Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: December 2, 2014
Featured
- Tighter smog limits would force stricter controls in Houston (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle, 11/26/2014)
“Houston and large parts of Texas and the nation would need to clamp down harder on smog-forming pollution under a stricter standard proposed by the Obama administration Wednesday… The proposed rule also could affect smaller towns and rural areas for the first time. Some business groups said the more stringent standard would be among the most expensive regulations of all time.”
www.houstonchronicle.com - A swimming hole for Houston gets closer to reality (Lisa Gray – Houston Chronicle, 11/26/2014)
“Could Houston have its own version of Barton Springs — an enormous, beautiful swimming hole, right in the city, where people from every walk of life go to cool off? That entrancing idea was floated last month here in Gray Matters, in Andrea White’s Good Idea column. Developer Monte Large and graphic designer Evan O’Neil had turned a coffee-shop flash of inspiration into a website and were dreaming big. On a tract of at least ten acres in central Houston, they proposed creating a manmade swimming hole, one that would use plants and natural processes to filter bayou water until it was not only safe for swimming but crystal-clear… Now Sherwood Design Engineers has signed on to do, pro bono, “Phase 1″ feasibility studies — basic calculations of what it would take to make the dream real.”
www.houstonchronicle.com - Bayou demonstration project compared to ‘open heart surgery’ (Jocelyn Kerr – The Examiner, 11/28/2014)
“Dr. Mathias Kondolf spoke before a crowded room at the St. Theresa Memorial Park Catholic Church on Nov. 21… Kondolf arrived in Houston to tour Buffalo Bayou and weigh in with his opinion on the controversial Buffalo Bayou Demonstration Project. Kondolf is a professor of landscape architecture and environmental planning at Berkeley who has consulted on river restoration projects around the world.”
www.yourhoustonnews.com
EcoNotes
- 29 November
- DuPont Says Plant Leaked 23,000 Pounds of Toxic Gas (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org
- DuPont Says Plant Leaked 23,000 Pounds of Toxic Gas (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
- 28 November
- Bayou demonstration project compared to ‘open heart surgery’ (Jocelyn Kerr – The Examiner)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Texas releases more than 50 sea turtles treated for cold-stunning (Amanda Orr – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - New Lake Jackson conservation center focuses on bird science (Gary Clark – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - After community garden uprooted in Midtown, another grows (Nancy Sarnoff – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Native trees showing their fall colors (Kathy Huber – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - FOR THE BIRDS: Observatory hosting holiday party at brand new facility (Ian Goodrum – The Facts)
http://thefacts.com - EPA names 2014 Green Power Leaders (Thomas Net)
http://news.thomasnet.com
- Bayou demonstration project compared to ‘open heart surgery’ (Jocelyn Kerr – The Examiner)
- 27 November
- Politics of Climate Change in Texas Have Shifted (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Does Texas Need a Carbon Tax to Meet EPA Climate Rules? (The Energy Collective)
http://theenergycollective.com - Ozone rules irk Texas officials (Jim Malewitz, The Texas Tribune – News-Journal)
www.news-journal.com
- Politics of Climate Change in Texas Have Shifted (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
- 26 November
- A swimming hole for Houston gets closer to reality (Lisa Gray – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Tighter smog limits would force stricter controls in Houston (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Texas waters stock up on trout for winter (Shannon Tompkins – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - EPA Proposes To Tighten Ozone Limits Under Clean Air Act (Andrew Scheider – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - EPA Proposes New Rules To Curb Ozone Levels (Krishnadev Calamur – KCUR News)
http://kcur.org - U.S. EPA expected to tighten long-awaited ozone standards: sources (Valerie Volcovici – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org
- A swimming hole for Houston gets closer to reality (Lisa Gray – Houston Chronicle)
- 25 November
- Houston Needs a Swimming Hole (Michael Hagerty – Houston Matters)
www.houstonmatters.org - Endangered manatee caught and rescued near Houston (photos) (Jordan Blum – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com - Conservationists sue over federal coal program (Matthew Brown – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Houston Non-Profits Get Windfall from Millionaire’s Will (Craig Malisow – Houston Press Blogs)
http://blogs.houstonpress.com - Texas takes over greenhouse gas permitting from EPA (Jennifer Hiller – Fuel Fix)
http://fuelfix.com - Annual Winter Trout Stocking Under Way (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
www.tpwd.state.tx.us - Houston Air Conditioning, Plumbing, And Electrical Company Launches FB Contest To Support Local Charites (KCBD News)
www.kcbd.com - Keep Small Farmers & Food Producers in Business: Take Action on FDA’s 2014 Proposed Food Safety Regulations (Carolyn Biggerstaff – WAPF Houston-Galveston Chapter)
www.wapf-houston.org - EPA Finalizes Greenhouse Gas Permit for Carbon Capture Facility; Facility will bring nearly $300 million in capital investments and increase natural gas processing (EPA News)
http://yosemite.epa.gov
- Houston Needs a Swimming Hole (Michael Hagerty – Houston Matters)
- 24 November
- Dispute over Big Bend skies tied to coal-fired power plants (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Plans made for stranded manatee rescue near Houston (Jordan Blum – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com - Is It Time for the U.S. to Lift Its Restrictions on Oil Exports? (The Wall Street Journal)
http://m.wsj.com - EPA rejects a Texas clean-air plan, orders pollution upgrades on some big coal plants (Randy Lee Loftis – Dallas News)
http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com - EPA Plan Will Reduce Pollution and Improve Visibility in Texas, Oklahoma (EPA News)
http://yosemite.epa.gov - Texas university professor adjusts to life in a dumpster as he studies whether people are happier with less (Jill Reilly – Mail Online)
www.dailymail.co.uk - How Underground Sensors In Texas Will Help NASA Predict Drought and Floods (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - What Will Happen to Fracking Secrecy if Halliburton Takes Over Baker Hughes? (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org
- Dispute over Big Bend skies tied to coal-fired power plants (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
- 23 November
- Game Warden Field Notes (The Pasadena Citizen)
www.yourhoustonnews.com
- Game Warden Field Notes (The Pasadena Citizen)
- 22 November
- Half of future whooper habitat could be lost (Sara Sneath – Victoria Advocate)
www.victoriaadvocate.com
- Half of future whooper habitat could be lost (Sara Sneath – Victoria Advocate)
- 21 November
- Grand Parkway use growing, association shrinking (Dug Begley – Houston Chronicle)
http://blog.chron.com - Wanted: Information About Illegal Fishing Along the Border (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
www.tpwd.state.tx.us
- Grand Parkway use growing, association shrinking (Dug Begley – Houston Chronicle)
- 20 November
- Settlement choices (Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Listening For The Call Of The Quail (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Report: Solar Power Should Be One-Fifth Of All Energy In Texas By 2025 (Florian Martin – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Ducks Unlimited gets NFWF grant to plan Galveston Bay restoration project (The Outdoor Wire)
www.theoutdoorwire.com
- Settlement choices (Houston Chronicle)
- 19 November
- Duck season heats up as temperatures cool (Shannon Tompkins – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com
- Duck season heats up as temperatures cool (Shannon Tompkins – Houston Chronicle)
- 18 November
- Another magazine honors Texas Tech’s Hayhoe: “Leading global thinker†(Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org
- Another magazine honors Texas Tech’s Hayhoe: “Leading global thinker†(Texas Climate News)
- 17 November
- Texas Warns EPA Power Plant Regulations Will Cost Houston (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org
- Texas Warns EPA Power Plant Regulations Will Cost Houston (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
- 14 November
- Scientists Sound Alarm on Texas Turtle (Harvey Rice, Houston Chronicle – Turtle Island Restoration Network)
https://seaturtles.org - House passes Keystone XL bill; prospects still uncertain (Jennifer A. Dlouhy – Express News)
www.expressnews.com - Voluntourism (Alert Diver)
www.alertdiver.com
- Scientists Sound Alarm on Texas Turtle (Harvey Rice, Houston Chronicle – Turtle Island Restoration Network)