More than 40 million people worldwide have been displaced from their homes and left to find shelter in strange lands. Maybe they find a tarp, or a tent, but their quality of life almost always remains dismal. To close this … Continue reading
By now, you have likely heard I am proposing a transition that will move San Antonio down a path toward becoming a litter-free community. Late last year, after multiple conversations with members of the Citizen’s Environmental Advisory Committee members are … Continue reading
A team of researchers at MIT, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and in Saudi Arabia succeeded in creating subnanoscale pores in a sheet of graphene, a development that could lead to ultrathin filters for improved desalination or water purification. Their findings … Continue reading
The Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas is the site of one of the biggest energy booms in America, with oil and gas wells sprouting at an unprecedented rate. But local residents fear for their health – not from the … Continue reading
An eight-month investigation into the public health consequences of unmitigated oil and gas industry sprawl in Texas Members of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team from InsideClimate News, together with the Center for Public Integrity and The Weather Channel, reveal that as … Continue reading
Earthships are 100% sustainable homes that are both cheap to build and awesome to live in. They offer amenities like no other sustainable building style you have come across. For the reasons that follow, I believe Earthships can actually change … Continue reading
Architecture 2030 challenges the global architecture and building community to implement strategies to reduce energy and water consumption and vehicle emissions by 50 percent by 2030. Becoming a 2030 District offers San Antonio an ideal model for monitoring emissions and … Continue reading
Researchers from North Carolina State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found an easy way to modify the molecular structure of a polymer commonly used in solar cells. Their modification can increase solar cell efficiency by more than … Continue reading
Two reports published by the US Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory NREL show that soft costs — such as financing and other non-hardware costs — now make up the largest section of solar installation costs, coming in at 64% … Continue reading
What if there was a way to purify contaminated water in developing countries with a cost-effective method that’s both resourceful and effective? What if there was a way to provide clean drinking water to every thirsty mouth on the planet? … Continue reading
According to Fox Business reporter Shibani Joshi, renewables are successful in Germany and not in the U.S. because Germany has “got a lot more sun than we do.” Sure, California might get sun now and then, Joshi conceded during her … Continue reading
With all of the media attention paid of late to the rollout of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), it’d be easy to miss a related, if seemingly mundane, development: the recent release of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced … Continue reading
In Texas' 21st century energy economy, San Antonio has it all. It enjoys abundant renewable resources, enabling CPS Energy to include solar-generated electricity in its generating portfolio. San Antonio also is the largest city in South Texas, home of the … Continue reading
The transition from coal to natural gas is expected to significantly decrease carbon emissions. However, gas production poses its own environmental concerns. One of those is the problem of so-called “produced water”—large volumes of underground water with a lot of … Continue reading
In 2013, if you’re someone who cares about the environment, your first and foremost concern is probably climate change. After that, you might worry about things like radioactive contamination, collapsing honeybee colonies and endangered ecosystems, among other contemporary environmental perils … Continue reading
After taking heat for trying to increase customer rates while top-level executives receive sizable bonus checks, CPS Energy is doubling up on efforts to save face. During a presentation before City Council last Thursday, CPS CEO Doyle Beneby said the … Continue reading
Hector Zertuche’s first environmental crime occurred around 2009 when he discovered a truckload of oilfield drilling muds dumped on the banks of the Nueces River outside Sandia, Tex. “We matched the tracks to a nearby resident,” the Jim Wells County … Continue reading
A Regional Forum on Our Future October 15, 2013 . 10am – 2pm . The Historic Pearl Stable Program 11:30am – 1:30pm, Exhibits 10:00am – 2:00pm This critically important, first of its kind, forum goes well beyond education and outreach. … Continue reading
WASHINGTON — One year ago, the Environmental Protection Agency finished testing drinking water in Dimock, Pa., after years of complaints by residents who suspected that nearby natural gas production had fouled their wells. The EPA said that for nearly all … Continue reading
In its 2012 Sustainability Report, AT&T reports energy efficiency projects saved the company more than $151 million in annualized energy savings since 2010 and nearly 1.3 billion kilowatt hours (kWh), equivalent to the electricity use of 136,340 homes in one … Continue reading