for my austin friends*

*may include San Antonio/South Texas, though not necessarily


From the recent issue of Newsweek, in the cover article entitled "Going Green" and the tagline
"With windmills, low-energy homes, new forms of recycling and fuel-efficient cars, Americans are taking conservation into their own hands.":

...But among cities, few are as sustainable as Austin, Texas, which recycles its trash so assiduously that residents generated only 0.79 tons of garbage per househould last year, down from 1.14 tons in 1992.  Austin's city-owned electric company estimates that "renewable" power, mostly from West Texas wind farms, will account for 6 percent of its capacity this year, nearly doubling to 11 percent by 2008.  Beginning in 2001, customers were allowed to purchase wind power at a price guaranteed for 10 years.  

...590 million kilowatt-hours per year come from renewable energy sources like windmills.  That's enough to power more than 49,000 Austin homes for a year.  The copper skin on [Austin's] City Hall is mostly recycled material.

Way to be, Blue Center of an Overwhelmingly Red State!