ENVIRONMENTAL HEADLINES, JULY 21 – 27
TXDOT, METRO CONSIDER HOV TOLL PLAN
Houston Chronicle 7/26/07
State highway officials meeting in Sugar Land today will discuss a Metro proposal to allow toll traffic on local HOV lanes. The Texas Department of Transportation will recommend an equal split of any resulting profits, a TxDOT official said.
GRANTS FIRST STEP IN GETTING PARK-AND-RIDE
Baytown Sun 7/25/07
With the backing of the Harris County Commissioners Court and a federal grant, Pct. 2 Commissioner Sylvia Garcia is ready to realize a dream that’s been years in the making – a park-and-ride system from Baytown to Houston.
FORMER CITY COUNCIL MEMBER TO HEAD UP RAIL BOARD
Houston Business Journal 7/25/07
Mark Ellis has been appointed to lead the Gulf Coast Freight Rail District board for a two-year term.
UNDERWATER ENERGY PROJECT TAKES A STEP FORWARD
Houston Business Journal 7/25/07
A group of businessmen and university researchers took an important step earlier this week toward weaning Galveston off fossil fuels, successfully submerging a current meter in 36 feet of water under the Pelican Island Bridge.
TREES TO BE PLANTED ALONG TEXAS 249
Houston Chronicle 7/17/07
The Texas Department of Transportation will launch a $2.1 million tree-planting project this month along Texas 249 from Beltway 8 to just south of Tomball. It is the agency’s largest landscape project in the Houston region to date.
U.S. BORDER FENCE SEEN HARMING OCELOTS, BUTTERFLIES
Environmental News Network 7/25/07
ON THE RIO GRANDE, Texas — The riot of green vegetation that lines both sides of the Rio Grande river along the southeast Texas and Mexican border can give a canoeist the impression of gliding past unbroken wilderness.
OZONE CUTS PLANT GROWTH, SPURS GLOBAL WARMING – STUDY
Reuters 7/26/07
The affects of greenhouse gas ozone, which has been increasing near Earth’s surface since 1850, could seriously cut into crop yields and spur global warming this century, scientists reported on Wednesday.
GAME WARDENS PATROL GULF AFTER DARK FOR ROGUE SHRIMPERS
Houston 7/27/07
Orange smudges and lime-green lines on a radar screen perched next to master pilot Todd Penick were the only light anywhere on the 65-foot vessel churning at better than 20 knots through the Gulf of Mexico off the upper Texas coast.
HUMANE SOCIETY URGES PROSECUTION OF HOUSTON TYCOON
Houston Chronicle 7/24/07
The Humane Society of the United States is urging the Justice Department to prosecute Houston billionaire Dan Duncan for hunting from a helicopter in Russia and bringing his trophies back to the U.S.
ARTIST DONATES PAINTINGS TO WETLANDS CENTER
The Baytown Sun 7/26/07
Ken Pridgeon, better known as “Ken the Dauber,” has a vision. He sees the pond near his Lee Drive home filled with children and their fathers paddling in boats and fishing. He appreciates the beauty in fish and nature, and wants kids to appreciate them as well.
SHERMAN’S LAGOON
Houston Chronicle 7/23/07