WFAA 8 Project Green WFAA.com

The White House says its high-profile garden on the South Lawn has tested positive for lead although it is not at dangerous levels.

Portugal announced a plan Monday to install about 1,300 recharging sites for electric vehicles over the next two years, part of an effort to create a mass market for environmentally friendly electric cars expected to go on sale next year.

The government will help companies build powerful solar farms in the desert Southwest by pre-qualifying huge swaths of federal land for development.

The White House says it's confident that the Senate will pass comprehensive energy legislation.

AP

Adventurer Bertrand Piccard says the Solar Impulse "will be an ambassador of renewable energies."

President Barack Obama is pressing again for passage of legislation that would confront the problem of global warming head-on.

The Sears Tower will undergo a $350 million green remodeling effort at the 110-story skyscraper, including wind turbines, green roofs and solar panels.

President Barack Obama is calling on members of the House to pass legislation that he says will "spark a clean energy transformation" and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

Toyota Motor Corp. got 180,000 orders for the new Prius hybrid in Japan in just a month, far surpassing its target of 10,000 vehicles in monthly sales, the automaker said Friday.

WFAA-TV

New rules may mean some production moves to China.

Until now, the cement companies have won most of their battles over pollution but they were mainly fighting regulators from the state. Now new folks are in charge of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency and they want to make significant changes.

Landfill operators strongly encourage cities and haulers to haul yard clippings to a facility where they are composted and then sold back to the public as mulch.

Harmful effects from global warming are already here and worsening, warns the first climate report from Barack Obama's presidency in the strongest language on climate change ever to come out of the White House.

Republicans on Saturday slammed a Democratic bill before the House that seeks to address climate change, arguing that it amounts to an energy tax on consumers.

Congress is all but abandoning President Barack Obama's goal of producing fully one-quarter of the nation's electricity from renewable sources -- wind, solar and the like -- by 2025, though a push for at least some increase is making headway.

The wind, a favorite power source of the green energy movement, seems to be dying down across the United States. And the cause, ironically, may be global warming — the very problem wind power seeks to address.

Russia will rebuild its Soviet-era network of polar stations and use its icebreaker fleet to help support its claim to the vast resources of the Arctic, the man who led a mission to plant a Russian flag on the Arctic seabed said Wednesday.

Going green helped a woman rob an Austin bank.

WFAA-TV

A 23-mile area along the levees in Dallas are nearly 3,000 trees. The Army Corps of Engineers wants the trees out, but some that promote tree preservation wonder if the city is doing all it can to save them.

Going green helped a woman rob an Austin bank.

Fresh from a medium-security prison in California, radical environmentalist and arsonist Tre Arrow flew into Portland and then bicycled to a halfway house where he's assigned to finish the last six months of a prison sentence.

BP Products North America Inc. is being sued by Texas authorities who accuse the petrochemical giant of 46 separate pollution violations at its Texas City refinery -- including one tied to an explosion that killed 15 workers and injured 170 others four years ago.

T. Boone Pickens is reaching out to American Indians in his crusade for U.S. energy independence.

The United States is not likely to enter into a new international treaty to reduce the emissions blamed for global warming without China and other major greenhouse-gas emitters on board, the Obama administration's chief climate negotiator said Wednesday.

Guy Reynolds/Dallas Morning News

Around the state, North Texas is being called a water hog.

Despite the public being asked to do more to conserve water, not every city is doing its part.

Officials say Cincinnati's new free parking for electric cars demonstrates the city's commitment to the environment, even if it won't have a major impact.

The New York Jets and Giants signed a memorandum of understanding with the Environmental Protection Agency that will make their new $1.6 billion football stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands one of the greenest in professional sports.

Climate-change disasters kill around 300,000 people a year and cause about $125 billion in economic losses, mainly from agriculture, a think-tank led by former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan reported Friday.

The Obama administration is calling for a one-year moratorium on road-building and development on millions of acres of remote national forests.

In a Western trip devoted mainly to raising political money, President Barack Obama is highlighting two favorite issues: clean energy and his economic stimulus plan.

A new study suggests the Northeast will face the greatest sea level rise as glaciers melt into ocean waters.

The amount of heat-trapping carbon dioxide seeping into the atmosphere will increase by nearly 40 percent worldwide by 2030 if ways are not found to require mandatory emission reductions, a government report said Wednesday.

The University of New Hampshire has celebrated its efforts to be green by using gas from a landfill to power the loudspeakers at its commencement and turning leftover food from the ceremony into compost.

A GOP senator from the nation's leading coal-producing state contends Democrats will increase energy costs and make the U.S. more dependent on foreign oil if they focus solely on alternative energy.

Texas shoppers can get a break on state and local sales taxes when they purchase certain energy-efficient products this Memorial Day weekend.

Shares of SolarWinds climbed today during the network management software maker's first day of trading in New York.

Several of Germany's top carmakers said Tuesday they likely won't be affected by changes to U.S. emissions and fuel standards, staking a claim to be the market leaders in efficiency.

WFAA-TV

President Barack Obama's proposed new fuel and emission standards for cars and trucks will save billions of barrels of oil but are expected to cost consumers an extra $1,300 per vehicle by the time the plan is complete in 2016.

With California facing a huge budget deficit, officials at the state Department of Finance saw an opportunity to resurrect a controversial proposal for oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara as a way to boost revenue and potentially bring $1.8 billion into state coffers over time.

A budget proposal from the Obama administration would spend $475 million on beach cleanups, wetlands restoration and removal of toxic sediments from river bottoms around the Great Lakes.

The global sea level will only rise about 10 feet if the West Antarctic ice sheet collapses.

A California-based company demonstrated a new battery-swapping technology Wednesday that could overcome a key obstacle to the adoption of electric cars — their reliance on frequent, long stops for recharging.

Former President Jimmy Carter says the nation's energy problems haven't changed from those he faced three decades ago.

We could soon have a serene place just a few minutes from downtown Dallas, where families can immerse themselves in nature, walking on trails, through a great forest.

The oil and gas industry is taking a hard hit in President Barack Obama's proposed budget.

Dallas oilman T. Boone Pickens believes a government mandate requiring the use of wind power could come this year.

A group of high school students watched intently as one of their peers spun the rotors round and round.

Key lawmakers agreed Tuesday on a strategy for replacing gas-guzzling cars with more fuel-efficient models, but much tougher negotiations lie ahead on knotty issues such as pricing and capping greenhouse gas emissions from large companies.

WFAA-TV

Officials say the expanded plant will be more efficient and cleaner.

Concern is growing over plans to expand a trash station. It's surrounded by neighborhoods and parks, yet the owners want to double its work.

WFAA-TV

Will the nation follow Texas' lead?

Your clunker could be worth some cash. Congress is taking up legislation that would let you trade in a gas guzzling car, that's at least nine years old, for a voucher to get something more energy efficient.

Walt Disney Studios is turning box-office cash from its nature documentary "Earth" into seed money to plant trees in the rain forest.

Englewood, Colo.-based advanced biofuels company Gevo Inc. said Tuesday that French oil giant Total SA has invested in the company.

Looking to cut down on transportation costs, Lawton's police department is going green.

Vice President Joe Biden marked Earth Day by announcing that $300 million in federal stimulus money will go to cities and towns to purchase more fuel-efficient vehicles.

President Barack Obama's return to Iowa gives him a chance to mark Earth Day with a pitch for his alternative energy plan and environmentally friendly jobs.

The Texas Senate has voted to create a statewide solar energy rebate program and make it easier for homeowners and business to tap into the power of the sun.

House Republicans say it is too early to debate a climate change bill because a major element of the legislation is missing.

WFAA-TV

The hawks were taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center.

A North Texas school district finds itself taking on an unlikely job: Federally-licensed baby hawk relocator.

A hybrid vehicle will be the official pace car for the first time in NASCAR during next month's Coca-Cola 600.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says the U.S. needs a clear energy policy so automakers can develop cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

The last time Congress passed major environmental laws, acid rain was destroying lakes and forests, polluted rivers were on fire and smog was choking people in some cities.

WFAA-TV

Jan Tidwell lost a legal fight Friday to save the mature oak trees in her backyard. "Because they have the right to do that doesn't make it right," she said.

A Texas company is signaling its intent to turn a rural county near New Mexico into the home of the only dump in the United States that disposes of all classes of low-level radioactive waste from around the country.

A program to expand oil and gas drilling off the Alaska coast was canceled Friday by a federal appeals court that ruled the Bush administration did not properly study the environmental impact.

President Barack Obama called Thursday for the country to move swiftly to a system of high-speed rail travel, saying it will relieve congestion, help clean the air and save on energy.

The Book Industry Environmental Council, a coalition of publishers, booksellers, librarians, printers and paper manufacturers, announced Thursday a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent in the year 2020 (based on 2006 numbers), the equivalent, the council says, of pulling 450,000 cars off the road.

Fifty of the country's most polluted and hazardous waste sites were singled out Wednesday to receive a share of federal stimulus money to continue clean up operations.

AP

A new report says Texas is the clear leader in generating electricity from the wind.

A Texas company plans a solar panel manufacturing plant west of Albuquerque that eventually could employ 1,000 people.

The 60 million American homes that rely on natural gas for heat can expect substantially lower bills next winter thanks to a glut in supply and the weak economy.

Rope once used to connect lobster traps on the ocean floor soon will grace the entryways of people's houses.

When it comes to going green, Kristen Chase does what she can: recycling, using her own grocery bags, buying organic produce and conserving energy and water.

In the face of looming legislative pressures for cleaner energy, the nation's largest public utility agreed Thursday to buy more than a nuclear reactor's worth of electricity from renewable energy sources.

The air around 62 schools in 22 states -- including Texas -- will soon be tested for toxic air contaminants.

House Democrats are outlining a plan to cut greenhouse gases by 20 percent over the next decade and 83 percent by mid-century.

At its first negotiations on climate change, the Obama administration is trying to convince other countries that the U.S. does care about global warming and wants to shape an international accord.

Toyota's chief engineer, Akihiko Otsuka, chose a curvy test-drive course near Mount Fuji to show off the smooth handling of the prototype of the remodeled Prius hybrid, set to reach showrooms in May.

WFAA-TV

Natural gas garbage trucks are cheaper to run.

They cut costs and emissions but there's a trade off. They also can't be used on nearly half the pick-up routes.

A Pennsylvania insurance company will soon offer a home policy that features a discount for energy-efficient solar and geothermal systems.

As the Obama administration pursues more homegrown energy sources, a new government report faults energy production of all types -- wind, ethanol and mountaintop coal mining -- for contributing to steep drops in bird populations.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday implored American businessmen to help convince the United States to lift the 53-cent-per-gallon import tariff it places on his country's ethanol fuel.

WFAA-TV

For those looking for help on cutting down their utility bill, weatherizing one's home could save $300 a year.

A two-year interagency squabble appears to be resolved, clearing the way for development of rules for offshore wind energy projects.

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, Texas -- Growing up in Terlingua, a speck of a desert town in the heart of Texas' Big Bend region, Delia White once had picturesque views of rugged mountains in every direction.

British economist Nicholas Stern said Thursday that the global recession presents an opportunity to build a more energy-efficient economy.

The head of the federal agency responsible for warning people about health effects of toxic pollution in their neighborhoods says he's improving its approach to investigating hazards, as residents of contaminated regions told Congress on Thursday that the agency's failings have imperiled people's health.

A new study finds pollution from Barnett Shale is equal to all of the vehicle emissions in North Texas.

Texas leads the nation in wind power. Now a group that backs energy is pushing for the state to tap into the sunshine.

The inspector general for the Commerce Department is trying to force a prominent environmental group to reveal who leaked the Bush administration's plans to weaken the Endangered Species Act just weeks before President Barack Obama took office.

Ethanol producers are asking the Environmental Protection Agency to boost the amount of ethanol that can be blended with gasoline. They want the ceiling on ethanol content to be raised from 10 percent to 15 percent.

Eighteen whooping crane deaths around a South Texas wildlife refuge has made this winter the second-worst for whooper mortality in 20 years.

Want to cut your electric costs? You'll soon have the power.

Local environmentalists have joined with business leaders, including the Dallas Building Owners and Managers Association, to plan events to be held the night of March 28.

GM's troubled Adam Opel GmbH subsidiary presented the lithium-battery powered hatchback Ampera Tuesday at the Geneva Motor Show, where electric-powered vehicles gathered momentum as a way to persuade environmentally aware consumers to buy new cars during the global recession.

As Congress tries to clean up the nation's energy sources and cut gases blamed for global warming, it is struggling to do so in its own backyard.

Rep. Rafael Anchia thinks he has the 7-cent solution to plastic bags. The Dallas Democrat wants Texas to join two other states pondering the problems, pollution and politics of taxing each of the ubiquitous sacks that start at groceries, hardware stores and retail shops but often end up in sewer systems, landfills, parking lots, riverbeds, up against fences and blowing down highways.

Until about a year ago, Jyra Hill never had a green thought in her life.

California air regulators have broadened their reach into Silicon Valley, implementing rules intended to cut greenhouse gas emissions from semiconductor plants.

Antarctic glaciers are melting faster across a much wider area than previously thought, scientists said Wednesday — a development that could lead to an unprecedented rise in sea levels.

A NASA mission to monitor global warming from space ended Tuesday when a satellite plunged into the ocean near Antarctica minutes after launch. An equipment malfunction was apparently to blame, officials said.

An oil tanker remained grounded Saturday off the Texas coast in the Gulf of Mexico, but no fuel had spilled from it, officials said.

State auditors are trying to make sure farmers don't get stuck paying the bill as a major Wisconsin ethanol producer struggles with bankruptcy.

Conservationists argue in a new report that U.S. taxpayers should stop subsidizing a $100 million program that kills more than 1 million wild animals annually, a program ranchers and farmers have defended for nearly a century as critical to protecting their livestock from predators.

WFAA-TV

State Rep. Vicki Truitt

"The time has come for us to act as a region," State Rep. Vicki Truitt (R-Southlake) said today in urging support for an $11 billion North Texas commuter rail network.

Despite widespread concern over global warming, humans are adding carbon to the atmosphere even faster than in the 1990s, researchers warned Saturday.

A federal appeals court has overturned a ruling that would have required more extensive environmental reviews for mountaintop removal coal mines.

WFAA-TV

One hotel is organizing a stargazing party.

Downtown Dallas' distinctive skyline will soon be making a change. It's lights out for one hour and one good cause.

Virginia and the United Kingdom entered a partnership to jointly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop environmentally friendly technology jobs.

Environmental advocates urged Congress on Wednesday to reinstate the broad moratorium on offshore oil drilling, but a key congressman said on that issue, "The ship may have already sailed."

The federal government on Friday settled a lawsuit that accused two U.S. agencies of financing energy projects overseas without considering their impacts on global warming.

WFAA-TV

There's no health danger, but utility customers in 61 North Texas cities are noticing a foul aroma and taste from their tap water.

Melting ice from global warming may raise sea levels even more than had been expected, an analysis suggests.

As the United States became the world leader in wind power, venture capitalists poured money into alternative energy projects until the recession hit in October, drying up investments and stalling projects.

The Lone Star State's capital city may soon be tapping into some serious solar power.

Consumers who order or purchase a new 2010 hybrid vehicle from Ford Motor Co. by the end of March are eligible for a tax credit, the company said Wednesday.

As the switch from analog to DTV nears, some of those who have purchased new television sets may be wondering what to do with their old ones.

Former Vice President Al Gore urged lawmakers Wednesday not to let the economic crisis get in the way of addressing global warming.

The city known more for French Quarter trash than recycling or renewable energy is going green. In rebuilding since Hurricane Katrina, homes are being fitted with solar panels, organic farming is catching on and the city's got a new fleet of hybrid buses.

President Barack Obama is pushing stronger curbs on greenhouse gases, saying he wants to make it easier for states such as California to adopt tougher fuel-efficiency rules than the federal standard.

WFAA-TV

A Midlothian cement company is suing six local governments that are effectively boycotting its product for environmental reasons.

WFAA-TV

The TVs dropped off will be broken down and recycled.

WFAA-TV and the City of Dallas are teaming up for a free recycling event at Reunion Arena.

The head of New Energy Economy wants businesses, universities and governments to create partnerships and put New Mexico in a position "to capture the green wave of investment that's out there."

A researcher says he's not optimistic about the ability of ethanol to boost the rural economy.

In 2006, Americans threw away nearly 26 million televisions. With the switch to digital this year, that number is expected to get higher. But the landfill is not the only option.

The Senate has approved a bill setting aside more than 2 million acres in nine states as protected wilderness.

Texas environmental regulators have approved a plan to dispose of low-level radioactive waste from around the country at a remote site near the New Mexico border.

The state of Alaska says it will go to court to challenge the federal decision to protect beluga whales in Cook Inlet under the Endangered Species Act.

DART officials have been trying for a year to decide which fuel will power the next generation of buses.

Dallas County Health and Human Services and Reliant Energy have announced a $50,000 grant for improving energy efficiency in low income homes.

WFAA-TV

Your hamburger could cost more if the EPA adopts rules to regulate cow emissions as a cause of global warming.

The Cadillac Converj concept car is based on the same plug-in technology as the Chevrolet Volt.

We all know about rising unemployment numbers but one little town south of Fort Worth is bucking the trend.

Organizers of Detroit's annual auto show have carved out space in the convention center basement for a 700-foot-long oval driving track to showcase zero emissions vehicles.

There's growing evidence that tree diseases are in North Texas.

The city is moving to install 2,000 square feet of low-growing shrubbery on the building's roof as part of an environmental public education project.

Continental Airlines on Wednesday became the first U.S. commercial carrier to conduct a demonstration flight powered in part by alternative fuels, though large-scale use of such fuel is forecast to be several years away.

After a year in which U.S. auto sales tumbled 18 percent and GM had its worst year in nearly a half-century amid slack demand fueled by a terrible economic outlook and growing job worries, automakers are reluctant to predict when a recovery might occur.

Nobody loves biomass. When talk turns to global warming and the green movement, it's hardly ever mentioned. Biomass can be garbage (literally) or wood chips or sugar-cane remnants or grass.

WFAA-TV

There's a push to get cities to buy cement produced with lower emissions - even if it costs more.

North Texas cities want the chance to pay more for a vital building material - cement.

BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. — For their eighth house, students in Baxter Springs High School's advanced building trades class are trying an energy-efficient alternative.

Going green isn't just for granola types. More parents are thinking eco-friendly when it comes to products and gear for their little ones.

Just like any person, our autos periodically get “sick” and need special attention. They age and sometimes need new body parts to replace the originals. But in many situations, we replace when we could repair. There are a variety of ways you can conserve Earth’s resources by opting to repair rather than replace.

Vinegar of the four thieves sounds like a summer blockbuster starring Hollywood's latest hunk. In fact it's far from it, as DeSoto mom Christine Stewart found out. "I began to search for the strongest, all-natural, nontoxic cleaner available," writes Mrs. Stewart on her Web site, "and I soon found information about Vinegar of the Four Thieves."

Look up the word “garage” in the dictionary, and you’ll see some variation of the definition “an indoor area for parking/storing motor vehicles.” If only life were that simple. Chances are your garage contains much more than cars. Today’s garage is used for storage, housing noisy appliances (washer/dryer) and maybe even shelter for surprise visitors. So while you’re cleaning the garage this summer, consider greening it as well.

My apartment is haunted by phantoms, and I’ll bet your home is too. Don’t bother calling the Ghostbusters, though. Unlike their mean, slimy movie cousins, these phantoms are easy to neutralize. I’m talking, of course, about phantom power draws—those useful, innocent-looking devices and appliances that inhabit nearly every room of our homes.

Just in time for summer, the EPA has launched an effort designed to help program your thermostat, saving hundreds on cooling bills as well as reducing energy use. The new site provides simple tips and resources for staying cool while remaining green this summer.

Do you know how much water your lawn needs? Most people don't. If you turn on your sprinklers two or more times a week, you might be overwatering. Watering too much isn't just wasteful. Deep and infrequent watering is better for the health of your grass.

Energy independence is not some far-off dream: High quality solar technology exists here and now. The initial investment cost is still high, but as more and more folks purchase solar collection equipment it will become less expensive.

Don't feed your plants without considering how rich their food is. Urea, for example, is the fertilizer equivalent of a chocolate bar, a very rich food, rich enough so that one cup could kill a rose bush. Near the other extreme might be bone meal, the unbuttered popcorn of fertilizers, providing nourishment but nothing to get fat on.

In case you haven’t heard, the TV world is changing on February 17, 2009. Television stations will begin broadcasting only in digital format, and analog TV users will have some adjustments to make.

With Earth Day fast approaching, books on "living green" are covering bookstore shelves like kudzu – everything from the encyclopedic Green Living for Dummies to tips on doing the right environmental thing from actor Ed Begley Jr.

To honor Earth Day in kids' crafting, one really needs to think trash. That is, "What can I rescue from the garbage bin and reuse?" This is no time for going heavy on the non-recyclable doodads, such as pipe cleaners and pom-poms, in our art projects. For Earth Day, which is April 22, consider these crafts that make the most of objects you probably already have.

For the most part, creating an eco-friendly garden involves returning to the Earth as much as or more than what you've been taking out of it. Water, for instance. Soil nutrients. And it can be done on the cheap. Here's how to get started improving your own little piece of the universe.