ECONOTES 2011-03-02: Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region
Featured
- TPC delays vote on bike/ped funding cuts (Vilas Bhuchar – Houston Tomorrow, 03/01/2011)
The Houston – Galveston Area Council’s Transportation Policy Council voted on Friday morning to delay by 30 days its vote on a $12.8 million cut in funding toward bike and pedestrian projects already in the 2011-2014 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), to allow time to gather further public comment, following over 20 speakers and two petitions in favor of bicycle, pedestrian, and livability spending.
www.houstontomorrow.org - House-Passed Bill Would Slash Funding For Columbia Bottomlands Forest (Wendy Siegle – KUHF News, 03/01/2011)
A bill that is now circulating in the Senate could cut more than $60 billion from the federal budget, including deep cuts to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. That would reduce the program’s budget by 90%. This could have a major impact on Columbia Bottomlands forest of San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, just over an hour south of Houston.
http://app1.kuhf.org/houston_public_radio-news-display.php?articles_id=1299022044 - From gentle stream to junk-laden mess (Allan Turner – Houston Chronicle, 02/28/2011)
In most places, Buffalo Bayou seems appealingly clean and green. It all changes in Bering Ditch, where the good bayou ends. The concrete-line drainage ditch’s stream turns the water brown. Storm runoff then dumps an overwhelming amount of junk, including tires, cans, plastic bags by the hundreds, and shopping carts by the score, into the waterway. Recently, workers helped to cleanup the area.
www.chron.com - Rising Seas Could Swamp Some Texas Cities By 2100 (Forrest Wilder – The Texas Observer, 02/24/2011)
One impact of climate change is sea-level rise. As oceans rise from melting glaciers and ice sheets, this could put entire communities along the coasts in danger. Scientists estimate about a one meter sea-level rise by 2100. Some Texas cities may be swamped by the Gulf. Almost 50 percent of Port Arthur and Galveston are less than 1 meter, or three feet, above sea level.
www.texasobserver.org
EcoNotes
- 2 March
- Extreme Winter Weather Linked to Climate Change (Deborah Zaberenko – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org/wen/61358 - Is Flagship debris ending up in the Gulf? (The Galveston County Daily News)
http://galvestondailynews.com/story/215298 - Agency seeks comment on nuclear renewal application (John Tompkins – The Facts Covering Brazoria County)
http://thefacts.com/your_town/matagorda_county/article_29da966a-447f-11e0-9531-001cc4c002e0.html
- Extreme Winter Weather Linked to Climate Change (Deborah Zaberenko – Planet Ark News)
- 1 March
- House-Passed Bill Would Slash Funding For Columbia Bottomlands Forest (Wendy Siegle – KUHF News)
http://app1.kuhf.org/houston_public_radio-news-display.php?articles_id=1299022044 - TPC delays vote on bike/ped funding cuts (Vilas Bhuchar – Houston Tomorrow)
http://www.houstontomorrow.org/livability/story/tpc-delays-vote-on-transportation-funding
- House-Passed Bill Would Slash Funding For Columbia Bottomlands Forest (Wendy Siegle – KUHF News)
- 28 February
- From gentle stream to junk-laden mess (Allan Turner – Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7450553.html - EPA Announces Winners of 2010 Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Awards (EPA News)
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/
- From gentle stream to junk-laden mess (Allan Turner – Houston Chronicle)
- 27 February
- Scientists hoping to give whooping cranes a fighting chance to thrive in their old home (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7448936.html - Several Southern Plains communities evacuation as wildfires spread (Texas Forest Service News)
http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu/main/popup.aspx?id=12902
- Scientists hoping to give whooping cranes a fighting chance to thrive in their old home (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
- 25 February
- Bikeway Funding Safe For Now (Wendy Siegle – KUHF News)
http://app1.kuhf.org/houston_public_radio-news-display.php?articles_id=1298679024
- Bikeway Funding Safe For Now (Wendy Siegle – KUHF News)
- 24 February
- T. Boone Pickens: Time to get serious about oil independence (Barbara Kessler – ABC13 News)
http://www.greenrightnow.com/ktrk/2011/02/24/t-boone-pickens-time-to-get-serious-about-oil-independence/ - Rising Seas Could Swamp Some Texas Cities By 2100 (Forrest Wilder – The Texas Observer)
http://www.texasobserver.org/forrestforthetrees/new-research-rising-seas-could-swamp-some-texas-cities-by-2100 - Groups sue EPA for documents on Texas power plants (Angela K. Brown – Bloomberg News)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-25/groups-sue-epa-for-documents-on-texas-power-plants.html - EPA Compromises On Industrial Pollution Rules (Timothy Gardner – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org/wen/61300
- Surfside’s beach making waves with new look (Glenn Krampota – The Facts Covering Brazoria County)
http://thefacts.com/news/article_c8138a7c-3fc4-11e0-9e28-001cc4c03286.html
- T. Boone Pickens: Time to get serious about oil independence (Barbara Kessler – ABC13 News)
- 23 February
- Removal of Abandoned Crab Traps (Rod Rice – KUHF News)
http://app1.kuhf.org/houston_public_radio-news-display.php?articles_id=1298499153 - EPA Trims Costs To Control Toxic Air Pollution (Dina Cappiello – Click2Houston)
http://www.click2houston.com/green-pages/26964703/detail.html - Stranded Whale Fights for Survival (Rod Rice – KUHF News)
http://app1.kuhf.org/houston_public_radio-news-display.php?articles_id=1298497414 - First Signs of Spring Arrive at Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (Guidry News)
http://www.guidrynews.com/story.aspx?id=1000032958 - TCEQ Approves Fines Totaling $1,976,497 (TCEQ News)
http://www.tceq.texas.gov/news/releases/2-11Agenda2-23
- Removal of Abandoned Crab Traps (Rod Rice – KUHF News)
- 22 February
- Spring brings the annual rain of lawn chemicals (Barbara Kessler – ABC13 News)
http://www.greenrightnow.com/ktrk/2011/02/22/spring-brings-the-annual-rain-of-lawn-chemicals/
- Spring brings the annual rain of lawn chemicals (Barbara Kessler – ABC13 News)
- 21 February
- Houston group has futurist, green plans for rebuilding Bolivar (Sarah Moore – Beaumont Enterprise)
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/default/article/Houston-group-has-futurist-green-plans-for-1024072.php - I-Team: EPA underreports radiation in America’s drinking water (Mark Greenblatt – KHOU News)
http://www.khou.com/news/investigative/116634593.html
- Houston group has futurist, green plans for rebuilding Bolivar (Sarah Moore – Beaumont Enterprise)
- 18 February
- North Texas freeze sends goldfinches south for food (Gary Clark – My SA News)
http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/North-Texas-freeze-sends-goldfinches-south-for-1020050.php
- North Texas freeze sends goldfinches south for food (Gary Clark – My SA News)
- 17 February
- Opinion: In support of fracking: things we need to know (Jacqueline L. Weaver – Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7432474.html - Texas Gulf oysters get branded: Why not? (Greg Morago – Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/main/7432217.html
- Opinion: In support of fracking: things we need to know (Jacqueline L. Weaver – Houston Chronicle)