ENVIRONMENTAL HEADLINES, AUGUST 23 – 29

LYONDELL PLANTS TO PAY $6.5 MILLION TO END TEXAS SMOG PROBE
Houston Chronicle 8/26/08
Two Lyondell Chemical Company affiliates have agreed to pay $6.5 million to resolve an investigation into their handling of smog-causing pollutants, the Texas attorney general announced Monday.

JOINT VENTURE PLANS $1.8 BILLION TEXAS OFFSHORE OIL PORT AND PIPELINE SYSTEM
Houston Business Journal 8/18/08
Two Houston companies and a German oil storage company are teaming up to build a $1.8 billion oil port and pipeline system off the Texas coast.

REPORT: SHIP POLLUTION IN PORTS ON RISE

RENTAL VENTURE ZIPCAR INTRODUCES RICE U. TO CAR SHARING
Houston Chronicle 8/26/08
Car sharing. Two words that still sound a little foreign when used together in Texas.

SPERM WHALES LIVE YEAR-ROUND IN GULF, NEW STUDY FINDS
Houston Chronicle 8/25/08
Sperm whales, one of the world’s largest and least-understood creatures, congregate year-round in the Gulf of Mexico despite the region’s significant drilling and shipping activity, according to a study released Thursday.

ENERGY INDUSTRY POWERS CORNYN’S FUNDRAISING
Houston Chronicle 8/26/08
Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn — a top congressional proponent of expanded domestic drilling for more oil to lower gasoline prices — is among the nation’s largest recipients of political donations from the oil and gas industry.

SPRING SUBDIVISION LOSING HOMES TO PLANNED TOLLWAY
Houston Chronicle 8/20/08
The red brick home in Spring that Tracy Martin’s family bought a year ago seemed to have everything she had ever wanted.