ECONOTES 2014-03-11: Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region
Featured
- Study to focus on health of Galveston Bay (Houston Chronicle, 3/6/2014)
The Galveston Bay Foundation and Houston Advanced Research Center are partnering to provide residents the new Galveston Bay Report Card that will feature critical information on the health of Galveston Bay. Through a $720,000 grant from Houston Endowment, the Galveston Bay Report Card will provide the public with citizen-driven, science-based measures to assess the health of the bay. The report card will discuss topics such as the status of key habitats (e.g. wetlands, seagrass, oyster reefs), fish and wildlife populations, trends in water quality of local bayous and the bay, and impacts of coastal change and sea level rise. The goal of the Report Card, scheduled to be released in early 2015, is to promote the conservation of Galveston Bay’s natural resources and to increase public participation in the creation of and support for management strategies that protect the bay.
www.chron.com - Good news for Houston’s parks: Mayor Annise Parker gets cozy with EPA bigwig on long Bayou walk (Elizabeth Rhodes – Culture Map Houston, 3/6/2014)
Mayor Annise Parker and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy toured the Buffalo Bayou Park construction area and discussed the bold plans for the Bayou Greenways 2020 project Thursday morning. Parker walked with McCarthy from the Sabine Bridge, past the Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark and down the pathway near the bayou. Following their exchange, the mayor held a brief press conference featuring many of the key players in the development of both the Buffalo Bayou Park and Bayou Greenways 2020 project, including Rep. Gene Green and State Sen. Rodney Ellis, Houston Parks and Recreation Department director Joe Turner and Buffalo Bayou Partnership president Anne Olson. The $215 million Bayou Greenways 2020 project, uniquely funded through a public-private partnership, is extremely ambitious and will significantly expand and enhance the Houston parks system by adding 1,500 acres of parkland and 80 miles of new trails along Houston’s interconnected bayous.
http://houston.culturemap.com - Trees have stood for centuries, but now are in the way (Dug Begley – Houston Chronicle, 3/3/2014)
Some trees that took root before Sam Houston was born are in the way of progress, highway planners have decided. Four of 10 trees on land owned by Regina McCurdy’s family for almost 150 years – oak trees estimated to be 200 to 300 years old and rare for this flat patch of Texas – are about to be cut down because transportation officials say they need to build a bypass around Snook, population 511 as of the 2010 census. The town is a few miles southwest of College Station. Four other oaks will be wrapped with a retaining wall or guardrail. Two are off the right of way, including one that arborists believe is about 500 years old, making it one of the oldest oaks in the state. Even if it isn’t quite that old, it sprouted before Shakespeare was born, and construction could affect it.
www.houstonchronicle.com
EcoNotes
- 7 March
- Massive Tree Planting At Memorial Park Lays Groundwork For Reforestation (Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Your Texas wildflower season forecast (Dana Guthrie – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - In the Garden with Urban Harvest: It’s not easy to pick a favorite vegetable (Bob Randall, Ph.D – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Sales feature plants for all garden tastes (Kathy Huber – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Feral Hogs Got You Down? There’s an App For That (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Cost concerns dominate executive talk at energy conference (Ryan Holeywell – Fuel Fix)
http://fuelfix.com - Tax credit expired, Texas’ nation-leading wind industry still grows (Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org - EPA chief says new U.S. energy rules won’t hobble business (Ernest Scheyder – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Factbox: U.S. weather forecaster’s El Nino/La Nina watch (Josephine Mason – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - El Nino could strike as early as summer: U.S. forecaster (Chris Prentice – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Gulf Council to Hold Hearings on Red Snapper Allocation (Gulf Coast News Today)
www.gulfcoastnewstoday.com
- Massive Tree Planting At Memorial Park Lays Groundwork For Reforestation (Houston Public Media)
- 6 March
- Good news for Houston’s parks: Mayor Annise Parker gets cozy with EPA bigwig on long Bayou walk (Elizabeth Rhodes – Culture Map Houston)
http://houston.culturemap.com - Centuries-Old Live Oaks Fighting for Their Lives Against TxDOT. Guess Who’ll Win? (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Warming temperatures are pushing two chickadee species — and their hybrids — northward (Science Daily)
www.sciencedaily.com - H-GAC votes for resolution to study Hwy. 36A feasibility (Zach Haverkamp – Your Houston News)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Study to focus on health of Galveston Bay (Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Report Card Will Provide the Public with Critical Information on the Health of Galveston Bay (Houston Newcomer Guides)
http://houstonnewcomerguides.com - Water Planners to Set Bar for Conservation Funding (Rabeea Tahir – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Texas Could Lead on Methane Reduction, Report Says (Jim Malewitz and Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Drilling for Certainty: The Latest in Fracking Health Studies (Naveena Sadasivam, Propublica – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - EPA head touts “critical role” of natural gas before new power plant rules (Jordan Blum – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com - Future of Texas’ electric grid debated after conservation warning (Jordan Blum – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com - Groups sue EPA to force it to move on pesticide disclosures (Carey Gillam – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org
- Good news for Houston’s parks: Mayor Annise Parker gets cozy with EPA bigwig on long Bayou walk (Elizabeth Rhodes – Culture Map Houston)
- 5 March
- City to test whether pedestrians, cyclists will use car-free streets (Dug Begley, Mike Morris – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Texas lake welcomes back paddlefish gone for years (ABC 13 News)
http://abclocal.go.com - Galveston Bay Foundation offers rain barrel workshop (The Bay Area Citizen)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Rain didn’t dampen Hats in the Park (Houston Chronicle)
http://blog.chron.com - Green group seeking common ground at energy forum (Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Alberta’s Oil Could Head East If White House Blocks Keystone (Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org
- City to test whether pedestrians, cyclists will use car-free streets (Dug Begley, Mike Morris – Houston Chronicle)
- 4 March
- Growing Risks: Balancing Houston’s Prosperity and Air Quality, Part 2 (OffCite News)
http://offcite.org - Primary Results: Republican Railroad Commission Race Goes to Runoff (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Primary Results: Runoff for Ag Commisioner Gets Kinky (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - All About the Texas Ag Commissioner: Farms, Gas Pumps and School Lunches (Ben Philpott, KUT News – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Marvin Nichols Reservoir Plan Gets a Boost (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Cloud Seeding Advocates Look to Build Momentum (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - New U.S. fuel standards aim to cut asthma, heart attacks (Valerie Volcovici – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Murkowski Calls For Lifting Export Restrictions On Crude Oil (Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org
- Growing Risks: Balancing Houston’s Prosperity and Air Quality, Part 2 (OffCite News)
- 3 March
- Trees have stood for centuries, but now are in the way (Dug Begley – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Why Texans Are Using Less Energy Than Expected (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Houston first city in Texas to use Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds for Energy Efficiency Program (Myra Griffin – Houston Sun)
www.houstonsun.com - Where the Candidates for Railroad Commissioner Stand (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - EPA requires cleaner gasoline, but oil industry says it will cost you (Kent Hoover – The Business Journals)
www.bizjournals.com
- Trees have stood for centuries, but now are in the way (Dug Begley – Houston Chronicle)
- 2 March
- Getting there by foot is scary (Michael Skelly – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - ALS Oil & Gas acquires Houston-area completion services provider (Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com - HARC develops scorecard to rank aquarium species’ hazards if released (HARC News)
www.harcresearch.org
- Getting there by foot is scary (Michael Skelly – Houston Chronicle)
- 28 February
- Water quality monitors are sought for East Texas rivers (Kate Archer Kent – WWNO News)
http://wwno.org - Drought Fuels Rising Tide of Texas Water Conservation (Bobby Magill – Climate Central)
www.climatecentral.org - Ask the Candidates: Should Texas Test Groundwater Before Fracking? (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org
- Water quality monitors are sought for East Texas rivers (Kate Archer Kent – WWNO News)
- 26 February
- University of Texas at Austin Expands Water Conservation Efforts Amid Drought (Jaleesa Baulkman – University Herald)
www.universityherald.com
- University of Texas at Austin Expands Water Conservation Efforts Amid Drought (Jaleesa Baulkman – University Herald)
- 25 February
- City’s Fresh Water Releases Balance Human Demand, Environment (Sara Donchey – KRISTV News)
www.kristv.com - Gavin Dillingham Appointed as Vice-President of Air Alliance Houston (HARC News)
www.harcresearch.org
- City’s Fresh Water Releases Balance Human Demand, Environment (Sara Donchey – KRISTV News)