Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: April 1, 2014
Featured
- Oil spill puts wildlife in harm’s way (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle, 3/24/2014)
The heavy oil spilled into Galveston Bay showed signs Monday of harming one of the nation’s great natural nurseries, with biologists finding dozens of oiled birds on just one part of the Bolivar Peninsula. Scientists found the birds on a wildlife refuge just two miles from where a partially sunken barge leaked as much as 168,000 gallons of thick bunker fuel oil after colliding with another vessel Saturday. The concern comes as tens of thousands of birds are passing through the upper Texas coast on their annual flight north. But the worry also extends to the bay’s oyster reefs and the shrimp, crabs and fish that rely on the coastal marshes for shelter and food.
www.chron.com - Houston architecture periodical ignites air-toxin, cancer-risk debate (Lora Hines – Houston Chornicle, 3/25/2014)
Editors of a niche Houston architecture and design periodical and related website focused their most recent issue on urban development and its effects on the environment, knowing they probably would spark debate among the quarterly publication’s readers. Yet, reaction to Cite magazine’s posting to its OffCite blog regarding air quality and cancer risk stood out, catching readers’ attention, as well as that of Houston media. Using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data and maps, Cite illustrated the region’s cancer risk by census tract, indicating areas closer to the Houston Ship Channel, the city’s center and its freeways have higher cancer risks than others.
www.chron.com - Oil spill befouls Matagorda Island, Misses Whooping Cranes (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle, 3/27/2014)The Texas General Land Office on Thursday reported that oil from a punctured barge had fouled at least 12 miles of Matagorda Island. Even with the heavy oil on the beach, officials expressed relief because it bypassed Matagorda Bay, home to protected species such as piping plover, peregrine falcon and whooping crane. www.houstonchronicle.com
EcoNotes
- 31 March
- Texas shatters record for wind-energy production (Nicholas Sakelaris – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com - Lesser prairie chicken is great concern for Texas energy companies (Jordan Blum – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com
- Texas shatters record for wind-energy production (Nicholas Sakelaris – Houston Business Journal)
- 28 March
- Texas Wind Power Breaks Another Record (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Houston Channel vessel jam eases as oil cleanup gathers speed (Erwin Seba – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - U.S. EPA head defends proposed cuts in biofuel target for 2014 (Ayesha Rascoe – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Bats say ‘back off’ to each other as they swoop for yummy bugs (Will Dunham – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - U.S. lists lesser prairie chicken as threatened, energy groups wary (Ros Krasny – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org
- Texas Wind Power Breaks Another Record (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
- 27 March
- Ports returns to round-the-clock operations (Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Galveston Bay spill not massive, but still challenging (Rick Jervis – USA Today)
www.usatoday.com - Ship backlog in Houston Ship Channel falling: Pilots (Erwin Seba and Kristen Hays – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org
- Ports returns to round-the-clock operations (Houston Chronicle)
- 26 March
- Oil Spill Threatens Galveston Bay’s Fishing Industry (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
http://www.texastribune.org - Data App: Track Texas Reservoir Levels (Ryan Murphy and Kate Galbraith – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Texas Oil Spill Tracked With New High-tech Buoy (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Houston bayou’s evolution into busy port ongoing (Ramit Plushnick-Masti – News Observer)
www.newsobserver.com - End of the Line Nears for Texas Landowner’s Fight Against Keystone XL (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - “Houston Give 5†campaign kicks off Earth Month at Ruggles Green at City Centre (The Examiner)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Katy Prairie Conservancy’s 2014 “Duck Duck Goose†Bash recognizes important birds (The Rancher)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Traffic in Houston Is Not So Bad…At Least if You’re Kayaking (Michael Hagerty – Houston Matters)
www.houstonmatters.org - Texans try to cope with lingering hangover from record drought (Daniel Lippman – E&E Publishing, LLC)
www.eenews.net - Take-back event for expired, unused prescriptions scheduled (Kristi Nix – The Pasadena Citizen)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Blasting the Atlantic: A Seismic Issue (Earth Share)
www.earthshare.org
- Oil Spill Threatens Galveston Bay’s Fishing Industry (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
- 25 March
- Houston architecture periodical ignites air-toxin, cancer-risk debate (Lora Hines – Houston Chornicle)
www.chron.com - Birds found covered with oil after Texas spill (KY3 News)
www.ky3.com - Needville native develops UH green thumbs (Flori Meeks – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Poll reports Texans see restoring wetlands as crucial (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Ship Traffic Reopens For The Oil Industry Three Days After Texas’ 170,000 Gallon Oil Spill (Ryan Koronowski – Climate Progress News)
http://thinkprogress.org - Here’s What The Galveston Bay Oil Spill Looks Like (Shawna Reding – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Why It’s So Damn Hard to Move a Heritage Tree (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - With Bats Disappearing, Researchers Listen for a Clue (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Texas Attorney General Opens Civil Investigation into Oil Spill (Public News Service)
www.publicnewsservice.org - Houston ship lane to have ‘tapered’ reopening; Exxon cuts output (Erwin Seba – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org
- Houston architecture periodical ignites air-toxin, cancer-risk debate (Lora Hines – Houston Chornicle)
- 24 March
- Oil spill puts wildlife in harm’s way (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Galveston Oil Spill Threatening Crucial Bird Refuge (Christine Dell’Amore – National Geographic)
http://news.nationalgeographic.com - Texas Still Learning When It Comes to Oil Spill Response (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Galveston Bay Spill Will Take Economic, Ecological Toll (Neena Satija, Texas Tribune – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - What Drought, Cattle and Crimea Have to Do With Texas Cotton Farming (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Texas cities worried about flood insurance hikes (ABC 13 News)
http://abclocal.go.com - 25th anniversary of Exxon Valdez spill (Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Reservoir could supply Southeast Texas with water for 5 years (Brooke Crum – Beaumont Enterprise)
www.beaumontenterprise.com - Gulf shipping channels remain closed as oil spill cleanup continues (Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org
- Oil spill puts wildlife in harm’s way (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
- 23 March
- Whooping crane flock increases in Texas (Matthew Tresaugue – The Columbus Dispatch)
www.dispatch.com - Here they come, right on time! Monarch butterflies arrive in San Antonio (Monika Maeckle – My SA News)
http://blog.mysanantonio.com - Texas oil spill blocks Houston Ship Channel, threatens wildlife (Molly Hennessy-Fiske – Los Angeles Times)
www.latimes.com - Texas’ longest footpath reopened to area hikers (Russell Ledbetter – Dayton News)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Oil spill cleanup efforts continue off Texas Gulf shore (Terry Wade – Reuters)
www.reuters.com - Crews try to contain oil spill in Galveston Bay (KHOU News)
www.khou.com
- Whooping crane flock increases in Texas (Matthew Tresaugue – The Columbus Dispatch)
- 22 March
- Flurry of huge fish being caught sets up final half (Shannon Tompkins – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Crews try to contain oil spill in Galveston Bay (Christopher Sherman – My Fox Houston)
www.myfoxhouston.com
- Flurry of huge fish being caught sets up final half (Shannon Tompkins – Houston Chronicle)
- 21 March
- Nature Conservancy says spill shows need to restore ecosystems (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Migrating songbirds flock to High Island (Gary Clark – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Taking flight (Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Guest commentary: World Water Day puts focus on new sustainability challenge (Snehal Desai – Fuel Fix)
http://fuelfix.com - Texans boost natural gas use for driving, but not for power (Simone Sebastian – Fuel Fix)
http://fuelfix.com - Colorado, New Mexico and Texas water officials meet over Rio Grande drought (Susan Montoya Bryan – Summit Daily)
www.summitdaily.com - Texas Supreme Court denies appeal to call Tarrant water district election (Bill Hanna – Star-Telegram)
www.star-telegram.com - Geographical pattern in Texas’ Ogallala Aquifer water quality (Kay Ledbetter, Texas A&M Extension – Cattle Network)
www.cattlenetwork.com - Poultry company honored for water conservation in Texas (Mississippi Business Journal)
http://msbusiness.com
- Nature Conservancy says spill shows need to restore ecosystems (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
- 20 March
- Funding found to save endangered turtles (Harvey Rice – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Down the Drain: Who’s Watching Chemicals Used in Oil Drilling? (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Freedom CNG to Open 2nd in Houston (Fleets & Fuels News)
www.fleetsandfuels.com
- Funding found to save endangered turtles (Harvey Rice – Houston Chronicle)
- 19 March
- Telework Incentive Program offers cost cutting, time saving solutions for employers and commuters (Fort Bend Star)
www.fortbendstar.com
- Telework Incentive Program offers cost cutting, time saving solutions for employers and commuters (Fort Bend Star)
- 13 March
- The Economic Benefits of Bicycling (Earth Share)
www.earthshare.org
- The Economic Benefits of Bicycling (Earth Share)