ENVIRONMENTAL HEADLINES, JUNE 24 – 30
US EPA SUFFERS FROM CHRONIC MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS: GAO
Reuters 6/28/07
WASHINGTON – The US Environmental Protection Agency does not enforce clean air and water laws consistently and is crippled by sloppy record keeping, the investigative arm of Congress told a Senate panel on Wednesday.
SUPREME COURT TAKES UP WHAT COULD BE KEY RULING ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Environmental News Network 6/27/06
WASHINGTON – Running for president, George W. Bush said he was ready to regulate carbon dioxide. But in early 2001, shortly after taking office, he changed his mind.
US TOP COURT TO DECIDE APPEAL ON AUTO EMISSIONS
SURGE IN WEST NILE VIRUS PROMPTS AERIAL SPRAYING
Houston Chronicle 6/29/06
A fourfold increase in reported West Nile virus prompted Harris County health officials to begin aerial mosquito spraying on Wednesday. That’s earlier in the year than any time since the virus first appeared locally in 2002.
HEALTH ALERT COULD HELP CITY EXPAND SMOKING BAN
Houston Chronicle 6/28/06
Declaring that second-hand smoke causes tens of thousands of premature deaths among nonsmokers every year, the US surgeon general called Tuesday for completely smoke-free workplaces.
‘BREATHTAKING’ WASTE AND FRAUD IN HURRICANE AID
New York Times 6/27/06
WASHINGTON – Among the many superlatives associated with Hurricane Katrina can now be added this one: It produced one of the most extraordinary displays of scams, schemes, and stupefying bureaucratic bungles in modern history, costing taxpayers up to $2 billion.
ANADARKO TO PAY $21 BILLION FOR TWO RIVALS
New York Times 6/24/06
In a move that will create one of the nation’s largest independent oil companies, Anadarko Petroleum said yesterday that it had agreed to buy two smaller rivals for $21.1 billion in cash to expand its operations into North America’s fastest-growing oil and gas regions.
ANADARKO TO BUY KERR-MCGEE, WESTERN GAS FOR $21.1B
AREA MAN BITTEN BY BAT
Baytown Sun 6/28/06
For the second time in less than two weeks, a bat has bitten a Baytown area person. Also, the Harris County health department announced Tuesday that a dead bat found in the Newport subdivision in Crosby tested positive for rabies.
COUNTY AMENDS SPACEPORT DEAL
Brazosport Facts 6/28/06
ANGLETON – Commissioners Court plans to move forward with work to bring a launch pad and related construction to the county as part of a Gulf Coast Regional Spaceport Development Corp. agreement, despite objections from two commissioners concerned with issues raised by residents of the area.
SPACEPORT MEETING SLATED BY FAA
EXPANSION COULD THREATEN MINERAL SOURCE, JOBS
Brazosport Facts 6/25/06
Dow Texas Operations officials say the proposed Strategic Petroleum Reserve expansion at Stratton Ridge could threaten a cost-effective mineral source and consequently thousands of local jobs.
STUDY LINKS PESTICIDES WITH PARKINSON’S
Reuters 6/27/06
WASHINGTON – People with long-term, low-level exposure to pesticides have a 70 percent higher incidence of Parkinson’s disease than people who have not been exposed much to bug sprays, US researchers reported on Monday.
OFFICE BUILDINGS CAN FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING, SAYS WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE GUIDEBOOK
Environmental News Network 6/21/06
WASHINGTON, DC – Most people associate global warming with industrial polluters. People who work in office buildings can also significantly impact climate change by introducing energy-efficiency measures to improve building operations, however.
HOW TO COOL A PLANET (MAYBE)
New York Times 6/26/06
In the past few decades, a handful of scientists have come up with big, futuristic ways to fight global warming: Build sunshades in orbit to cool the planet. Tinker with clouds to make them reflect more sunlight back into space. Trick oceans into soaking up more heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
FORGET ABOUT SAVING WATER, STOP THE SEX
Galveston County Daily News 6/28/06
FRIENDSWOOD – Some $22,000 spent for water conservation education in grade schools could be better spent on abstinence education, a city councilman said.