Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: September 16, 2014
Featured
- Houston getting $10 million for traffic tracking systems (Houston Chronicle, 9/10/2014)
An ongoing project to expand and upgrade traffic systems in the Houston area has received $10 million from a highly-competitive federal transportation program, officials confirmed. Though it won’t build a new road or add another bus route, officials said the money will improve traffic by bolstering Houston’s transportation monitoring system, which relays traffic information to drivers and helps city workers address congestion. The money gives Houston officials another $10 million to invest in work already going on around the area to upgrade or add traffic monitoring data, city of Houston public works spokesman Alvin Wright said.
http://blog.chron.com - Houston offers sweet deal on park to Sugar Land (Mike Morris – Houston Chronicle, 9/5/2014)
In the 25 years since the city of Houston and the Houston Parks Board purchased Cullinan Park off Highway 6 near U.S. 90A, creating the city’s fourth-largest park, the site has languished. Far outside Houston city limits next to Sugar Land Regional Airport, the park boasts just one entrance road, some picnic tables, and a few hiking trails to complement the wooden walkways overlooking White Lake, abuzz with dragonflies and coated with lily pads. “This is a great resource out here, but it has a long way to go before you can really call it a good all-purpose park,” said Don Gallo, local resident and park regular. Houston is now considering transferring responsibility for the park to the city of Sugar Land.
www.houstonchronicle.com - Planning for future water use a conundrum for Houston (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
Beneath Houston, miles of the city’s aging water mains are leaking billions of gallons each year. The repairs will require years of work and millions of dollars. So what’s a city to do? Houston is raising the possibility of a new rate structure as the city finalizes the first update to its conservation plan since enduring the worst one-year drought in its history in 2011.
www.houstonchronicle.com
EcoNotes
- 12 September
- Three Earthquakes Rattle Texas So Far This Week (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Recycling: County recognized for efforts to reduce waste (Nan Kirlin – Gaston Gazette)
www.gastongazette.com - Texas Communities Relieved as Season Change Triggers Migration for Nuisance Birds (Fox News)
www.foxnews.com - Pesticides a concern for aquatic life in most U.S. urban streams : study (Ian Simpson – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - EPA Finally Hands Over Maps Detailing the Extent of their WOTUS Proposal – fairfieldsuntimes.com: Business EPA Finally Hands Over Maps Detailing the Extent of their WOTUS Proposal (Sun Times)
www.fairfieldsuntimes.com - Texas A&M Forest Service to Return $43.2 Million in Funds To State (Everything Lubbock)
www.everythinglubbock.com
- Three Earthquakes Rattle Texas So Far This Week (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
- 11 September
- White Oak Bayou improvements a ‘game-changing initative’ (Jonathan Garris – The Leader)
www.theleadernews.com - Why everyone should get a rain barrel (KEYE TV)
www.greenrightnow.com - Good news! Creeks are safer for swimming (Nathanael Johnson – Grist)
http://grist.org - El Nino Could Still Bring A Wet Winter To Texas (Mose Buchele, StateImpact Texas – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Katy Prairie Conservancy presents tumble adventure (Try To Travel)
http://trytotravel.com - What an On-Again, Off-Again El Ni̱o Means For Texas (Mose Buchele РStateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org
- White Oak Bayou improvements a ‘game-changing initative’ (Jonathan Garris – The Leader)
- 10 September
- Houston getting $10 million for traffic tracking systems (Houston Chronicle)
http://blog.chron.com - METRO Goes Platinum: Only Transit Agency To Get Top Honor (Noodls)
www.noodls.com - Galveston Residents Ask ‘What Ifs’ About Nuclear Barge Demolition (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Audubon Society: Over One Hundred Texas Birds at Risk From Climate Change (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - House votes to block protections for 75% of Texas streams (Environment Texas)
www.environmenttexas.org - Mower moves to help counties with clean water (Austin Daily Herald)
www.austindailyherald.com - On the water — Group seeing results of efforts in Jones Park (Minza Khan – The Spring Observer)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - New Bayou dog park is starting to look like Houston’s doggie paradise (Heather Alexander – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Bayou Corne sinkhole: Texas Brine seeks permit to discharge wastewater at site, residents speak out (Emily Lane – NOLA)
www.nola.com - Katy Prairie Conservancy Presents ‘Rails In The Rice’ (Dennis Spellman – News 92 FM)
http://news92fm.com - Texas environmental chief doubts link between greenhouse gases and the climate; Texas climate scientist says he’s wrong (Randy Lee Loftis – Dallas News)
http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com - Global warming (Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Lady Bird’s legacy lives on at wildflower center (Jamie Stengle – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - U.S. cellulosic fuel makers press Obama to alter biofuel plan (Ayesha Rascoe – Planet Ark News)
- Gulf of Mexico Red Grouper Fishing Season is Extended (Florida Sportsman)
www.floridasportsman.com
- Houston getting $10 million for traffic tracking systems (Houston Chronicle)
- 9 September
- Hunting feral hogs is fun, helps the environment (The Courier of Montgomery County)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Group planning for revitalization of FM 1960 intersection (Bryan Kirk – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Texas officials declare EPA’s proposed CO2 emission rule unworkable (Connor Radnovich – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Few show for Galveston nuke meeting (Harvey Rice – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Grand Parkway segment up for national highway award (Dug Begley – Houston Chronicle)
http://blog.chron.com/thehighwayman - Put out the sugar water; the hummers will come to Huffman (Lindsay Peyton – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Is Houston’s Recycling Program Racist? (Michael Hagerty – Houston Matters)
www.houstonmatters.org - Upcoming Fall Produce & New Vendors at Urban Harvest Farmers Market (Molly Dunn – Houston Press)
http://blogs.houstonpress.com - Texas has 104 natural gas stations and counting (Jennifer Hiller – Fuel Fix)
http://fuelfix.com - How Advances in Tech and Research Could Help Confront Future Drought (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Guest commentary: Offshore is next target for environmentalists (Richard S. Levick – Fuel Fix)
http://fuelfix.com
- Hunting feral hogs is fun, helps the environment (The Courier of Montgomery County)
- 8 September
- Transportation Department Wins Awards for Reducing Air Pollution (Joel Weckerly – Cypress Creek Mirror)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Planning for future water use a conundrum for Houston (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Walk in the Woods Nature Series to feature Dr. Bueno, mosquito specialist (The Woodlands Online)
www.woodlandsonline.com - Natural Gas Fueling Stations Surge in Texas (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - What Changes Are in Store For Houston’s Historic Preservation Ordinance? (Maggie Martin – Houston Matters)
www.houstonmatters.org - Petrobras Pasadena TX refinery shuts gasoline unit: filing (Business Recorder)
www.brecorder.com - Why food prices scaled the peaks — and why it matters (Nathanael Johnson – Grist)
http://grist.org - Army Nuclear Reactor Barge Headed For Dismantling In Galveston (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Amid drought, Texas is fuming because Mexico isn’t sending the water it owes (Joshua Partlow – Washington Post)
www.washingtonpost.com - Creating Healthy Environments for Kids (EarthShare)
www.earthshare.org - NOAA Fisheries Seeks Public Comment on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Recreational Red Snapper Fishing in the Gulf of Mexico (Louisianna Lagniappe)
http://louisianalagniappe.wordpress.com
- Transportation Department Wins Awards for Reducing Air Pollution (Joel Weckerly – Cypress Creek Mirror)
- 6 September
- 61st Texas paddling trail unveiled on Neches River (Manuella Libardi – Beaumont Enterprise)
www.beaumontenterprise.com
- 61st Texas paddling trail unveiled on Neches River (Manuella Libardi – Beaumont Enterprise)
- 5 September
- Houston offers sweet deal on park to Sugar Land (Mike Morris – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Clean water (Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com
- Houston offers sweet deal on park to Sugar Land (Mike Morris – Houston Chronicle)
- 4 September
- BP lashes out at journalists and “opportunistic†environmentalists (Tim McDonnell – Grist)
http://grist.org - 2nd Annual BikeHouston Moonlight Bicycle Ramble (Roux Bikes)
www.rouxbikes.com - Armand Bayou Nature Center upcoming opportunities (The Bay Area Citizen)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - What’s New at the Zoo? (Maggie Martin – Houston Matters)
www.houstonmatters.org - BP was ‘grossly negligent’ in Gulf oil spill, judge rules (Olivia Pulsinelli – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com
- BP lashes out at journalists and “opportunistic†environmentalists (Tim McDonnell – Grist)
- 3 September
- Capture methane leaks and sell it (Chris Tomlinson – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Permanent Water Reuse Project Applying for State Funding (Summer Rascoll – Texoma)
www.texomashomepage.com - Costco agrees to $2.3 million settlement with EPA over refrigerant leaks (Kent Hoover – The Business Journals)
www.bizjournals.com
- Capture methane leaks and sell it (Chris Tomlinson – Houston Chronicle)
- 2 September
- Counties ready to collaborate on effort to help ease road woes (Bryan Kirk – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Halliburton reaches $1.1B settlement over Gulf of Mexico spill claims (Olivia Pulsinelli – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com
- Counties ready to collaborate on effort to help ease road woes (Bryan Kirk – Houston Chronicle)