ECONOTES 2014-03-18: Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region
Featured
- River waste (Houston Chronicle, 3/6/2014)
Both forks of the San Jacinto River and the northern sliver of Lake Houston exceed the state standard for bacteria contaminants – namely, human and animal feces. Any time you increase population, you get more waste loads, notes Todd Running, water resource manager for the Houston-Galveston Area Council. A new report forecasts that the population in the regional watershed will more than double in the next two decades. Bacteria can grow on waste that a growing human population produces. While overall water quality falls short of state standards, the Houston-Galveston area has been making strides in the right direction. Regulation has helped. Within about three years, all of the region’s wastewater treatment facilities should have undergone permit renewals that will subject them to increased bacteria-monitoring requirements. Yet some pipes in the sewer systems are old and leaking.
www.chron.com - Data App: Track Texas Reservoir Levels (Ryan Murphy and Kate Galbraith – The Texas Tribune, 3/12/2014)
Texas endured the most intense drought in recorded state history in 2011, and it has yet to bounce back. Water levels at a number of reservoirs remain significantly low, particularly in West Texas, which is drier than East Texas. Using data collected from the Texas Water Development Board’s reservoir status tracker, a map has been built that visualizes the current state of Texas’ reservoirs. The map auto-updates daily with fresh data. Each icon on the map represents an individual reservoir, color-coded based on how full it is currently.
www.texastribune.org - Fall, winter rains will bring good wildflower displays to parts of Texas (Your Houston News, 3/11/2014)
While cooler than usual weather may delay the wildflower season in some parts of Texas, the good news is that many areas should have great blooms, and a few already show the first stirrings of spring. Fall and winter moisture are important as many popular wildflowers—including Texas bluebonnets, Indian blanket and Texas star—get a jumpstart on their spring growth by germinating during the winter and establishing themselves as rosettes. At Houston Audubon’s Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary, the leaves of a number of wildflowers including rosinweed, Texas coneflower, black-eyed Susan, rattlesnake master, and blue-eyed grass are up, but not many have flowered yet. The exceptions are some violets and Carolina jessamine.
www.yourhoustonnews.com
EcoNotes
- 19 March
- The Future of Garbage: Curbside Compost (Earth Share)
www.earthshare.org
- The Future of Garbage: Curbside Compost (Earth Share)
- 14 March
- March garden calendar packed with sales, workshops (Kathy Huber – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Pine warblers survive through energy and adaptability (Gary Clark – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Shady Acres concerned about expansion of W. 20th St. (Michael Sudhalter – The Leader News)
www.theleadernews.com - UPS delivers a boost to propane as vehicle fuel (Ryan Hoelywell – Fuel Fix)
http://fuelfix.com - New Film Shows Lives Still Scarred By BP Oil Spill (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - U.S. lifts ban blocking BP from new government contracts (Ayesha Rascoe – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - EU, U.S. to commit to remove all duties on transatlantic trade (Barbara Lewis and Robin Emmott – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org
- March garden calendar packed with sales, workshops (Kathy Huber – Houston Chronicle)
- 13 March
- States’ Plan to Save Rare Bird Stirs Debate in Texas (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Chesapeake Energy’s $5 Billion Shuffle (Abrahm Lustgarten, Propublica – StateImpact)
https://stateimpact.npr.org - Filmmakers Argue for Demolition of Dams Across the Country (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
https://stateimpact.npr.org - U.S. House panel investigates EPA’s power plant rule setting (Valerie Volcovici – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Standing Against Keystone XL (Gulf Restoration Network)
https://healthygulf.org - Effort To Speed Exports Of LNG Hits A Roadblock In Senate (Houston Public Media News)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org
- States’ Plan to Save Rare Bird Stirs Debate in Texas (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
- 12 March
- Data App: Track Texas Reservoir Levels (Ryan Murphy and Kate Galbraith – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - How a Common Fungus Is Protecting the Earth from a Climate Change Nightmare (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - Lawmaker Challenges Austin’s Bag Ban (KEYE TV News)
www.keyetv.com - ‘Seeds Of Time:’ Inside the Noah’s Ark for Climate Change (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Pedestrian Fatalities, Tunnel History, and Fishing in Houston & Galveston: Houston Matters (Craig Cohen – Houston Matters)
www.houstonmatters.org - Mayor, EPA administrator tour Buffalo Bayou Park (Memorial Examiner)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - TransCanada CEO Russell Girling On The Keystone XL Pipeline (Houston Public Media News)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org
- Data App: Track Texas Reservoir Levels (Ryan Murphy and Kate Galbraith – The Texas Tribune)
- 11 March
- Fall, winter rains will bring good wildflower displays to parts of Texas (Your Houston News)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Runoff main culprit in Cedar Bayou pollution, says watershed partnership (Mark Fleming – The Baytown Sun)
http://baytownsun.com - Arctic melt speeding up, UK researchers report (Tim Radford – Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org - Hugh Daigle: The TT Interview (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - AG’s Office Poised to Weigh In on Plastic Bag Bans (Aamena Ahmed – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Texas’s Oil and Water Tightrope (Deborah Gordon and Katherine Garner – Carnegie Endowment)
http://carnegieendowment.org - The Gas Well Next Door: How Drilling Changed in Fort Worth (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Leaving a Livable World for the Next Generation (Earth Share)
www.earthshare.org - U.S. Senate Democrats pulling all-nighter on climate change (Thomas Ferraro and Valerie Volcovici – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - In Central Texas, drought threatens LCRA’s hydropower (Jim Malewitz – San Marcos Mercury News)
- Fall, winter rains will bring good wildflower displays to parts of Texas (Your Houston News)
- 10 March
- Winners Announced in Solid Waste Management Department’s “Growing Up Recycling” Cart Decorating Contest (The City of Houston News)
www.houstontx.gov - Houston weekend trips for families (Dai Huynh – USA Today)
www.usatoday.com - Election 2014: Does climate change stand a chance against the oil boom? (Greg Harman – The Daily Climate)
www.dailyclimate.org - Metro reports an increase in boardings with bikes (Charles Kuffner – Off the Kuff)
http://offthekuff.com - In Central Texas, Drought Threatens Hydropower (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Filmmaker Chronicles Anti-Keystone XL Pipeline Movement in Texas (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - The NRC and Nuclear Power Plant Safety in 2013: More Jekyll, Less Hyde (Rabeea Tahir – The Texas Tribune, Star-Telegram)
www.star-telegram.com - Steering committee selection begins for San Jacinto River cleanup (Bruce Olson – The Tribune)
http://ourtribune.com
- Winners Announced in Solid Waste Management Department’s “Growing Up Recycling” Cart Decorating Contest (The City of Houston News)
- 9 March
- Volunteer: Help clean trash from area waterways (Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Study to review hurricane protection ideas in Houston area (Reporter News)
www.reporternews.com - Texas lake welcomes back paddlefish gone for years (Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associate Press – Philly News)
www.philly.com
- Volunteer: Help clean trash from area waterways (Houston Chronicle)
- 8 March
- Major Houston streets to be closed off for . . . walking: Car city is about to get a needed culture shock (Elizabeth Rhodes – Culture Map Houston)
http://houston.culturemap.com - Learning to identify birds through their song isn’t so tough (Gary Clark – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - History and gardens flourish on Azalea Trail (Rebecca Heliot – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Drought Hastens End of a Region’s Hydropower Era (Jim Malewitz – The New York Times)
www.nytimes.com
- Major Houston streets to be closed off for . . . walking: Car city is about to get a needed culture shock (Elizabeth Rhodes – Culture Map Houston)
- 7 March
- Ending Energy Poverty Becoming a Real Possibility (Kent Harrington – ChEnected)
http://chenected.aiche.org - Tax credit expired, Texas’ nation-leading wind industry still grows (Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org
- Ending Energy Poverty Becoming a Real Possibility (Kent Harrington – ChEnected)
- 6 March
- River waste (Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Ongoing study reveals elevated bacteria levels in San Jacinto River (Nate Brown – The Humble Observer)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Electric dialogue plugs Texas accent into energy meeting (Emily Pickrell – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Why Researchers are Using NASA Satellites to Track Gulf Seaweed (Michael Hagerty – Houston Matters)
www.houstonmatters.org - First wildflower blooms mark expected good season (The Record)
http://therecordlive.com - Katy Prairie Conservancy presents Unplugged Adventure: Ranch Roundup (Your Houston News)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Taxis & Ride-Sharing Apps Jockey for Position on Houston Streets (Michael Hagerty – Houston Matters)
www.houstonmatters.org - Study to focus on health of Galveston Bay (Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Centuries-Old Live Oaks Fighting for Their Lives Against TxDOT. Guess Who’ll Win? (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org
- River waste (Houston Chronicle)
- 5 March
- Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge hosts SCA Houston Community Crew (The Vindicator)
www.thevindicator.com
- Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge hosts SCA Houston Community Crew (The Vindicator)
- 4 March
- Shelley: EPA Mandate Would Benefit the Lives of all Houstonians (Clean Air Matters)
http://blogs.edf.org - Cloud Seeding Advocates Look to Build Momentum (Neena Satija – Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - 21st Annual Trash Bash Set for March 29, 2014 (Jo-Carolyn Goode – Houston Style Magazine)
http://stylemagazine.com
- Shelley: EPA Mandate Would Benefit the Lives of all Houstonians (Clean Air Matters)