(Chris Moran, Houston Chronicle)
Houston City Hall went from using no renewable energy to becoming a bigger buyer of green energy than any other city in the nation in three years.
The city’s downtown motor pool now has 25 Nissan Leafs and 15 hybrids. Next month, the city will start sprinkling bikes across downtown that pedalers can borrow for motorless jaunts. And this summer, wind turbines will be installed atop the city’s new permitting center.
Backed by an influx of federal stimulus dollars, a mayor who sees budget savings in energy efficiency and a push from a Stanford-educated utilities expert who withdrew from a race for San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors to oversee the greening of a city built on Big Oil, Houston is positioning itself as a national leader in sustainability.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors named Mayor Annise Parker the winner of Mayors’ Climate Protection Award last year for green building initiatives that incentivize conservation and energy-efficient design features.
(Read the full story at the Houston Chronicle)
OTHER HEADLINES:
- More Seasonal Forecasters Agree: Expect a Relatively Quiet Hurricane Year (Houston Chronicle)
- Parents Warned About Dangerous Teen Trend, Drinking Hand Sanitizer (KTRK 13 News)
- Telemedicine Provides High-Tech Care (KPRC 2 News)
- Acres Homes Woman Finds Shelter in Luby’s as Home Crumbles (KHOU 11 News)
- Crime Stoppers of Houston Gives Out Big Money for Solid Tips (Houston Chronicle)
- Salvation Army Chic Boutique at West Ave Offers Dazzling Designer Deals (Houston Culture Map)
- Galveston City Declares Makeshift Homeless Camp Unsafe (Galveston Daily News)
- For Some, ‘Frustration’ Over Mortgage Settlement (KUHF Public Radio)