Love Is …
Love is in the air at City Council chambers
Wells Dunbar, Austin Chronicle, June 21, 2007
First, self-described consumer advocate and environmental activist Paul Robbins – a prickly-pear if ever there was one – was read a proclamation by Lee Leffingwell naming Downtown’s first district chilling plant for him. “This may be the first award the city ever gave for stubbornness,” said Robbins, whose spent 30 years advocating for smart energy policy in Austin (his Austin Environmental Directory is here)
Downtown Coolin’ Plant Chillin’ Like Paul Robbins
Who’s Paul Robbins, and what’s a cooling plant?
Daniel Mottola, Austin Chronicle, July 27, 2007
In June, the Austin City Council voted to rename Downtown’s District Cooling Plant 1 after Paul Robbins, publisher of the Austin Environmental Directory and perhaps the city’s most indefatigable green activist. Clad in his signature tweed blazer, penny loafers, and magnifying-glass-like spectacles, Robbins is the rail-thin gent with longish gray hair who’s often tersely addressing council during citizens’ communication, skewering the city over an energy-related misgiving or calling for far-reaching reforms. Was the renaming the city’s smartass way of telling Robbins to “chill out”? And just what the heck is a district cooling plant, anyway?