ENVIRONMENTAL HEADLINES, DECEMBER 13 – 23
FEDERAL ENERGY POLICY SHIFT LIKELY TO BE SEISMIC Houston Chronicle 12/20/08
Many environmentalists are downright giddy.
TRADE DEALS MUST PROTECT ENVIRONMENT: OBAMA
SUNSET PANEL URGES TIGHT REIN ON ‘OUT OF CONTROL’ TXDOT
Houston Chronicle 12/16/08
Describing the Texas Department of Transportation as “a mess” that must be transformed to restore public trust, a legislative panel Tuesday recommended keeping a tight rein on the agency, removing some of its duties and whittling its oversight board from five members to one.
TEXAS TRANSPORTATION COSTS PUT AT $313B THROUGH 2030
U.S. FINES EXXON $6 MILLION OVER REFINERIES’ POLLUTION
Houston Chronicle 12/17/08
Exxon Mobil Corp. will pay a $6.1 million fine for violating a three-year-old agreement to reduce pollution at six refineries, including one in Baytown, federal regulators announced Wednesday.
$8.5 MILLION DEAL ASSURES WATER WALL WILL SURVIVE
Houston Chronicle 12/19/08
It may have cost $8.5 million, but the city now can safely say that the Water Wall near the Galleria is safe from being razed and potentially turned into another high-rise or shopping center.
HIGH STREET DEVELOPMENT ON WESTHEIMER PUT ON HOLD
STORMS KEEP COMING FOR GALVESTON MAYOR
Houston Chronicle 12/18/08
If Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas had bullets for eyes, I’d be dead.
STATE LOOKING FOR FUNDS TO FINISH BEACH PROJECTS
Galveston County Daily News 12/17/08
Crews will begin extending beaches between 61st and 43rd streets, but more money is needed to add sand as far as 27th Street.
ROLLOVER PASS BEACHES TO BE REBUILT
ALL BUT 2 GEOTUBES SET TO BE REMOVED
RAILWAY CAN PUT ISLAND ON THE PATH TO PROSPERITY
Galveston County Daily News 12/20/08
A Galveston resident and ornithological author argues that it’s becoming ever more important to have public transportation between the island and Houston.
SEASON BRINGS OUT NOCTURNAL BIRDS
Houston Chronicle 12/20/08
If you could sail in Santa’s sleigh over Houston rooftops, treetops and fields at the break of Christmas Day, what birds might you see? And what would be on their Christmas menus?
PANZARELLA HAS TEXAS’ MOST DIVERSE CITRUS CROP
Houston Chronicle 12/19/08
The cold, blustery weather that’s been blowing across the Texas coast doesn’t worry John Panzarella — unless the temperature dips below 26 degrees for too long.
TEXAS RANCHERS WORK TO BRING BACK THREATENED QUAIL
Houston Chronicle 12/13/08
The sparse beauty of the tall grasses and sand plum trees at WW Ranch makes this land near the San Bernard River appear unchanged from a century ago. But the still life can be deceptive.