The Asarco smelter in El Paso has sat dormant for the last seven years, but lately, there has been a cacophony of voices debating the pros and cons of its return. ...

Image from Fix290.org. Despite TXDOT's incessant bleating about lack of funds, they apparently still have plenty of cash to build the controversial Phase II toll roads, including the particularly controversial twelve-lane highway in the sky at the Y (71 and 290 in Oak Hill). In an era of concerns about budget cuts, pollution of Barton Springs and CO2 emissions, it seems like an egregious waste of resources to build this monstrosity that helps Hummer-drivers hurtle......

Photo of Emily Tindall and Leslie Chastain courtesy UT Dep’t Theatre & Dance Ashes, Ashes8pm Saturday, 2pm SundayWinship Drama Building (UT Campus)[info] | [tickets]Ashes, Ashes, closing this weekend at UT, is the most visually-impressive theatrical work we’ve seen anywhere in quite awhile. We’ve even been to lower-end Broadway productions that didn’t have half the visual whammy of this retro-futuristic extravaganza. We simply couldn’t tear our eyes away from the post-Victorian steampunk fantasia created by the......

Image from RG4N websiteResponsible Growth for Northcross Austin (RG4N) is in court today claiming the city helped Wal-Mart through illegal city planning. They claim the Northcross Wal-Mart development requires the removal of 29 trees (breaking tree ordinances) and that the development breaks a plat note controlling runoff and pollution into Shoal Creek. The Allandale Neighborhood Association had part of their anti-Wal-Mart lawsuit thrown out last week but RG4N remains undeterred. Each group will have 2......

Power lines by Frenzied Vole on flickr"Texans have shown little interest in nine billion dollars worth of initiatives." Have you voted yet? Sorry, Ice Bats. Cedar Park has another team in mind for their arena-to-be. Upcoming 2008 state anti-pollution law is causing problems already; if TCEQ is too lax on coal/power plants, cities and school districts stand to lose a lot of money. Fed Chairman gave speech in San Antonio today. This morning a suspect......

Tomorrow, November 3rd, the Step It Up Campaign gathers once again to see which of our politicians are stepping up and taking action about global warming. Following up on the first event back in April, the campaign unites ordinary folks concerned about global warming and demanding action from the candidates of 2008 to take bold steps on climate change. Millions will be gathering across the country to address representatives on three key priorities to stop......

The Northcastle Apartments (8100 North MoPac) have become the newest front in the affordable housing/density wars. Trammell Crow Residential is seeking a zoning change in connection with a plan to demolish the complex and replace it with a larger, denser, more expensive complex. The Zoning and Platting commission will be hearing the request at their meeting tomorrow (item 13). Some residents aren't happy to be displaced, but other residents don't seem to like living there......

David Owen has an interesting article in last week's New Yorker (the Aug. 20 issue - only the abstract is online) discussing light pollution. The bottom line is that leaving the lights on all the time (mainly streetlights and building-exterior lights) not only brightens the night sky, but is also economically wasteful, environmentally damaging and probably causes cancer. It also doesn't decrease crime or have any other real benefits. Lights like the "glare bomb"......

Between claiming that we need more highways no matter how we pay for them and promoting Smithville as an affordable alternative to living in Austin (commute to Austin, Houston or San Antonio!), it was easy to miss the Statesman's publication of a new rant by developer Ed Wendler, Jr., in which Wendler points out that downtown condos are expensive and says that "Austin should abandon the idea that it is encouraging downtown living to......

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......

Even as local authorities move up plans extend local highways even farther outside Austin, more information is being released about the hazards of extended commuting. In addition to making people fat and unhappy, a new Forbes article says that commuting increases exposure to pollution and increases liklihood of vehicular death. The California Air Resources Board has found that exposure to ultra-fine particulate matter is linked with premature death, cardiovascular disease and respiratory illness. Particle......

Yesterday, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality - the state organization in charge of keeping our water, earth and air clean - granted a crucial air permit to Dallas-based energy corporation TXU for the purpose of building a lignite-fired power plant in Robertson County, about 100 miles northeast of Austin. Lignite, often referred to as "brown coal," is the lowest rank of coal and used almost exclusively as fuel for electric power generation. It's really......

As that old state tourism advertisement used to say, "Everything's bigger in Texas." Assuming you're speaking in stereotyped generalities, this is mostly true. The state itself is big, first of all. That's verifiable (with maps). The same goes for lots of stuff inside the state, like ranches, state fairs, trucks, steaks, livestock shows - you can find some really big versions of these things in Texas. We even have the 10-gallon cowboy hat, which is......

The Clean Energy Venture Summit, which took place in Austin earlier this week, brought together civic leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and energy industry experts to promote the so-called "Utility of the Future." Yesterday, one of the vendors participating in the summit showed off a radical new all-electric scooter that's taking a cue from the latest batch of electric cars to hit the market. The Vectrix electric "Maxi-Scooter" is touted as the first electric scooter to......

Last week, Senate Bill 1317 passed the Senate in a highly partisan vote thanks in large part to lobbying efforts by Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst. The bill itself, if made law, would limit the scope of a city's jurisdiction by making it illegal for any city to regulate air pollution (or, presumably, anything else) beyond its borders. However, despite what many Senators who voted for this bill will tell you, this bill isn't about municipal......

Austin has a love/hate relationship with bikes. Love Lance. Hate the Lance-wannabes cruising FM-1826, slowing down the burnt-orange pickups on their way to the Salt Lick. Love biking the Hike-and-Bike trail. Hate slaloming between kids and dogs on a busy Saturday. Love the idea of bike lanes and bike commuting. Hate actual bikers slowing down traffic and swerving into the street because of cars parked in the bike lanes. Love reducing traffic and pollution......

Come 12:01am on Monday morning, downtown Austin will be a madhouse of drunken revelers and even drunker artsy types. You could opt to shell out plenty of dough to get into the swanky parties, but why bother? You probably won't remember it the next day. Below are our top choices for fun things to do this New Year's Eve, all with reasonably-priced cover charges and, more importantly, within stumbling distance of one another. Get there......

A couple from Utah have decided that kidnapping their daughter is the best way to stop her marriage. Those silly "scientists" now say that the ozone hole will take an additional 15 years to recover from pollution. This puts it in the year 2065. Hurricane experts are predicting just one more hurricane for this 2006 season. The Perry camp is accusing Carole Couger Keeton Strayhorn of using college fund ads for election help. North......

Traffic. Air Pollution. Spending Money on Cars. These are a few of our least favorite things. At least according to Austin CarShare. The small non-profit organization that we told you was coming has proposed a new program that would allow residents to share four cars to help cut down on all there of the troubles mentioned above. The City Council is expected to pass a measure today to help Austin CarShare, which does not own......

As gas prices skyrocket seemingly without end, and as air pollution becomes more and more of a health concern these days, the prospect of cheaper & cleaner renewable energy sources is becoming a serious issue with many Texans. The state now stands at a crossroads where it has to make a choice: Do we continue with the present energy policies, or do we seek out new solutions? Whomever we elect as governor this November will, to a large extent, determine our energy fate. So don’t waste your vote, good citizen! Inform thyself! ...

UT Austin's Environmental Engineering Professor Richard Corsi was recently awarded a $2.9 million research grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a new graduate program at the university aimed at studying indoor environmental quality. The five-year grant was propelled by studies indicating that most of us spend a whopping 18 hours inside for every hour outside, and that air quality indoors can often be much worse than we thought: “The indoor environment is......

SmileyWorld, a corporation based in London, is accusing Wal-Mart of stealing their- you guessed it, smiley-faced logo. Wal-Mart may unfortunately have the upper hand in this one. Willie Nelson: Musician, tax evader, potsmoker and...church owner? A true Rennaisance Man. Mosquitos are adapting to pollution. In the over-populated Greece, the annoying insects are mutating to even resist insect repellents. We don't need that raise to be happy. Despite the "jolly" associations with Santa Claus, being......

Ever the champion for green energy, Mayor Will Wynn was in Las Vegas today for the 74th Annual U.S. Conference of Mayors, where he accepted awards on our city's behalf from Sustain Lane (Most Sustainable Cities) and the U.S.C.M. (City Livability Award). Wynn, serving as the Chairman of the Energy Committee, has been the leading proponent for the national Plug-in Partners campaign, a grass-roots initiative that's trying to convince automakers that a market for Plug-In......

Change in Austin/Round Rock unemployment rate from February to March, according to the Texas Workforce Commission : -.1% [reference] Combined wattage of new solar panels installed at Austin's St. Gabriel's Catholic School: 21,000 [reference] Equivalent pollution reduction this represents, in number of cars per year: 6 Amount hoped to be raised by Austin resident-slash-actor Dennis Quaid at his annual Charity Weekend in May : $500,000 [reference] Number of pounds Quaid thinks he lost back......

Organizers of the Republic of Texas Biker Rally are dead-set on making your ears bleed and the City of Austin is all about it, baby. According to the Austin Business Journal, rally organizer Jerry Bragg has moved to Austin from Addison to focus his energies on making the RTBR one of the three biggest rallies in the country, right behind Daytona Beach and Sturgis. And Bragg has his sights set on a more immediate......

We went to Carnaval. And loved it. SXSW full list of bands and movies updated. Cat Power backs out of SXSW and cancels tour. Ausitn art goes green. Tired of run-of-the-mill valentine's day activities? We got you covered. We reviewed the new documentary The Outdoorsmen: Blood, Sweat and Beers. And laughed our asses off. For about $600 in fees, your band can play a showcase at Waterloo Records during SXSW. The week in interviews:......

Austin-based online music/film/literature magazine Urban Pollution launched today, and they're already in top form: the sharply-designed indie upstart - a clear contender for the Pitchfork/PopMatters set - unveiled a bevy of nifty content, with reviews ranging from albums (The Mendoza Line, Test Icicles, Cat Power) to films ("Match Point," "Brokeback Mountain," "Shop Girl") to books (Salvador Plascencia's The People of Paper). Of the last section, we were especially pleased to see a review of Michael......

We feel like we constantly make this statement, but once again we couldn't be happier to be in Austin, the capital of live music bliss. From hometown heroes to our favorite new bands, we're preparing for some bad ass shows this week. Don't let their name scare you away. The string-infused indie pop of Margot & the Nuclear So-and-So's is the best thing to come out of Indiana in the past year (maybe ever,......

South Austin is starting to really shape up as an interesting part of Austin with the new-ish Opal Divine’s at Penn Field, the potentially swanky new shops at 3100 S. Congress, the mysterious new place next to Five Oceans and more. However, some local homeowners seem to want to stem the tide of coolness. After reading this Austin-American Statesman article on the subject, we can’t quite put our finger on what some South Austin......

In The News Today: Leisure Tax? Governor Rick Perry has announced his idea of how to resolve the school finance problem that brought Texas legislators back for a special session. His idea: raise sales tax from 6.25% to nearly 7%, tax cigarettes ($1 extra a pack), cosmetic surgery (huh?), car maintenance and repairs (who told him that was fun??), and porn (just kidding). The plan would also lower property tax. Dems are skeptical and......