Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: December 16, 2014
Featured
- From Refining Black Gold, A Black Dust And Maybe A Pollution Problem (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media, 12/9/2014)
“Think of the industry in the Ship Channel and big refineries with flares burning off chemical vapors might come to mind. But how about pollution from coal? Huge piles of coal… It’s called petroleum coke, a more concentrated form of coal. Millions of tons of it pile up at terminals that often export it to places like China where it’s used for fuel. There are 56 refineries nationwide that produce it. Half of them are along the coast in Texas and Louisiana.”
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Scientists Seek Public Help to Track Monarch Butterfly Milkweed Habitat (Texas Parks & Wildlife, 12/8/2014)
“Since monitoring of overwintering monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) populations in the Mexican states of Michoacán and México began in 1993, the World Wildlife Fund has documented a significant decline in overwintering area (a surrogate for population size) that reached an all-time low in the winter of 2013. Monarch decline has been attributed to multiple factors including illegal logging of Oyamel forests in Mexico, extreme weather conditions in overwintering and breeding grounds, and widespread decline in milkweed abundance in the United States. Biologists from the department’s Wildlife Diversity Program recently launched a project to explore Texas milkweed and determine where it is, how much is out there and are the monarchs using it.”
http://tpwd.texas.gov - Disease, Drought, And Over-harvesting Blamed For Poor Gulf Coast Oyster Production (Pat Hernandez – Houston Public Media, 12/11/2014)
“Hurricane Ike buried half of Galveston’s oyster reefs under a lot of sediment. Clifford Hillman, president of Hillman Shrimp and Oyster Company in Dickinson, says disease, over-harvesting and drought have affected the whole bay system… Larry Robinson is head of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Coastal Fisheries division. He says fresh water is needed to rid the bay of disease brought on by the high saline content due to the drought.”
www.houstonpublicmedia.org
EcoNotes
- 15 December
- State Law Could Short-Circuit Battery Breakthrough (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org
- State Law Could Short-Circuit Battery Breakthrough (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
- 13 December
- Texas has most hazardous chemical plants in country (Eagle Ford Texas)
http://eaglefordtexas.com
- Texas has most hazardous chemical plants in country (Eagle Ford Texas)
- 12 December
- TEXAS VIEW: UT methane study helps on well issues (OA Online)
www.oaoa.com - How Will Texas Power Plants Meet New EPA Standards? (Syeda Hasan – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Dizzying Renewable Energy Price Declines Can Help States Meet Ambitious Carbon Targets Under The EPA’s Clean Power Plan (The Energy Collective)
http://theenergycollective.com - Tragedies In Texas: Why Senators Say New Chemical Safety Rules Are Needed (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Reminders Regarding the Individual Fishing Quota Programs in the Gulf of Mexico (Southeast Fishery Bulletin)
http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov
- TEXAS VIEW: UT methane study helps on well issues (OA Online)
- 11 December
- Disease, Drought, And Over-harvesting Blamed For Poor Gulf Coast Oyster Production (Pat Hernandez – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Metro Bus Barn Doors Open to Schools for Holiday Celebrations (Jo-Carolyn Goode – Style Magazine Newswire)
http://t.stylemagazine.com - EPA awards significant funds to Texas for UST leaks (Water Technology)
www.watertechonline.com - Investigators: La Porte Workers Died In Building With Broken Vent Fans (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Tragedies In Texas: Why Senators Say New Chemical Safety Rules Are Needed (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org
- Disease, Drought, And Over-harvesting Blamed For Poor Gulf Coast Oyster Production (Pat Hernandez – Houston Public Media)
- 10 December
- Sheldon Lake State Park Launches Mobile Game (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
http://tpwd.texas.gov - Houston Area Metal Recyclers: A Rapidly Growing Industry (Air Current News)
http://airalliancehouston.org - Opposition slows, possibly defeats Dallas toll road (Kevin McNally – Houston Tomorrow)
www.houstontomorrow.org - Cheap, clean, fusion power one step closer to reality (Ben Gruber – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - The Impact of Lower Oil Prices on the Mexican Economy (Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy)
http://energypolicy.columbia.edu
- Sheldon Lake State Park Launches Mobile Game (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
- 9 December
- From Refining Black Gold, A Black Dust And Maybe A Pollution Problem (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Birders Flock To See New Species in Texas in 2014 (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
http://tpwd.texas.gov - New Study Sheds Light on Emissions From Gas Wells (Mose Buchele, KUT News – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - U.S. Supreme Court rejects BP challenge to Gulf spill settlement (Lawrence Hurley – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Local Officials Weigh In as State Officials Discuss Cutting Property Tax (Summer Rascoll – Texas Home Page)
www.texomashomepage.com - Federal Investigators: Chemical Industry Has A Safety Crisis (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Abandoned U.S. oil wells still spewing methane, study find (Richard Valdmanis – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Houston County residents oppose a proposed new sand mining ordinance (Michael Fields – Argus)
http://hometownargus.com
- From Refining Black Gold, A Black Dust And Maybe A Pollution Problem (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
- 8 December
- Galveston Island Finds New Solutions to Age-Old Problem of Beach Erosion (Laurie Johnson – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Scientists Seek Public Help to Track Monarch Butterfly Milkweed Habitat (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
http://tpwd.texas.gov - Special Report: New EPA Rules Might Cost You (Rick Spruill – KRISTV)
www.kristv.com - It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Mercer(The Atascocita Observer)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Control Date for the Gulf of Mexico Grouper/Tilefish Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program (Southeast Fishery Bulletin)
http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov - NOAA Fisheries Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Actions to Modify Catch Limits for Snapper – Grouper Species and Gray Triggerfish Management Measures (Southeast Fishery Bulletin)
http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov
- Galveston Island Finds New Solutions to Age-Old Problem of Beach Erosion (Laurie Johnson – Houston Public Media)
- 7 December
- COLUMN-Why Energy Leaders Need to Read Cicero (Jason Bordoff and Carlos Pascual – Reuters)
www.reuters.com
- COLUMN-Why Energy Leaders Need to Read Cicero (Jason Bordoff and Carlos Pascual – Reuters)
- 6 December
- Texans await access to 3 tracts of public land (Shannon Tompkins – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Hickory Aquifer project took long, winding path to realization (Monique Ching – Go San Angelo)
www.gosanangelo.com - Editorial: Hazy views in Big Bend (Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com
- Texans await access to 3 tracts of public land (Shannon Tompkins – Houston Chronicle)
- 5 December
- Having breakfast with the sandhill cranes (Maggie Galehouse – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Cold-stunned turtles flown to Galveston (Harvey Rice – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Editorial: Hazy views in Big Bend (Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - It’s time to tally those talons at Christmas bird count (Gary Clark – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Texas Oil and Gas Regulators Say They Tried to Enforce Rules, Lost Jobs (David Hasemyer – InsideClimate News)
http://books.insideclimatenews.org - Craft, Tison: EPA is right to strengthen ozone standard (Air Current News)
http://airalliancehouston.org - Opinion: Act now on the Water Act (Charles Rangel and Hugh Evans – KWCH 12)
www.kwch.com
- Having breakfast with the sandhill cranes (Maggie Galehouse – Houston Chronicle)
- 4 December
- CenterPoint Energy and Trees For Houston partner to give away 2,500 shade trees (Cypress Creek Mirror)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - The Implications of Lower Oil Prices for the US Economy Amid the Shale Boom (Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy)
http://energypolicy.columbia.edu
- CenterPoint Energy and Trees For Houston partner to give away 2,500 shade trees (Cypress Creek Mirror)
- 1 December
- Good News for the Giant Tortoise (EarthShare)
www.earthshare.org
- Good News for the Giant Tortoise (EarthShare)
- 26 November
- EPA proposes tougher smog limit, saying health depends on it (Randy Lee Loftis – The Dallas Morning News)
www.dallasnews.com
- EPA proposes tougher smog limit, saying health depends on it (Randy Lee Loftis – The Dallas Morning News)
- 24 November
- EPA rejects a Texas clean-air plan, orders pollution upgrades on some big coal plants (Randy Lee Loftis – The Dallas Morning News)
http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com
- EPA rejects a Texas clean-air plan, orders pollution upgrades on some big coal plants (Randy Lee Loftis – The Dallas Morning News)
- 19 November
- Scientists look to reverse sea turtle’s sudden decline (Harvey Rice – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com
- Scientists look to reverse sea turtle’s sudden decline (Harvey Rice – Houston Chronicle)