Environment

Advocates Say Electric Cooperatives Adopting ‘Unfriendly’ Solar Policies

byJill Ament

Liberty Hill resident Richard Hrabik has debated installing solar panels on his home since he moved in 38 years ago.  “I’ve always been interested, but it was never really affordable,” said Hrabik, a retired computer software engineer. “Now panels have gotten to where you can afford them. So, I decided to go for it.”
Not long after Hrabik had his panels installed, the Pedernales Electric Cooperative’s board of directors in December 2020 proposed a significant rate increase for its customers who have solar panels — a 20-25% increase, according to some estimates.

Kaiba White, an energy policy and outreach specialist with Public Citizen Texas, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, said PEC didn’t explain these moves adequately to customers. She’s been helping Hrabik and dozens of other PEC solar customers challenge the increases since the summer.

“When members started to find out about this, especially those with solar or who were considering solar, there was an outcry,” White said. 

Texas’ Famed Bigtooth Maple Trees Are Being Loved to Death by Deer

byPaula Levihn-Coon

Since the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department opened Lost Maples State Natural Area to the public in 1979, thousands of people have enjoyed its colorful beauty in the Texas Hill Country. It has been particularly well-visited during the pandemic, with attendance reaching record highs.scientists have collected data indicating that the future of these trees and the pleasure many take from their color palette could be at risk. An overabundance of white-tailed deer has been killing young trees by browsing on them.

Climate Change Impacting Austin Real Estate Not So Hard to Fathom

byBrendan Long

After graduating from the University of Texas in May 2021, Sami Sparber ran into the same issue many Austin residents are facing – too few places available for rent or sale. “If you found a place to live, you had to apply right away because within hours or days that unit could be gone,” Sparber […]

Barton Springs’ Chilly Waters Warmed by the Clarity of Humanity

byDanielle Streetenberger and Sarah Velasquez

The stark gray clouds began to part, the sun glistened on the water, illuminating the rocks and algae below. A group of old men congregate behind the lifeguard tower, begin chatting and cracking jokes about Texas football. Two young men unroll their yoga mats and begin raising their palms toward the sun. Meanwhile, a pair […]

TreeFolks’s Carbon Credit Program Taking Root

bySumaiya Malik

When Tamara Stutz heard about a free tree planting program at her neighbor’s house, she was sold. Coordinators from TreeFolks, an Austin-based non-profit, had reached out to property owners in her neighborhood outside Manor offering to plant trees in an effort to prevent floods.

“This is a 100-year floodplain we are standing on,” Stutz said when Reporting Texas visited in April.

By February 2020, Stutz had more than 1,800 saplings planted on 3⅓ acres of her 30-acre farm. Her part of the bargain: Leave them alone. The trees would fend for themselves. Stutz was so delighted with how the saplings progressed that she asked TreeFolks to come again in 2021.

Stutz gets trees and protection against erosion and everyone benefits from the carbon dioxide-sequestering potential of her saplings. TreeFolks earns carbon credits for planting the trees, which the organization then sells to the City of Austin. 

A carbon credit is “a tradable credit granted to a country, company, etc., for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases by one metric ton,” […]

Renewing Battle Against the Fish Eating Lake Austin

byAimée Knight

Sterile grass carp did too good a job controlling hydrilla and ended up ruining Lake Austin as bass habitat.

Texas A&M Entomologist Provides Insight on Global Locust Devastation

byTyler Lewis

Hojun Song, a professor in the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M, has been researching grasshoppers and crickets, with a focus on the evolution of swarming locusts. Reporting Texas spoke with Song on the video conferencing app Zoom about his research.

 

South Austin Ecovillage Prepares for a Radically Different Future

byCat DeLaura

Roots is an intentional community devoted to exploring more sustainable ways of life.

The Winds of Climate Change: How Extreme Weather Affects a Local Farm

byMemo Hutson

The owners of Green Gate Farms say drier weather during the planting season has created difficult conditions throughout the year and delayed planting times.

Austin Aims to Reduce Waste Through Fix-It Clinics

byCat DeLaura

Modeled after repair cafes in cities around the world, Austin’s Fix-It Clinics are a way for residents to learn how to fix broken household items and encourage them to reuse objects that would otherwise be discarded.

Hill Country Caves Are Critical to Sustaining Above-Ground Life in Central Texas

byMichael Minasi

Environmentalists say the survival of human communities in Central Texas is deeply intertwined with what goes on in the caves that dot the Hill Country.

Houston, Do We Have an Animal Trapping Problem? The Trapping Debate Explained

byKayla Meyertons

In Texas, trapping is mainly used to control predators and nuisance animals that threaten livestock. The practice churns up heated debate between trappers, hunters, ranchers and animal welfare groups.