Julie Thibodeaux

If you have not been following what has been happening across the Barnett Shale area of our metroplex, you may not know that drilling companies have been suing town and cities across this area--trying to intimidate them to approve drilling permits.

To counter this, Representative Lon Burnham introduced a bill (HB 3792) that would give cities the right to deny drilling and pipeline permits. His bill was only one person short of getting passed through the committee.

There were many Earth Celebrations around the DFW metroplex these past two weeks, and unlike previous years, all of the events somehow managed to escape rainfall.

Some of these celebrations have been highly successful for the past few years including Plano's Live Green Expo and Oak Cliff Earth Day.

Now in its fifth year, Plano's Live Green Expo featured a wide range of exhibitors, and included rain barrel workshops, square-foot gardening, electric/hybrid cars, and more.

Many of us use hoses to water our gardens, fill our dogs’ water bowls, and fill pools. And in summer months, kids playing outdoor will often drink from the hose. What you may not know is that many hoses are made of polyvinyl chloride, which uses lead as a stabilizer. A 2007 Consumer Reports Study tested 16 hoses:

In May of 2009, students at Fort Worth Country Day met with Upper School science teacher Perri Carr to discuss applying for a Texas Healthy Habitat Grant. The grant money is funded by EnCana Oil and Gas (U.S.A. Inc.), North America’s largest natural gas producer, and distributed by Texas Parks & Wildlife Foundation.

Dallas Greendrinks and Net Impact are planning another Carrotmob. This time they are coming together under the green umbrella of Earth Day Dallas to once again bring people together to ‘mob’ a local Dallas business.  Carrotmob will reward an environmentally and socially responsible business with a mob of new customers.

On Wednesday, March 23rd, the House Appropriations Committee voted 18-7 in favor of a state budget that would make major cuts to our state parks system. This budget could force the closure of at least seven state parks, drastically reduce services at the rest, and eliminate funding for local parks and playgrounds.

Ninety percent of the energy used to wash clothes comes from heating the water. However, you can reduce demand on the hot water heater by washing most clothing in cold water. You will also see less color fading with the clothes. Use hot water for whites, towels, and sheets. Washing sheets in hot water is especially important for killing dust mites. But even with the warmer loads, consider using the hot cycle initially and then using cold water in the rinse cycle. Hot water more effective at killing germs.

On Monday night, the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League voted overwhelmingly to support Dallas City Council member Angela Hunt in her effort to establish an open and transparent gas drilling task force to study the effects of shale gas drilling in Dallas.

Joshua Tickell's film, Fuel, looks at a topic that affects our entire world. Fuel heats us, cools us, and feeds us. Yet, the extraction of fossil fuels is a dirty business, affecting health and environment. It is a limited resource and it leads to political and international conflict.

Computer equipment contains some pretty toxic materials, including lead, cadmium, mercury, and PVC plastics. Over 70% of the heavy metals in landfills come from electronic equipment. Additionally, 60% of electronic equipment that is 'thrown out' doesn't make it to the landfills; instead it is shipped to other countries where there is often less money and resources to dispose of it properly.

As you have probably heard, we have been losing large populations of honeybees. There are multiple factors for this, but the largest threat comes from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a disorder still not clearly understood.

Bees and humans have had a long connection--particularly when it comes to the cultivation of plants.

Last week, Tom 'Smitty' Smith of Public Citizen met with local environmental organizers at the Dallas Clean Air meetup to discuss several issues, including the outcome of the Sunset hearings for Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Texas Railroad Commission. Every state agency must go through a Sunset review where it's practices are evaluated and the agency may or may not be permitted to continue.