ENVIRONMENTAL HEADLINES, OCTOBER 28 – NOVEMBER 3
GROUP ACCUSES TXU, RELIANT OF PRICE GOUGING
Houston Business Journal 11/01/06
TXU Corp and Reliant Energy Inc customers in North Texas would have paid $700 million less during the past 10 months for electricity if the companies’ rates would have been lowered to reflect the drop in natural gas prices, according to a report by a consumer advocacy group.
STUDY CONTENDS MANY CUSTOMERS OVERPAY FOR ELECTRICITY
KING: SOME WANT RE-REGULATION OF POWER MARKET
Galveston County Daily News 10/29/06
Texans are so upset about electricity prices that some lawmakers and others are calling to re-regulate the electricity market, a lawmaker said.
PUC WAITED TO START POWER PROBE
SMALL STORM LEAVES BIG BILL
Galveston County Daily News 11/2/06
It is expected to cost about $75,000 to repair the damage done to Galveston beaches by a storm that hit recently.
GOV. PERRY ASKS FOR DISASTER DECLARATION
STATE BAN ON PUBLIC SMOKING IN THE WORKS
Baytown Sun 10/29/06
The decision of Baytown voters on whether to pass a proposed smoking ban in the city likely will impact one state senator’s push for a comprehensive statewide ban.
SMOKING ORDINANCE ISSUE HEATING UP
RULES FOR DRILLING UNDER BIG THICKET TO CHANGE
Beaumont Enterprise 10/31/2006
US District Judge John D. Bates ruled in favor of the Sierra Club last week, saying the National Park Service is doing an inadequate job of documenting the environmental impacts of the slant drilling platforms that bore underneath the preserve.
CENTRALIZING COUNTY’S HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS MAY BE IN THE WORKS
Houston Chronicle 10/31/06
The county owns an 1842 receipt describing the sale of a stake in a firm called Houston and Birdsall – and that’s “Houston” as in Sam Houston, the city’s namesake.
TRANSIT AUTHORITY IN OFFING?
Baytown Sun 10/28/06
If officials hope to create a regional transportation authority for the Baytown-West Chambers County area, they need to act quickly.
LONE DRIVERS MIGHT GET HOV ACCESS – FOR A FEE
Houston Chronicle 10/27/06
Those HOV lanes long forbidden to the motorist driving home alone could become a legal route for the price of a few bucks, based on a plan the Metropolitan Transit Authority is considering.
VARMINT CATCHERS DON’T PLAY POSSUM IN CORPUS
Houston Chronicle 10/30/06
CORPUS CHRISTI – Maybe it’s the naked, prehensile tail and the spooky, toothy grin. Or perhaps it’s their reputation as garbage eaters, attic invaders, and carriers of disease.
THREATENED FROGS GET VIP TREATMENT AT HOTEL
Houston Chronicle 10/28/06
Like something from the pages of a fast-paced biological thriller, zookeepers from Houston and elsewhere have haunted the cloud forests of Panama for months, trying to save the revered Panamanian golden frog from a ruthless fungus slowly making its way southward, suffocating virtually all amphibians in its path.