Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: November 2, 2015
Featured
- Despite EPA, Texas can ‘whoop’ with joy at whooping cranes return (Breitbart Texas, 10/26/2015)
“Unbeknownst to the Whooping Crane, this past May, seven years of litigation over water rights and the Whooping Crane habitat finally wrapped up in the Supreme Court. In Aransas Project v. Shaw an Endangered Species Act (ESA) claim had been directed at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) allocation of water rights. Had the Supreme Court reviewed and overturned the 5th Circuit’s decision, surface water rights in the San Antonio River and Guadalupe River would have been federally commandeered, with ramifications felt across the entire state. ”
www.breitbart.com - Putting the wilderness back in Houston Arboretum (Molly Glentzer – Houston Chronicle, 10/26/2015)
“The incessant hum of Loop 610 traffic permeates the western edge of the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center, like waves crashing on a beach. Just 75 feet from the state’s busiest freeway, rabbits scamper through the underbrush, purple beautyberries cling to the drooping canes of bright green plants and a dry, woodsy scent hangs in the air. Nowhere else in Houston – a city desperately trying to shed its reputation as a concrete wasteland and reinvent itself as a place of verdant, world-class parks – is the precarious balance of nature and urban humanity so glaringly evident. For years, human and natural forces have had their way with this 155-acre green space in the southwestern corner of Memorial Park… The arboretum has launched a $40 million campaign to make the wildest area of Memorial Park as wild as it can be. The project will take several years. In the meantime, construction inside the preserve may look anything but natural to some people.”
www.houstonchronicle.com - Texas and California lead the nation in carbon dioxide emissions (Texas Climate News, 10/29/2015)
“Everything is bigger in Texas. Its honky-tonks. Its highway system. Its wind power industry. Its oil industry. And even, a new report says, its carbon dioxide emissions. Texas emitted more carbon dioxide from burning energy in 2013 than it did at any point since 2004. And, for at least the 24th year in a row, the Lone Star State tops the list of the nation’s biggest carbon polluters, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration. Data released this week by the administration shows each state’s energy-related carbon dioxide emissions between 1990 and 2013. Texas doesn’t just top the list, its emissions — 641 million metric tons of carbon dioxide — are almost double those of California, the nation’s second largest carbon emitter, which spewed 353 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.”
http://texasclimatenews.org
EcoNotes
- 2 November
- Texas signs Good Neighbor Authority to keep our forests healthy (The Gilmer Mirror)
www.gilmermirror.com - Texas eyes one fossil fuel as prospects dim for another (E&E Publishing)
www.eenews.net - Island university goes green (Natalia Contreras – Caller Times)
www.caller.com - Why the United States Leaves Deadly Chemicals on the Market (Valerie Brown and Elizabeth Grossman – In These Times)
http://inthesetimes.com
- Texas signs Good Neighbor Authority to keep our forests healthy (The Gilmer Mirror)
- 31 October
- Dallas tree climber proves he is the best in North America (The Gilmer Mirror)
www.gilmermirror.com
- Dallas tree climber proves he is the best in North America (The Gilmer Mirror)
- 30 October
- Texas Bans Oyster Harvesting On Gulf Coast (Ed Mayberry – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Texas congressman in standoff with NOAA over subpoenaed climate records (Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org - No U.S. EPA carbon rule court decision until after Paris climate talks (Lawrence Hurley and Valerie Volcovici – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - GMO backlash threatens beet farmers as foodmakers swap sugars (Chris Prentice – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org
- Texas Bans Oyster Harvesting On Gulf Coast (Ed Mayberry – Houston Public Media)
- 29 October
- Texas and California lead the nation in carbon dioxide emissions (Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org - Selling SPR oil in budget deal bolsters our energy security (Jason Bordoff – The Hill)
http://thehill.com - Free Admission to Texas State Parks Nov. 8 in Honor of Veterans Day (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
http://tpwd.texas.gov - Texas Buffalo Soldiers 20th Anniversary Celebration Kicks Off at Lake Mineral Wells State Park (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
http://tpwd.texas.gov - Oyster harvesting closed along portions of Texas coast (My SA News)
www.mysanantonio.com - Leaders pitch waterways projects to senators; Groups seek $7.8M in state bonding (Austin Daily Herald)
www.austindailyherald.com - Texas A&M institute publishes interactive Web tool for land use trends (Texas Water Resources Institute)
http://twri.tamu.edu - New director appointed for the Texas Water Resources Institute (Danielle Kalisek – Conservation Matters October 2015)
http://twri.tamu.edu - Texas A&M-Galveston gets grant to study flood risks (Conservation Matters October 2015)
http://twri.tamu.edu - Watershed partnerships offering free area soil testing (Conservation Matters October 2015)
http://twri.tamu.edu - Texas A&M Forest Service Awards $15.7 Million in Grant Funds to Volunteer Fire Departments (Texas A&M Forest Service)
http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu - General Paxton Files Suit Against Federal Government to Halt “Illegal” EPA Power Plan (Daily KOS)
www.dailykos.com - Montgomery County holds meetings on road plan (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Texas claims first-ever Forest Stewardship Forester of the Year (Texas A&M Forest Service)
http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu - Environmental Consultant Gets More Work from Texas (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Oil or Gas Well? The Distinction Costs State Millions (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org
- Texas and California lead the nation in carbon dioxide emissions (Texas Climate News)
- 28 October
- Earth Day Houston receives Mayor’s Proud Partner Award (Paige Powell – Earth Day Houston)
www.earthdayhouston.org - Copano Bay and Areas of Galveston Bay to be Closed to Oyster Harvest (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
http://tpwd.texas.gov - 2015 Tribune Festival: Videos of the Keynote Sessions (The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - EPA to Require Toxic Release Reporting from Gas Plants (Kiah Collier – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - AAH hosts Community Mapping Workshop in Pasadena (airCurrent News)
http://airalliancehouston.org
- Earth Day Houston receives Mayor’s Proud Partner Award (Paige Powell – Earth Day Houston)
- 27 October
- 2015 Tribune Festival: Audio From the Environment Track (Ayan Mittra and Emily Albracht – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Houston falls from top on EPA list (Laura Furr – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com - State Agency Celebrates 100 Years While Honoring Employees at Annual Meeting (Texas A&M Forest Service)
http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu - South Montgomery County plan identifies $1.6B in road needs (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - Competing candidate slates vow to better manage Woodlands growth (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - EPA to Propose Rule Requiring Hundreds of Natural Gas Processing Plants to Start Reporting Toxic Pollution (Center for Effective Government)
www.foreffectivegov.org - New tech makes hybrid buses cost-effective (Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Underwater robot to raise ocean awareness (Ben Gruber – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Pooped out: absence of big mammals foils ecosystem fertilization (Will Dunham – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org
- 2015 Tribune Festival: Audio From the Environment Track (Ayan Mittra and Emily Albracht – The Texas Tribune)
- 26 October
- Putting the wilderness back in Houston Arboretum (Molly Glentzer – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Despite EPA, Texas can ‘whoop’ with joy at whooping cranes return (Breitbart Texas)
www.breitbart.com - Montgomery County road bond’s five most expensive projects (Matthew Tresaugue and Cindy Horswell – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Texas wind, showcased in Obama’s business climate pledge, reaches milestone (Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org - 10-year major hurricane landfall drought may be ‘arbitrary,’ but it’s far from meaningless (Angela Fritz – The Washington Post)
www.washingtonpost.com - Clean Power Plan and Combined Heat and Power (Gavin Dillingham – HARC Blog)
www.harcresearch.org - Exclusive: Elevated CO2 Levels Directly Affect Human Cognition, New Harvard Study Shows (Joe Romm – Climate Progress)
http://thinkprogress.org - UTSA students and pre-service teachers learn how to bring the classroom outdoors (Jo Ann Jones – UTSA Today)
www.utsa.edu - As legal onslaught begins, EPA tells states how to buy time on climate rule (Elizabeth Harball and Rod Kuckro – E&E News)
www.eenews.net - Five Republican Delusions About the Environment (Rebecca Leber – New Republic)
www.newrepublic.com
- Putting the wilderness back in Houston Arboretum (Molly Glentzer – Houston Chronicle)
- 25 October
- Hurricane Flooding May Cost Texas Billions (Sonali Basak – Bloomberg Business)
www.bloomberg.com - Hurricanes cause more economic havoc as world warms, economists conclude (Tim Radford – Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org
- Hurricane Flooding May Cost Texas Billions (Sonali Basak – Bloomberg Business)
- 24 October
- $280 million bond measure aims at road issues (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Audio: Fights and Flights Behind the Texas Space Race (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org
- $280 million bond measure aims at road issues (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
- 23 October
- Texans to Decide on Transportation Funding with Prop 7 (Luqman Adeniyi – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org
- Texans to Decide on Transportation Funding with Prop 7 (Luqman Adeniyi – The Texas Tribune)
- 22 October
- EPA awards Texas Water Development Board $63.5M to fund clean water projects (WaterWorld)
www.waterworld.com
- EPA awards Texas Water Development Board $63.5M to fund clean water projects (WaterWorld)