Fracking?

Fracking Fields in California. Photo by Blaine O'Neil

The EPA recently gave some new guidelines on the limit on fracking. They extended the deadline to create safer frack zones until 2015. Currently, the rules say that there is no need to make the wells emission friendly. Now, by 2015, drillers will have to create emission capture technology that will stop the pollutants from leaking into the air. The impacts of this are enormous. Fracking is a process in which drillers inject fluid into the ground to break up the rock deep in the earth. Once the bedrock is broken up, the natural gas begins flowing. Many proponents of natural gas (namely, the gas companies trying to project themselves as "eco-friendly"), say that natural gas is cleaner than oil, however, fracking makes the process dirtier than even oil. The only reason that gas companies support natural gas is because it is cheap and easy to harvest. Lobbyists for the energy companies have done everything they can to create bills like this one that help maintain the companies' monopoly on the energy market at the expense of our environment. The bill is allowing energy companies to not have to invest in better technology. This new bill will have devastating effects on the environment and needs to be stopped.

-John

Green, Blue, Purple, and Pink

A couple of weekends ago, I spent three hours in at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center located in Southwest Austin. I had a wonderful time at this beautiful location and learned a great deal about plants endemic to the Edward's Plateau. I encourage you to visit yourself when you have time.

Photo by me

A few plants I saw a lot of while I was there were Agaritas, Pink Evening Primroses, Mexican Buckeyes, and Giant Spiderworts.

The shrub to the right is an Agarita, a plant that grows six to eight feet in height. The leaves are holly-like and trifolate. What interests me most about the Agarita are its sharp-edged leaves that are not painful to the touch. The Agarita grows best in rocky conditions, like those of the Edward's Plateau, can tolerate both dry and moist soil, and requires minimal watering.

Photo by me

Here is an interesting one. While there are many bluebonnets at the Wildflower Center, this plant intrigues me more. Blue curls are not something I had seen before my latest visit to the Wildflower Center. With five periwinkle petals to each flower, blue curls grow in dry soil and thrive most if sheltered from the setting sun.

Photo by me

The pink evening primrose floods the Wildflower center; its pale pinkness and radiant yellow center can be seen in many of the gardens including the Edible Theme Garden and the Color Garden, which is pictured below. This primrose grows readily in sunny conditions.

Photo by me

This picture I took of the Center's Color Garden doesn't capture its full majesty. Along with the bluebonnets and wine cup flowers photographed here, the Color Garden is decorated with Pink Evening Primroses, Purple Coneflowers, and other white and yellow flowers.

Photo by me

To the right is an example of Giant Spiderwort, a purple monocot endemic to the Edward's Plateau that grows best in clay or loamy soils. The berries that Giant Spiderworts produces, however, are poisonous, so beware.

Photo by me

This is a Scarlet Penstemon, a magenta flower that I took many pictures of during my visit. This Penstemon grows in dry limestone-based soil in full sunlight.

Photo by me

Here is another Penstemon. This one is a Wright's Penstemon. Rather than magenta, it is a playful red, but still thrives in dry rocky soil and large amounts of sunlight.

Photo by me

This is a Mexican Buckeye. I had seen this tree before, but never know what it was called. They were all over the Wildflower Center, and now I know when I see the green cone-shaped leaves that I am looking at a Mexican Buckeye. I am sure that anyone who visits the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center will have similar revelations as well.

Photo by me

A Rock Rose. Something I had never heard of and never even seen. I just had to put this picture in here. This drought resistant flower is about an inch and a half in diameter, has an appearance similar to that of a hibiscus, and is completely flat.

Photo by me

This may not be the best picture I've ever taken, but it does capture an unusual and unexpected component of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The metal flowers. The one pictured to the left is an eight-foot-tall metal Indian Blanket. And other examples are of bluebonnets and Mexican Hats, among other types of flowers. I am not sure why these metal flowers are there, but they add a different level to the landscape and are a work of art in themselves.

I think the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a wonderful place to spend a few hours.

-Frankie

A Fossil Hill Expedition

Over Spring Break, my family and I went to visit my aunt and uncle for a few days. They own 130 acres near a lake in North Texas, and they call their land "Fossil Hill" after a little hill near the lake where you can find a lot of, well, fossils. They recently finished building a house there (complete with observation tower and pizza oven, both of which we put to good use). While we were there, we hiked, did trail maintenance, and went out on the lake. It was gorgeous there - the weather was lovely, and I got to sleep at the top of the observation tower with a wonderful view of the lake.

Photo by me

There were lots (and lots) of rocks everywhere, most of them very large in size. They make great little hidey-holes for creatures. It had just rained when we came, so all the moss was really bright and green - my photos really don't do it justice. All the little plants were adorable, and sometimes it would look like a miniature landscape on top of one of the rocks.

Photo by me

I learned about native plants and animals during our visit - the plant pictured above is a hawthorn tree, which we saw often. Some of the flowers we saw were Verbena and Blue-Eyed Grass, and we saw vultures and Blue Herons and heard phoebes and cardinals. One evening, we also left out some peanuts on the front porch and got to see a raccoon come to eat them.

Photo by me

This is a view of the lake. You can see that there are some dead trees that are half-submerged on the water. It made navigating the boat a little difficult, but they were really pretty and almost ethereal when I was out on the water, with their bare white branches.

Photo by me

Here's one of the creatures we found in a hidey-hole. My aunt and I were taking an early morning hike when a vulture flew out of one of the crevices. We went to investigate and found this - a baby vulture and three eggs!

Photo by me

This is one of my favorite pictures of Fossil Hill that I've taken - you can really see how gorgeous, mossy, and green the landscape is. It doesn't look like a place that you would find in Texas, does it?

Natural Gas or Coal?

Coal burning power plant. Picture from flickr user davipt

The EPA recently put out some new guidelines on what is and isn't acceptable for power plants, according to the New York Times. Recently, companies have been switching to natural gas plants, rather than coal burning ones. Because of this, the EPA has decided to change up the current rules and make them less coal friendly and  more fitting for natural gas plants. Under the new and revised guidelines, companies may only emit 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per each mega-watt hour of electricity produced. For those of you who, like me, have no idea what a mega-watt is, one mega-watt can power, on average, 265 american homes. That's a lot of power. However, the new rules are too strict for coal plants, essentially eliminating their use in the power industry. Fortunately for the coal companies, this new law only affects new power plants, and not plants already built. Many critics cite this as a major flaw in the new legislation, and want stricter guidelines that pertain to all coal fueled plants. The coal industry, on the other hand, believes that the new guidelines are too harsh, and should be lifted. I think that the law should apply to all coal burning power plants, but we'll have to watch what happens in Washington in the next few months.

-John

Illegal Flowers

Geraniums planted by my mother and the beginning of a flower bed
Photo by me

Kimberly Bois, a woman in Portsmouth, New Hampshire was sued for planting a flower garden in front of her condominium at the Atlantic Pointe Condominium Association.  I read about the situation in this article by Robert Cook.  I find this very disappointing.  It seems that many apartment and condominium associations restrict the actions of their residents including owning pets and gardens.  However, Cook wrote, “the declarant, who was the condo development builder, gave her permission to plant flowers in front of her unit in 2008.”  Cook also wrote that Bois’ attorney, Paul McEachern, argued that the declarant who had given Bois the right to alter the exterior of her condominium did not have the right to take away that right.

Gardening can be a leisure activity, and I think that gardens help to make a neighborhood cheerful and beautiful.  Many people plants flowers every spring, and I see no harm in doing so.  I understand why a condominium association might not allow pets, since animals can damage property that the association may plan to rent again when the current resident has moved.  Plants, however, are never vicious, and, as I see it, cause no harm.  I would like to see Kimberly Bois, Patrick Champagne and Louise Tracy (Lawyer: City Woman’s Flower Garden Should Be Allowed by Robert Cook mentioned both Champagne and Tracy as well), and any other condominium owner who wishes to plant a garden legally able to do so.

-Frankie

Chicksplosion!

I was going to tell you all about my Spring Break of hiking, trail maintenance, and identifying plants and birds, and I will, but I just couldn't resist these adorable faces. So, without further ado, here are my chicks!

Photo by my mother

I wish I had taken more photos of the chicks when they were tiny, but I'm glad I have this one of Violetta, a Plymouth Barred Rock, when she was just 2 days old. The red tint on my fingers is from their heat lamp, which is important for chicks to have in order to keep their body heat nice and warm. I would hold them in my hands near the heat lamp and they would fall asleep in a fuzzy heap.

Photo by me

This is Fingers at 3 days old. She's so fuzzy and tiny - look at those adorable feet!

Photo by me

When the chicks were old enough (10 days old in this photo) and the weather was warm enough, we started to let them spend part of each day outside (under close supervision, of course). From left to right: Chicken Jane, Papagena, Fingers, Violetta, and Olive Oyl.

Photo by me

Here are the chicks at about 23 days old, hanging out in their cage. To the left you can see Olive Oyl (see below) with her feathered feet, trying to fall asleep.

Photo by me

This is Olive Oyl perching on my wrist, whom my little brother named for the Popeye character. I love her poofy tail feathers! She's really calm, doesn't mind being held, and sneezes adorably. Olive, as we call her, is a Dark Brahma, so she has feathered feet. In this photo, she is about 45 days old.

Photo by me

Chicken Jane is a Light Brahma, so she has different coloring than Olive, but they both have the feathered feet characteristic of their breed. She's very sweet and docile.

Photo by me

Papagena did not want to settle down, as you can see. She's a bit larger than the other birds, her coloring is a bit brighter, and she has some longer decorative-looking tail feathers, so I'm afraid she might actually be a rooster. Papagena is an Ameraucana, also called Easter Eggers, and they produce blue or green eggs. We have another Ameraucana, Fingers, but the moment I perched her on my wrist, she flew off, so I wasn't able to get a good photo. Fingers is the most adventurous of the group - she'll eat pretty much anything, and loves jumping on to things. Just yesterday, I perched her on my hand (this time she didn't fly off), and I saw a bug flying, so I held her up towards it and she snatched it up and ate it!

Photo by me

Believe it or not, this is Violetta! Here she is at about 45 days old. She doesn't like being held as much as she used to, but I love how her feather design is turning out - eventually she'll look like this.

Photo by me

Here's Yardbird (named by my dad after the jazz musician), our only grown hen. She's a Black Sexlink, and does not like the chicks being in her coop at all. She gets so annoyed that she starts sounding almost like a rooster!

-Cecilia

Gardening for Guys

Recently, my mom has started gardening again. I've lugged around dirt and mulch, planted seeds, and watered her plants. That got me thinking; why would my mom garden? When I asked her, she said that she had seen this video online about creating a garden from your lawn, and wanted to try it. Her big plan was to convert our tiny side yard into a veggie garden, planting herbs and tomatoes, and using drip hoses to irrigate it. Personally, I was glad to hear the last part, because it would save me the hassle of having to water the plants. Using a kit from Costco, we were able to build a raised bed garden in 15 minutes. We dragged the huge bed outside and put it on top of some paper bags from Central Market. When I asked why the paper bags were there, my mom laughed.

A raised bed garden. Image from flickr user suburbandollar.

"If you would prefer weeding every Saturday, you can." I agreed that weeding was bad, and we finished placing the raised bed on the ground. Then it was time to put the drip hoses in. My mom had looked up a tutorial on how to insert them. After about 30 minutes of jamming pipes together, we set the final product up. I really hope it lasts for a while.

- John

Bright Leaf Invasives Removal

Nandina's red-hued leaves
Photo by me

Last Saturday, February 25, I helped to remove invasive plants from Bright Leaf Preserve in Northwest Austin with LBJ Cares, a club from LBJ High School that organizes volunteering opportunities.

In the morning, the weather was pleasant, making the work enjoyable in addition to the fulfillment of caring for the environment.

The two invasive plants we primarily focused on were Nandina and Ligustrum.  Nandina, also known as Heavenly Bamboo, is recognizable by its red-tinted leaves and bright red berries.  Due to the recent rains, there were many small Nandina trees that needed to be cut down.  The Ligustrum, or Japanese Privet trees were still small, with trunks about two inches in diameter, but already very tall, probably 10 to 12 feet in height.  These were marked by pink ribbons so that we would not remove any native trees, and I cut down two Japanese privets while I was at Bright Leaf.

Bright red Nandina berries
Photo by me

Bright Leaf is a small, beautiful, privately owned preserve that hosts guided tours and works to protect native endangered species.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and I hope that you will consider visiting.  I also look forward to helping to remove invasive species at other locations.

Enjoy the cool weather while you can to plant your gardens and remove any invasives that are present.

-Frankie

Austin Art Yards: Don't Fence Me In

So, about a year ago, my family and I went on the self-guided Austin Art Yards tour. We only had time to visit a few houses, but it was worth it.  All the yard art was funky and creative - just like Austin!

Photo by me

I really liked the blue bottle tree in front of this first house, and all the bowling balls and recycled materials in their backyard.

Photo by me

I thought the juxtaposition of the rusty metal dice and the roses was interesting. That's another good thing about the tour taking place in the spring - you get to see a lot of lovely flowers in addition to the art.

Photo by me

I'm fond of bird cages, so of course I was drawn to this tree. If you look closely, you can also see a few old fans in the bottom right corner, which I thought was very whimsical.

Photo by me

Who would have thought that ironing boards and hubcaps could go so well with each other? This fence was lined with them. Old hubcaps were a reoccurring theme in the tour.

Photo by me

This year's tour will take place on the 14th and 15th of April, and I would highly recommend that you go check it out. You can find out more about the tour here, or visit their page on Facebook. Happy touring!

-Cecilia

April Showers Bring...February Flowers?

You'd have to agree that it's lovely to smell mountain laurel, see irises blooming, and wear sandals and T-shirts while walking around the neighborhood.

Lantana in our front yard
Photo by me

But is that really what we should be doing in the middle of February? I guess Bee Cave Bob was right in his prediction this year. The armadillo indicated earlier this month that we'd be having an early spring, and it looks like he was right. Or you could consult Alamo, the Texas Longhorn, who also disagreed with Puxatony Phil's prediction of six more weeks of winter.

Unfortunately, the mild winter will likely lead to a tough allergy season, according to the Baylor College of Medicine. The warmer temperatures lead to early pollination of trees such as cedar, a leading cause of allergies. On the other hand, you might think that after last year's drought, a mild winter and early spring would be welcomed by Texas fruit farmers. Actually, it's not good news, says the Dallas Observer. The fruit trees begin to bloom along with the warm weather, but are then susceptible to late frosts.

On the bright side, this weather is great for spending time outdoors, or, in my case, letting my chicks roam around the backyard. I'm just really not looking forward to what our summer's going to look like.

-Cecilia

A Green Apple?

Image from Edible Apple

According to Forbes, Apple is now going "green". The tech giant has started installing solar power plants and bio fuel cells in its facilities. This is definitely a great leap for the company, which sells a ton of devices worldwide. The article says that Apple is lessening the amount of packaging for their famed iPhones by 42 percent, allowing the company to fit 80 percent more phones in each container.
Is Apple just jumping on the eco-friendly bandwagon just to attract customers? Absolutely. HP and Dell are ranked 1st and 2nd respectively in Greenpeace's "Guide to Greener Electronics", ahead of Apple, which was ranked 4th. To maintain it's place as a trendy, popular brand, Apple needs to reexamine their environmental policies. And they have made progress. Recently, Apple announced the construction of a 20-megawatt solar array to power their new data center in Maiden, North Carolina. Once completed, the array will be the largest in the nation. Apple is also looking into biofuel systems and is currently using recycled paper for it's gift cards. Apple is trying to do it all. The company hopes to create a net zero energy program for it's corporate facilities. Good luck, Apple.

- John

Ethanol Use

Image from Republic Domain

In her report for the Medill School, Laura Mihelich wrote about a new maize hybrid between temperate maize and tropical maize.  This particular form of maize is being engineered at the University of Illinois for energy purposes and to be converted into ethanol.

This maize hybrid requires less fertilizer because it is less susceptible to disease and more drought resistant.

I do not think that this form of ethanol should be mass produced.  While ethanol is efficient, producing 67 percent more energy than is necessary to grow the crop and convert the corn into ethanol, it decreases biodiversity.

Biodiversity protects plants and animals against disease and extinction, as demonstrated in this National Geographic article.  In 100 years of artificial selection of our food for certain qualities, more than 90 percent of various types of crops.  The number of varieties of corn in 1983 (12) was only four percent of what it was in 1903 (307), according to National Geographic.

I think that, while it is fine to utilize this new hybrid maize, it should not be depended upon because biodiversity should be supported.  In addition, I am against using corn, which is food, for electric energy.  According to Think Quest, 15 million children die from starvation each year.

I believe ethanol use should be limited and support for biodiversity encouraged.


-Frankie