• 713-524-4CEC (4232)
  • info@cechouston.org
ECONOTES 2014-01-28: Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region
January 27, 2014

ECONOTES 2014-01-28: Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region

Featured

  1. Planned highway could cut into prized Katy Prairie (Matthew Tresaugue, Houston Chronicle, 1/23/2014)
    Mary Anne Piacentini’s dream is for the Katy Prairie, a wide-open grassland some 40 miles west of Houston, to become a living reminder of a once common and bountiful landscape. For decades, her Katy Prairie Conservancy has purchased land here with the goal of preserving it for ducks, geese and egrets, for wildflowers and tall grasses — all for the public. Now, some public officials are pushing a strikingly different vision for the prairie: a highway to link Port Freeport and rapidly growing Brazoria and Fort Bend County suburbs to Waller County and points north.
    www.chron.com.
  2. Houston’s Ozone Mystery: Pockets of Pollution Unlike Other Cities (Dave Fehling – StateImpact, 1/22/2014)
    At the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), they’re very familiar with a park in Manvel, a small town 15 miles south of downtown Houston. It’s a place where prairie land is quickly being turned into subdivisions but it still retains a rural appearance. In Croix Memorial Park, between a soccer field and a playground, is one of the TCEQ’s air pollution monitoring stations, one of over 20 spread across the Houston area. For some reason, the monitor in Manvel shows that ozone levels here are among the worst in the metro area. Consistently. And they haven’t come down as they have over the past decade at other monitoring sites, some of them near areas with far more sources of pollution from vehicles or industries.
    http://stateimpact.npr.org
  3. Historic downtown building to be renovated into activity hub (Giselle Greenwood – Houston Business Journal, 1/21/2014)
    Houston First Corp. and Buffalo Bayou Partnership are embarking on a $5.3 million renovation of one of Houston’s historic buildings. The site is the 100-year-old Sunset Coffee building, located at Allen’s Landing near Main and Commerce streets in downtown Houston. The renovated building will include a ground-level outdoor plaza with rental facilities for runners, canoeists, kayakers and bikers. The first level will house the Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s offices, and the second level and rooftop terrace will be used for event space.
    www.bizjournals.com

EcoNotes

  • 26 January
  • 24 January
    • Chemical Safety Hearing Tour Makes Stop In Houston (Florian Martin – KUHF News)
      http://app1.kuhf.org
    • Demand Response Could Factor in Grid Debate (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • After Invading Lakes, Are Zebra Mussels Coming for Power Plants Next? (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • A real winter’s day turns Houston hapless (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • U.S. EPA to reconsider 2013 cellulosic ethanol target (Timothy Gardner – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
  • 23 January
    • Planned highway could cut into prized Katy Prairie (Matthew Tresaugue, Houston Chronicle – Seattle Pi)
      www.seattlepi.com
    • Forestry services provide workshops to tree care industry workers (John Warner – Conroe Today)
      www.conroetoday.com
    • Trip to Cuba brings a coveted sight: a bee hummingbird (Gary Clark – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • Mussels, Lizard, Snake on Comptroller’s Research List (Shelby Sementelli – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Texas Regulators Air Concerns on Greenhouse Gas Rules (Jim Malewitz and Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • A living fort debuts in Hermann Park: Your imagination will run wild in this new labyrinth (Joel Luks – Culture Map Houston)
      http://houston.culturemap.com
    • Retiring Lawmaker Says Work Remains For Texas Water (Mose Buchele and Alex Dropkin – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
  • 22 January
    • Houston’s Ozone Mystery: Pockets of Pollution Unlike Other Cities (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • San Antonio Seeks Ownership of Its Wastewater (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Solar Plant Planned for West Texas (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Angry North Texans Demand State Shut Down Wells Linked to Earthquakes (Terrence Henry and Shawna Reding – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • As Oil Flows in the Keystone XL Pipeline, Opponents Vow Scrutiny (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • Energy secretary: U.S. can meet natural gas environmental challenges (Jennifer A. Dlouhy – My SA News)
      www.mysanantonio.com
  • 21 January
    • Historic downtown building to be renovated into activity hub (Giselle Greenwood – Houston Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
    • Work about to begin on creating Houston’s largest dog park (Heather Alexander – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • Researchers Say New Electric Vehicle Charging System Saves Money And Energy For Businesses (Gail Delaughter – KUHF News)
      http://app1.kuhf.org
    • Aquatic Informatics Wins 2013 EBJ Business Achievement Award (Aquatic Informatics)
      http://aquaticinformatics.com
  • 20 January
  • 19 January
    • Feds ask Shell for assurances on Arctic drilling (Jennifer A. Dlouhy – My SA News)
      www.mysanantonio.com
    • CO2 emissions are being ‘outsourced’ by rich countries to rising economies (Suzanne Goldenberg – The Guardian)
      www.theguardian.com
  • 17 January
  • 16 January
    • Edwards Aquifer Plan Gets High Honor at Turbulent Time (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Effort to Avert Pipeline Accidents Under Scrutiny (Dave Fehling, KUHF News/StateImpact News – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org