Travis County Commssioners Court
July 29, 2003
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Item 40
Number 40 presentation of 2003 Austin environmental directory to the commis Commissioners court.
>> judge, thank you for letting us take this time. We're going to give a few minutes to t. Paul robbins, who is the editor of the Austin environmental directory. I think this directory is one of the hidden treasures in Austin. They're in their fifth edition. It's edited by t. Paul robbins. He wrote about 40% of the directory, and this is a wonderful resource that Travis County and the city of Austin use and they help distribute. And t. Paul could spend three or four hours talking about what's in this...
>> but he won't.
>> but he won't. He's been strictly lectured about that, but we wanted to give him a few minutes to give you all a brief overview of what's in this directory and to present you copies to you so we can help in the distribution of this wonder of resource. Anne, would you assist in getting those up here? And then t. Paul can give us the brief overview. Good morning.
>> good morning. Commissioners, my name is paul robbins. I'm the editor of the Austin environmental directory. This is a comprehensive source book of environmental products, services, organizations and issues of central Texas. I'm appearing here to formally present the latest edition to the court. There have been five issues since 1994. Travis County has been a sponsor, I believe, of the last three through the parks department. I think that you will find the parks pages for the county on page 56 and 57. The 2003 issue of the directory has taken on the theme of environmental business. In the wake of the high-tech layoffs that have hit Austin hard, the theme article analyzes Austin's economy, has reconstructed a history of its industrialization and it's defined 19 separate technologies or business strategies that can create jobs while protecting the environment. These include renewable energy technologies, conservation devices, plant based plastics and motor oil, green building materials, local paper production and locally grown and processed food products. The article also has articulated policies that governments and businesses can make to promote environmental business. Austin needs to diversify its economy, and the county government could help to contribute to a cluster of environmental businesses in several ways. It can purchase environmental products and services which would help guarantee an anchor market for new businesses. It can switch -- it can begin to switch its taxes to leafing he -- owe leveeing on polluting technologies while lowering revenue from other types of taxes. I think the slang for this is called green taxes. Tax toxics, not people. It can use industrial bonds that it has used to promote high-tech development to finance green business, and if financial institutions like an environmental bank were to emerge in Austin to fund these new businesses, to provide capital, it might be possible for the county to be one of this bank's customers. This article on environmental business is quite detailed and is about 120 pages. A summary is in this print version, and it's about 30 pages. The full article can be found on the internet at www.environmentaldirectory.i nfo for any of you listening again, that's www.environmentaldirectory.i www.environmentaldirectory.i nfo. Printed copies are printed free throughout Austin at probably 100 locations. A few of them include half price books, the Austin nature center, the splash exhibit at barton springs, whole foods, central market south and wheatsville food co-op.
>>
>> [one moment, please, for change in captioners] clear clear
>>
>> but if you could spend a few minutes glancing through the environmental business section, it might give you some ideas about how to help Austin's economy. I appreciate your time.
>> I'm very glad to get the latest edition. Thank you.
>> this is one of the most compact resource books even in terms of where you are buy dillo dirt in terms of vendors. It really has done a very good job, a wonderful resource guide. We just wanted to make sure folks knew about this, used it, but I want to say thanks to paul because this is one of those hidden treasures of someone who has poured his life into this book. We want to make sure folks know it's out there and can use it and recycle it at the end of the year. Thank you, paul.
>> thanks.
>> thank you.
>> thank you very much. Appreciate it.
>> thank you, judge.
Last Modified:
Wednesday, July 30, 2003 12:31 PM