Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: July 13, 2015
Featured
- New A&M research ship to unlock Gulf secrets (Harvey Rice – Houston Chronicle, 7/8/2015)
“The erosion-prone beaches in front of the Galveston seawall could be a little sandier thanks to the arrival of a new research vessel at Texas A&M University at Galveston. The R/V Trident that hove into the Texas A&M boat basin a week ago will allow scientists to hunt for deposits of beach quality sand, an effort that was much more difficult before the arrival of the specially designed research vessel. Finding sand fit for rebuilding eroded beaches has long been a concern of the Texas General Land Office. The Trident is the first vessel owned by Texas A&M designed specifically for coastal research, said Timothy Dellapenna, professor of marine science and oceanography at Texas A&M Galveston.”
www.houstonchronicle.com - Ecologist is faithful steward of bayou southeast of downtown (Mihir Zaveri – Houston Chronicle, 6/28/2015)
“[Mark] Kramer has worked for more than two decades as an ecologist at the Armand Bayou Nature Center, 2,500 acres of nature nestled in between the factories and industry of this part of Houston 25 miles southeast of downtown… Environmental advocates say Kramer has been instrumental in preserving this slice of nature, one of the last bayous of Houston not straightened or lined with concrete. Last month, the Bayou Preservation Association honored him with the Terry Hershey Bayou Stewardship Award. ‘He protects and restores one of the last remaining natural bayous as well as the native prairies, forests and watershed tributaries that surround Armand Bayou,’ said Kathy Lord, executive director of the Bayou Preservation Association.”
www.houstonchronicle.com - Goodbye to Galveston? Reports hint at future sea-level impacts in Texas (Texas Climate News, 7/13/2015)
“Future sea-level rise is one of the most worrisome impacts that scientists say will result from global warming driven by fossil-fuel pollution. Researchers are working to refine projections of major aspects of anticipated sea-level rise such as the rate, timing and variation from place to place. As they do, an important question confronts people in oceanside regions such as the Texas coast – what could projected increases, typically expressed as a global average, mean in a specific place? Three recent reports don’t provide anything like definitive answers for Texas – they weren’t meant to – but do offer some hints about the sort of changes that may be in store.”
http://texasclimatenews.org
EcoNotes
- 13 July
- Goodbye to Galveston? Reports hint at future sea-level impacts in Texas (Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org - Will A Warmer Texas Mean More Deadly Lightning? (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Plains All American pipeline spills 4,200 gallons of oil (Laura Furr – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com
- Goodbye to Galveston? Reports hint at future sea-level impacts in Texas (Texas Climate News)
- 10 July
- Buzzkill: global warming shrinks range of pollinating bumblebees (Will Dunham – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Implications of Sustained Low Oil Prices on Iran (Richard Nephew and Djavad Salehi-Isfahani – Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy)
https://gallery.mailchimp.com - Governor Pence: EPA Climate Rule ‘A Genuine Threat’ To Cheap Energy (Michael Bastasch – The Daily Caller)
http://dailycaller.com - How Houston banks’ energy exposure will affect your business (Suzanne Edwards – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com - Deal of the Week: BP reaches record settlement over Deepwater Horizon disaster (Emily Wilkinson – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com - U.S. forecaster sees El Nino likely into Northern Hemisphere into spring (Chris Prentice – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org
- Buzzkill: global warming shrinks range of pollinating bumblebees (Will Dunham – Planet Ark News)
- 9 July
- Troubled tire recycling business under new ownership? (Emma Perez-Trevino – Valley Morning Star)
www.valleymorningstar.com - Plastic bags, coal tar bans now countywide (SoMd News)
www.somdnews.com - Texas Members of Congress Spar Over Crude Oil Export Ban (Phoebe Tollefson, Medill News Service – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - New OSHA Penalties for DuPont After Deadly Leak (Neena Satija and Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Five things to know about Oak Ridge North (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - After Floods, Boaters Reminded to help Stem Spread of Invasive Zebra Mussels (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
http://tpwd.texas.gov
- Troubled tire recycling business under new ownership? (Emma Perez-Trevino – Valley Morning Star)
- 8 July
- New A&M research ship to unlock Gulf secrets (Harvey Rice – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - What’s in Houston’s New General Plan and Bike Plan? (Michael Hagerty – Houston Matters)
www.houstonmatters.org - Particles from dust cloud over Houston pose hazards to your health (Travis Herzog – ABC 13 News)
http://abc13.com - Metal Air Pollution Sollutions (Juan Flores- airCurrent News)
http://airalliancehouston.org - UH Researchers Find Big Leaks At Texas Natural Gas Sites (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Texas is Suing the EPA — Again (Jim Malewitz and Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Miller Defends Deep Fryers in Agriculture Address (Liz Crampton – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - What Happened to Straus’ and Patrick’s Priority Bills? ( Aman Batheja and Becca Aaronson – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - U.S. government outlines solar power boost for the poor (Timothy Gardner – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Fracking “super-emitters†are spewing a lot more climate-harming methane into the atmosphere than the EPA thinks (Lindsay Abrams – Salon)
www.salon.com - Neighborhood Fishin’ in Texas Gets Even Better (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
http://tpwd.texas.gov - Buying the Farm (Dean Kuipers – Orion Magazine)
https://orionmagazine.org - Climate Change National Forum Now Expanding Dialogue and Negotiating with Partners, Sponsors to Educate Millions Before COP21 (Benzinga)
www.benzinga.com - New research fuels ongoing fight over methane emissions (Max B. Baker – Bakken)
http://bakken.com - EPA is underestimating methane emissions from the Barnett Shale — study (Gayathri Vaidyanathan – E&E Publishing)
www.eenews.net
- New A&M research ship to unlock Gulf secrets (Harvey Rice – Houston Chronicle)
- 7 July
- Climate Change Poses Challenges for Land Trusts (Lisa Palmer – Yale Climate Connections)
www.yaleclimateconnections.org - Plastic pollution is an environmental horror story with a never-ending plot (Samuel Vargo – OEN)
www.opednews.com - Shale Drilling Leaks More Methane Than Feds Thought (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - The state creating the most green jobs is…Georgia? (Anne Fisher – Fortune)
http://fortune.com - Facebook is building a big wind-powered data center in Texas (Katie Fehrenbacher – Fortune)
http://fortune.com - Air pollution pushes past region; Poor quality could return this afternoon (Austin Daily Herald)
www.austindailyherald.com - Port O’Connor Paddling Trail Expansion Opens July 9 (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
http://tpwd.texas.gov - Commercial Harvest of Greater Amberjack Closing in Gulf of Mexico Federal Waters on July 19 (Southeast Fishery Bulletin)
http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov
- Climate Change Poses Challenges for Land Trusts (Lisa Palmer – Yale Climate Connections)
- 6 July
- Help Bring the Village Green Project to Houston (Houstonia)
www.houstoniamag.com - Stormwater practices at Texas A&M AgriLife Dallas center show statewide, broader promise (Phys.org)
http://phys.org - Board to decide permit seeking 15 billion gallons of water annually (Statesman)
www.statesman.com - Disappearing Habitat – As water and land management change in the Texas Mid-Coast, waterfowl feel the effects (Leslie Lee – Texas Water Resources Institute)
http://twri.tamu.edu - Conserving through partnerships – New initiative targets water quantity, quality in Lower Rio Grande Valley (Kathy Wythe – Texas Water Resources Institute)
http://twri.tamu.edu - Will Pope Francis inspire climate activism among Texas Catholics? (Greg Harman – Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org
- Help Bring the Village Green Project to Houston (Houstonia)
- 3 July
- How BP’s $18.7-billion oil-spill settlement could help the Gulf of Mexico (Richard Monastersky – Nature)
www.nature.com - How will Gulf states divide BP settlement? (WWL News)
www.wwl.com - Texas town remains in drought despite record rainfall (ABC 13 News)
http://abc13.com
- How BP’s $18.7-billion oil-spill settlement could help the Gulf of Mexico (Richard Monastersky – Nature)
- 2 July
- The Great Plains’ Looming Water Crisis – Depletion of a giant aquifer threatens vital U.S. farmland (Alan Bjerga – Bloomberg Business)
www.bloomberg.com - Gulf states reach $18.7B settlement with BP over oil spill (Chicago Tribune)
www.chicagotribune.com - After HB 40, What’s Next for Local Drilling Rules in Texas? (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Despite Rains, Lake Release Limits Upheld (Tyler Whitson, Austin Monitor – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org
- The Great Plains’ Looming Water Crisis – Depletion of a giant aquifer threatens vital U.S. farmland (Alan Bjerga – Bloomberg Business)
- 1 July
- How the EPA puts a price tag on pollution (Nick Stockton – Wired)
www.wired.com - June 2015 Smashes Heat and Rainfall Records in U.S. (Cole Mellino – EcoWatch)
http://ecowatch.com
- How the EPA puts a price tag on pollution (Nick Stockton – Wired)
- 30 June
- Water used for hydraulic fracturing varies widely across United States (Eurek Alert!)
www.eurekalert.org - Flood Maps Can Get Much Sharper With A Little Supercomputing Oomph (Joe Palca – NPR)
www.npr.org - The Electric Utility Revolution (EarthShare)
www.earthshare.org - Why Urban Parks Matter (EarthShare)
www.earthshare.org
- Water used for hydraulic fracturing varies widely across United States (Eurek Alert!)
- 29 June
- Here’s How U.S. Groundwater Travels the Globe Via Food (Sarah Zielinski – Smithsonian)
www.smithsonianmag.com
- Here’s How U.S. Groundwater Travels the Globe Via Food (Sarah Zielinski – Smithsonian)
- 28 June
- Ecologist is faithful steward of bayou southeast of downtown (Mihir Zaveri – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com
- Ecologist is faithful steward of bayou southeast of downtown (Mihir Zaveri – Houston Chronicle)