ECONOTES 2013-05-21: Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region

Featured

1. Nearby parks matter – Opinion (Houston Chronicle, 3/16/2013)
   Last year, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s budget was slashed. Since last session, tax revenues have recovered, but TPWD’s funding may not. Their funding has been placed in the budget’s Article XI – what legislators call “the wish list.” As Texas’ population grows, local parks are becoming ever more important and the price of the land to create those parks is rising – and not likely to drop again.
   http://www.chron.com/
2. Houston’s bike boom – Opinion (Houston Chronicle, 5/17/2013)
   Houston is making big strides in becoming a more bicycle-friendly city. Governor Rick Perry just signed a bill that will help open Houston’s utility easements to hike and bike trails, potentially adding more than 100 miles of north-south routes to connect with east-west bayou greenways. And City Hall recently approved a safe pass ordinance to protect bikers in the street. Thanks to federal grants and support from the private sector, Houston may soon see some bicycle lanes downtown, likely along McKinney St., Walker St. and Lamar St., connecting Discovery Green with Buffalo Bayou Park.
   http://www.chron.com/
3. Houston Business Plants Trees To Offset Pipeline Construction (Andrew Schneider – KUHF News, 5/15/2013)
   Resource Environmental Solutions, a Montrose-based company, has planted nearly 6 million trees to offset the effect of economic development on vulnerable wetlands. The business focuses on offsetting pipeline construction in shale plays throughout the United States.
   http://app1.kuhf.org/

EcoNotes

• 20 May
  • Theft of metal tree stakes in Houston park overwhelms nonprofit (Robert Stanton – Houston Chronicle)
    http://www.chron.com/news/
  • As Towns Say No, Signs of Rising Resistance to Smart Meters (Chris Hooks – The Texas Tribune)
    https://www.texastribune.org/
• 18 May
  • Annise Parker: The Modern American Boomtown (The Wall Street Journal)
    http://online.wsj.com/
  • As Mexican fires continue to burn, haze probably will linger through the weekend (Houston Chronicle)
    http://blog.chron.com/
  • Infrastructure Constraints Loom as Texas Grows (Kate Galbraith and Aman Batheja – The Texas Tribune)
    http://app1.kuhf.org/
• 17 May
  • Houston’s bike boom – Opinion (Houston Chronicle)
    http://www.chron.com/
  • Texas budget deal struck, but will Perry approve? (Paul J. Weber – My SA News)
    http://www.mysanantonio.com/
  • New fracking rules attempt to placate opposing camps (Ayesha Rascoe – Planet Ark)
    http://planetark.org/
  • New Measure for State Water Plan Heads to the House Floor (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
    http://stateimpact.npr.org/
  • Under New Approval, More Natural Gas Will Be Sent Abroad From Texas (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
    http://stateimpact.npr.org/
  • While Drought Improves for Some, Many Texas Reservoirs Fall to New Lows (Olivia Gordon – StateImpact)
    http://stateimpact.npr.org/
• 16 May
  • Nearby parks matter – Opinion (Houston Chronicle)
    http://www.chron.com/
  • Central Texas Water Fight Could Have Statewide Implications (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
    http://stateimpact.npr.org/
  • Fracturing rule upsets 2 sides (Jennifer A. Dlouhy – Houston Chronicle)
    http://www.chron.com/
  • National Trails Day to be Celebrated on June 1 (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
    http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/
  • Texas Parks and Wildlife Creates New Marine Investigations Unit (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
    http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/
  • 35 Miles of Brazos River Now Part of TPWD’s Texas Paddling Trails (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
    http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/
• 15 May
  • Houston Business Plants Trees To Offset Pipeline Construction (Andrew Schneider – KUHF News)
    http://app1.kuhf.org/
  • Agenda Texas: Water Funding Gets New Life (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
    http://stateimpact.npr.org/
  • A water generation gap portends confrontation between Texas’ past, future (Texas Climate News)
    http://texasclimatenews.org/
• 14 May
  • No Reforms for Railroad Commission This Session (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
    http://stateimpact.npr.org/
  • New Movement on Funding State Water Plan (Mose Buchele and Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
    http://stateimpact.npr.org/
  • As Session Nears End, Tesla Faces Uphill Battle to Win Texas Dealerships (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
    http://stateimpact.npr.org/
  • Bill would let natural gas-based ethanol qualify as renewable (Jennifer A. Dlouhy – My SA News)
    http://www.mysanantonio.com/
• 13 May
  • Eco-friendly green burials catching on in the U.S. (David Adams – Planet Ark)
    http://planetark.org/
  • Senate panel to vote on stalled EPA nomination Thursday (Valerie Volcovici and Andrea Shalal-Esa – Planet Ark)
    http://planetark.org/
  • Federal Cuts Mean Fewer Resources This Wildfire Season (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
    http://stateimpact.npr.org/
  • What’s Happening This Week at the Texas Legislature (David Barer – StateImpact)
    http://stateimpact.npr.org/
  • Knowing Your Neighbor When Deadly Chemicals Are Next Door (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
    http://stateimpact.npr.org/
• 10 May
  • Smaller Water Bills Flow Through the House, But Big Funding Misses Out (David Barer – StateImpact)
    http://stateimpact.npr.org/
• 9 May
  • Sierra Club pulls Facebook ads over Keystone, drilling issues (Olivia Pulsinelli – Houston Business Journal)
    http://www.bizjournals.com/
• 7 May
  • Texas Groundwater Levels Suffer Sharp Drop, Study Finds (Kate Galbraith – The Texas Tribune)
    http://www.texastribune.org/
• 6 May
  • As water legislation stalls, Texas’ drought goes on and on (and on) (Texas Climate News)
    http://texasclimatenews.org/
• 2 May
  • TribLive: Staples on Paying for the Water Plan (Evan Smith – The Texas Tribune)
    https://www.texastribune.org/