star label.

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Nuclear power is one of the most controversial alternative energies, partially due to the toxic waste it creates. Now physicists at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a system that uses fusion to eliminate the transuranic wastes created by nuclear plants.

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The Rhizome Collective operates out of a warehouse in Austin, Texas. Their mission is “to build the world [they] want to live in” through community organizing and education.

When the Collective got started, the warehouse where they work was centered on an asphalt courtyard. They pulled together to remove the asphalt and mulch the land. Now, the Rhizosphere Educational Center is home to a garden, rainwater harvesting, a polyculture pond, micro-livestock, and solar and wind energy collection. By designing these systems and living sustainably and through their workshops, they hope to help educate other communities about self-reliance.

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It feels like you can’t check the news lately without hearing about another area coping with severe drought. Here in Atlanta, we’ve been dealing with a water shortage for years, as have folks in California.

Texas is in a worsening drought situation, too, which is leading to cattle deaths. There’s no grass for the poor cows to graze on because there has been so little rain. The lack of food means they’re too weak to survive the cold January temperatures. It’s hard to grow anything when there are such long periods in between rainstorms.

So how can those of us in these drought-stricken areas save the precious little water we get when it does rain? How about installing a rain barrel or two!

I have to admit here that I’m not the most handy person. My husband, Dave, and his dad, Denis, did most of the installing, while I provided moral support (aka: snacks and beer). The project can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be. Here are some tips straight from Dave and Denis on getting started!

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