Texas is tops among US states when it comes to installed wind power generation capacity, having added 1,826 megawatts (MW) in 2012 to bring its cumulative total to a whopping 12.212 gigawatts (GW), enough to power nearly 3 million average American homes, according to the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) latest industry report. Ongoing improvements in wind turbine … [Read more...] about Texas Electricity Market Prices
Environment
FEMA New Flood Insurance Manual
All buyers of older properties (“pre-FIRM”) will see a premium rate reduction under the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014. Instead of jumping to “full cost” for flood insurance, buyers will assume the seller’s Oct-2013 rate for a pre-FIRM property.FEMA also extended the rate relief so all pre-FIRM properties (including second homes and businesses) will begin … [Read more...] about FEMA New Flood Insurance Manual
Warmer Water Trapping Turtles on Texas Coast
Climate change-related warming of the waters of the Gulf of Mexico is causing fewer sea turtles to migrate to warmers waters in the winter, leading more of the creatures to become trapped along the Texas coast when the temperature drops, said Tony Amos, a researcher at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute and director of the Animal Rehabilitation Keep (ARK) in Port … [Read more...] about Warmer Water Trapping Turtles on Texas Coast
Oil Spill Money Helps Texas Protect Coast
Money paid by BP and Transocean to settle criminal penalties arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill has helped Texas close the largest conservation land purchase in the state's history: Just over 17,000 acres of undisturbed coastal prairie in Calhoun County for $50 million. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation (the non-profit fundraising arm of the state’s parks … [Read more...] about Oil Spill Money Helps Texas Protect Coast
The U.S. Gulf Coast at Night
The U.S. Gulf Coast at Night One of the Expedition 40 crew members aboard the International Space Station photographed this nighttime image showing city lights in at least half a dozen southern states from some 225 miles above the home planet. Lights from areas in the Gulf Coast states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, as well as some of the states that border them … [Read more...] about The U.S. Gulf Coast at Night