Podcasts

Invasive Zebra Mussels Have Been Discovered in Austin’s Lake Travis

Zebra mussels, an aquatic invasive species have been positively identified for the first time in Lake Travis in the Colorado River Basin in Central Texas. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) biologists confirmed the presence of zebra mussels in Lake Travis June 22, 2017 after an observant staff member at a local marina reported the sighting of a single zebra mussel attached to the outboard motor of a moored boat on the lake.

On-site, biologists found the mussels attached to other nearby boats and on submerged marina infrastructure. The State of Texas and the LCRA are asking boat owners to take extra precautions to ensure that the Zebra mussels are not inadvertently transported from lake to lake. They suggest strictly adhering to the principle of “cleaning, draining and drying” when removing a boat form a lake, and before transporting it to another. This will help prevent the infestation of Zebra mussels.

Our guest on Shades of Green was Monica McGarrity. She is the Aquatic Invasive Species Team Leader for the State of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. She works to protect the lakes of Texas from invasive species and is specifically addressing the issues associated with Zebra mussels.

The US Pulls out of The Paris Climate Agreement: What are the effects, and what can we do?

Today we talked about the Paris Climate Agreement and President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States. Our guests helped explain what exactly the Agreement aims to do, as well as what the consequences of Trump's actions are, and what comes next.

We also discussed an important local effort in Austin, Texas to reduce carbon emissions through Austin Energy's Generation Plan. A group of environmental organizations are pushing City Council to adopt a goal of 75 percent renewable energy by 2027 and a fossil-fuel-free utility by 2030.

Our guests were:

• Kaiba White - Energy Policy and Outreach Specialist at Public Citizen Texas, member of the Electric Utility Commission Resource Planning Working Group.

• Niyanta Spelman - founder and executive director of Rainforest Partnership, a nonprofit organization that protects and regenerates tropical rainforests by working with the people of the forests to develop sustainable livelihoods that empower and respect both people and nature.

• Robert Schuwerk – a Senior Counsel for Carbon Tracker Initiative, an independent think tank that produces research and regulatory analysis of the financial implications of the low-carbon energy transition. He is Senior Counsel for Carbon Tracker, where his work focuses heavily on who capital markets disclosure regimes (i.e., SEC requirements) need to evolve to make climate-related financial risks more transparent to investors.

To be buried in an environmentally friendly manner is becoming more accessible throughout the country. It is actually an old practice that is being modernized. You can lower your carbon footprint even after you pass on from this our earth. We will be discussing what a green burial means, the role of funeral directors in green burial, how you can find out where to be buried ‘green’ and the resulting environmental benefits. Our guest were:

Ann Hoffner is an environmental journalist and author, and among other things an avid world sailor. She has published many articles in environmental and sailing magazines and publications. She recently published “THE NATURAL BURIAL CEMETERY GUIDE”, a result of a years-long exploration of green burial, a new-old way of making the final recycling choice–what happens to your body after death.

Before beginning the research she spent10 years on a 44-foot sailboat, traveling with her husband down the Panama Canal and across the Pacific to Australia and Southeast Asia, writing freelance articles for sailing magazines as she went. Follow Ann at greenburialnaturally.org as a platform for the cemetery guide and Facebook to share news and information about green burial.

Melissa Unfred, better known as the ‘Modern Mortician” is undertaking Natural Burial funeral care for People and Pets in Austin, and the Central Texas area. She is a first generation Funeral Director/Embalmer, residing in Austin. She prefers to be called a Mortician, as it encompasses both titles. Her entry into funeral service began at 17 years old. She is licensed and serves on several boards related to the funeral industry. She was featured in the November 2015 issue of Texas Director Magazine in an article written by Alice Adams. Follow Melissa on Facebook and Instagram, or her website themodernmortician.com.

Ellen Macdonald is the owner and Queen of the ‘Eloise Woods Community Burial Park” located in Cedar Creek, Texas. She says “If you see a woman pushing a wheelbarrow mulching trails or digging holes in the mornings at EloiseWoods that would be Ellen.” Before taking over the burial park, she earned a PhD in Neuroscience at UC San Diego, but got tired of chopping off rat’s heads. When she is not mulching trails or digging graves, Ellen also delivers groceries for Meals on Wheels homebound clients, volunteers at Hospice Austin’s Christopher House, and traps feral cats for the Austin Humane Society. You can follow Ellen at www.eloisewoods.com or on Facebook.

he Federal Government, the US Department of Energy, and the nuclear industry are still searching for a site to permanently store high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. High-level radioactive waste is so dangerous that it must remain isolated from living things for thousands of years. It is mainly irradiated (spent) fuel rods from nuclear reactors, which still contain most of their original uranium, as well as with radioactive strontium, cesium and plutonium, which are created during the reactor fission process.

A site in the Texas Panhandle is being considered for permanently storage radioactive waste. The environmental and social risks are staggering, without even mentioning the risks of terrorism. Is this a risk Texas should own? To give us an update on the situation, and how citizens can participate in the conversation and take action, we had long time environmental activists Tom "Smitty" Smith and Karen Hadden in the studio with Shades of Green.

Tom "Smitty" Smith recently retired after leading the Texas Office of Public Citizen as its Director since 1985. Smitty has been a prominent advocate and activist in state and local environmental, ethics, and campaign finance battles since he arrived in Texas in the 1970's. Although he is retired, he is still active in environmental issues.

Karen Hadden is the Executive Director of the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition which works for clean air and clean energy. It supports affordable energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions to meet our energy needs. Karen is also the Chair for the Electric Utility Commission which advises the Austin City Council regarding Austin Energy policy issues.

As solar becomes more mains stream, there is a need for consumer education and protection. The Interstate Renewable Energy Council IREC , an independent not-for-profit organization since 1982, makes clean, efficient, sustainable energy possible for more Americans through forward-thinking regulatory reform, quality workforce development and consumer education. IREC's consumer protection trio includes the Clean Energy Consumer Bill of Rights, the Be Solar Smart Consumer Checklist and a list of related resources. Each one spotlights safeguards and pointers for consumers, government, industry, retailers and others in the solar market.

Our guests were:

Larry Sherwood is IREC’s President and CEO. He has worked with IREC in different capacities for more than 10 years. Prior to becoming President/CEO, he was IREC’s Vice President/COO, the author of IREC’s U.S. Solar Market Trends report and editor of IREC’s Small Wind Newsletter. He has over 35 years of experience in renewable energy leading several organizations.

Jane Pulaski, joined IREC in 1999 and is responsible for social and web communications for IREC. In addition to maintaining IREC’s social and website presence, she publishes the IREC Report, IREC’s monthly newsletter. Before joining IREC, Jane spent 17 years working for the State of Texas in a variety of communications positions at the State Energy Conservation Office, The Texas Department of Agriculture, the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate.

The 21st Annual Cool House Tour, a collaboration of Austin Energy’s Green Building (AEGB) and the Texas Solar Energy Society (TXSES) will be Sunday June 11th, from 10 AM to 6 PM. This year we present seven homes, one multifamily community and the world’s largest LEED Gold Neighborhood Development. Austin Energy and City of Austin departments will be at two of the tour stops showcasing energy saving and sustainability programs to help you create your own cool house.

Our guests were:

Lucy Stolzenburg is the Executive Director of The Texas Solar Energy Society (TXSES), a non-profit organization that has been engaged in outreach and education on solar and renewable energy since 1976.

Deborah Kimberly is the Vice President, Customer Energy Solutions at Austin Energy. She oversees the departments responsible for managing Austin Energy’s energy efficiency and load management program, which includes energy efficiency services, distributed solar programs, green building, and emerging transportation technologies.

The Climate Change Now Initiative

Our guest was Bruce Melton, a professional engineer, environmental researcher, filmmaker, author and CEO of the Climate Change Now Initiative in Austin, Texas. The Climate Change Now Initiative is a nonprofit outreach organization reporting the latest discoveries in climate science in plain English. Information on his book, Climate Discovery Chronicles, can be found along with more climate change writing, climate science outreach and critical environmental issue documentary films at ClimateDiscovery.org.

Wire One is a vision to use urban cable over South 1st Street to create a meaningful mass transit line in the center of the city, and the backbone of a future system to grow. Wire One can add entirely new capacity equal to running 100 buses per hour. Boarding is continuous, with cable cars coming every few seconds, speeding over traffic and slowing to unload. With an enjoyable, quiet ride, this urban cable line would serve as a complement and amplifier of all other forms of transit. Other background information at

thewireaustin.com for some good background as well as this TEDxKC talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoQmgSOB9n0

https://www.facebook.com/WireAustin/

Our guests:

John McCready, Chair of Wire One Austin Citizens Group

With a broad and impressive history of business creation, John has consistently introduced new products and product categories to the marketplace while raising awareness for social responsibility and positive impact. His business partnerships and collaborations repeatedly introduce new ways of thinking and positively shift awareness within the people they serve.

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Jared Flicklin is co-creator of the cable car based mass transport vision known as The Wire. He is also the Co-Director of the Austin Public Skatepark Action Committee helping design and construct quality concrete and steel skateparks for Austin, TX. For many years Jared directed the SXSW Interactive opening party which served as an outlet for both interactive installations and a collective social experiment hosting over 7000 guests.

CodeNEXT is the city of Austin, Texas' effort to rewrite its land development code, which is basically a rule book for the city, explaining what can be built where. CodeNEXT will determine how Austin looks 10, 15, and even 50 years from now. And it will affect everything from affordability, to transportation, to the environment. In other words, it’s a really important process for its future.

The draft code was released at the beginning of 2017, but the big news came in April when the maps were released. The maps actually apply the rules laid out in the new land development code to certain neighborhoods and regions in Austin.

Shades of Green hosted a lively discussion about CodeNEXT. Our guest were:

Greg Anderson - Director of Operations with Austin Habitat for Humanity, member of the City of Austin Planning Commission

Andy Cantu - Executive Director of Evolve Austin, an organization that champions the Imagine Austin comprehensive plan, crafted by the people of Austin to create a more affordable, mobile, and sustainable city.

Lauren Ice - Staff Attorney with the Save Our Springs Alliance, member of the City of Austin CodeNEXT Advisory Group

Daniel Llanes - longtime community activist in East Austin, as well as a musician and performer.

Shades of Green, Part 2 on May 4, 2017 we explored innovative and nature-based solutions to our increasingly alarming climate crisis.

Our guest was Chris Searles, Founder of BioIntegrity, a group protecting and restoring the world's most valuable ecosystems -- those with the greatest density of species diversity and ecosystem services, for enormous positive planetary impacts. BioIntegrity brings a new era, global solutions to global problems. The initiative offers an effective way for people to help solve the world's most pressing environmental challenges, it's accessible, affordable and actionable, and it starts with preserving and restoring our most biodiverse ecosystems. BioIntegrity connects potential donors to environmental stewardship and restoration opportunities of global proportions.