ENVIRONMENTAL HEADLINES, MAY 19 – 25

MERCHANT SEEKS TO BAR METRO PROJECTS WITHOUT VOTE
Houston Chronicle 5/24/07
A Richmond Avenue merchant filed suit Wednesday seeking to bar Metro from building light rail on Richmond, four Bus Rapid Transit lines or a North Side Intermodal Terminal without seeking voter approval in a new election.

KINDER MORGAN ENERGY TO PAY $5.2 MILLION IN FINES
Houston Business Journal 5/21/07
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP will pay nearly $5.2 million in fines for its alleged involvement in the release of petroleum products during three northern California pipeline incidents.

UPS TO INTRODUCE HYBRID TRUCKS IN HOUSTON
Houston Business Journal 5/22/07
UPS Inc. is rolling out 50 hybrid electric delivery trucks that are expected to be fuel efficient and reduce pollution, the world’s largest shipping carrier said Tuesday.

WANT TO SKIP HOLIDAY GRIDLOCK? LEAVE LATER
Houston Chronicle 5/24/07
Call it sweet justice for the working Houstonian.

SEMINARS TO STORM THE AREA
Brazosport Facts 5/22/07
Area residents will learn how to protect their property and themselves during a series of hurricane preparedness seminars beginning May 31.

KILLER HURRICANES THRIVED IN COOL SEAS – STUDY

GROUPS PARTNER TO PREVENT CHILD DROWNINGS
Houston Chronicle 5/23/07
Eighteen child drowning deaths in 2006. Twelve of those during the summer months. A drowning or near drowning every other day during the summer. Sixty percent of them in apartment complexes.

BILLIONS IN FOREST DAMAGE CAUSED BY CAMPERS TRANSPORTING INSECT-INFESTED FIREWOOD
Environmental News Network 5/24/07
The U.S. Forest Service and state forestry agencies around the country say transporting firewood lets tree-killing insects hitch a ride into the woods, contributing to billions of dollars in damage and needless work each year.

TAKE THE PLEDGE – DON’T TRANSPORT FIREWOOD!
BEEHIVES SAVED FROM HARRIS COUNTY HOUSE Houston Chronicle 5/23/07
Beverly Tuttle has been around bees since she was 6 and grew so fond of them that she did nothing when they took over a corner of her home’s exterior in northwest Harris County.

SOURCE OF TUPELO HONEY SUFFERS NO BEE DIE-OFFS

BORDER FENCE COULD WORSEN FLOODING, PANEL WARNS
Houston Chronicle 5/23/07
A planned, much-debated fence along the U.S.-Mexico border designed to keep people from crossing the Rio Grande could exacerbate flooding and skew the national boundary, a binational commission said today.

THE MOST HOUSTON PLACE
Houston Chronicle 5/23/07
I started this unscientific process by asking myself what makes Houston Houston, and different from Atlanta or Boston or Dubai. This was my list: