New topic...same discussion as usual for me though, which is the following: "How can we make Brownsville better?" Simple question yet difficult to respond to since there are a multitude of options and venues that we as a city can take. I have an option that was brought up to my attention a few days ago by my loving, caring fiance (who loves you baby?). So, for today's topic...

Why don't we as a city take the "Green Challenge"? Cities around the nation and the world have taken the "Green Challenge" and have learned that it pays (both environmentally, fiscally and physically) to do so in both the short and longterm. Now, for those of you who are wondering, "Dangit boy! What in Tarnations is the 'Green Challenge'"? And my response to you is this:

#1. Please excuse that fact that I don't know how to spell Tarnations and am not sure if that is the correct grammar usage for such a word.
#2. The "Green Challenge" is as follows: a community, whether it be a group of people or an entire city, work together to make an impact in the areas of conservation, energy control, litter reduction and environmental awareness. Cities such as Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington as well as many other communities nationwide have taken this challenge and have become Meccas (I don't mean to offend any of my Muslim brothers/sisters out there by using this word in a wrong way...if I have done so, learn how to take a joke and learn the meaning of an innuendo) for clean living societies around the globe. Communities such as these promote the usage of public transit (this means that they actually make it affordable, easy to use, convenient, CLEAN and safe....Hey San Antonio! You might want to look into this...just a word of advice, you might want to clean up the buses that run the routes 94 - UTSA and 603 - Fredericksburg Rd...sorry to say it but some of those buses could use a little bit of a vacuuming).
These communities also promote and encourage something that is very foreign to other communities...TURNING OFF LIGHTS WHEN THEY'RE NOT NEEDED! I'm sorry to say this but when you leave home to go to work or what have you, your pets DO NOT need the TV or radio to be left on so they won't feel so alone or be afraid...trust me on this, I've worked with animals for the past 3 years (Vet. Tech.) and I can tell you from experience that they don't need any of that stuff on...also, we don't give them the toys and pillows and all that assorted crap that you people leave with us when you go out of town for 2 days...we just don't.

Also, another possibility could be for the City, County and major businesses in the area (B.I.S.D., Sunrise Mall, Post Office, etc.) to consider utilizing our EXPANSIVE amount of year-round sunshine and installing Solar Panels on the roofs of their offices/businesses. This could easily generate enough electricity to make a significant hit in the yearly budget that these organizations use for electricity...and good citizens of Cameron County..alot of these organizations get money for their budgets from you and me...think about it, what if the local government and the school districts MAIN OFFICES (I know that the cost would be overwhelming to install panels on every school in the district--it would be a great idea over a period of years but I'm not trying to pull a miracle out of my nether-region), the savings would be tremendous...as a matter of fact, the savings would end up paying for the installation and upkeep of the equipment as well as the equipment itself in a very short timespan.

We need to start thinking of ways to promote our city and region through innovative growth. Who knows, maybe our neighbors to the south would be interested in this as well and begin a possible bidding war between local providers (if there are any), driving more and more business as well as competitive pricing and wages...

This is my corner...what's yours?