Eco-Currents

April 22 is still a few weeks away, but the partying has officially begun with the arrival of this e-mail in the News Staff inboxes: "Celebrate 2010 Earth Day With PoopBags" – not just a catchy subject line but clearly the best Earth Day slogan ever. Available at www.poopbags.com, "100% biodegradable dog waste bags" are apparently the next-best thing to skinny hemp jeans at this year's festivities, which we hear are going to be BYOPB... This month is a good time to replace any old energy-hogging appliances you've got around your house, as April 5 kicks off the registration period for the Texas Trade Up Appliance Rebate Pro­gram; details at www.texaspowerfulsmart.org... Have you noticed a lot of tiny blue cars on the road lately? They belong to Car2Go, the car-sharing program used by city employees, and you're likely to see even more of them soon, as the company announced plans this week to expand the program to state employees for a six-month pilot period... The Environmental Protection Agency has released a list of the 25 U.S. cities with the highest number of energy-efficient commercial buildings as of 2009, and with 55 "Energy Star labeled" buildings, Austin is ranked No. 18. While that puts us behind 17 other cities – including Dallas-Fort Worth (eighth place, 113 buildings), Houston (sixth place, 133 buildings), and first-place Los Angeles (293 buildings) – it places us well in front of every other U.S. city... According to the Environmental Integrity Project, Texas can take credit for five of the country's 10 most prolific mercury-spewing power plants, with Luminant's Martin Lake facility in Husk County taking the No. 1 spot for pounds of mercury emitted in 2008 (the most recent year for which figures are available). The report, released in March, shows that Texas plants also dominate the list of top mercury emitters by pounds per gigawatt hour, with American Elec­tric Power's Harrison County facility, H.W. Pirkey, taking the ignominious first-place honors. According to the report, mercury emissions are on the rise in several states, including Texas, despite the EPA's Bush-era predictions to the contrary – funny how snubbing the Clean Air Act will do that... Thirty-two renewable energy projects throughout the state are now slated to receive millions in federal stimulus grants as part of the Distri­buted Renewable Energy Technology Program. Locally, about $1.6 million will help Austin Community College install two grid-tied solar photovoltaic systems (estimated to save the school almost $29,000 a year), while $820,000 in grant money will go toward a PV system at Texas Parks and Wildlife's Austin headquarters (expected to save the agency more than $17,500 annually)... Environmental activist Paul Robbins is nearing completion of the long-awaited seventh edition of the Austin Environmental Direc­tory, a revision four years in the making (see the 2006 directory at www.environmentaldirectory.info) and filled with info on local environmental resources and programs, plus in-depth articles about synthetic fuels, zero-energy suburbs, and more. Look for printed copies around town just in time for Earth Day.