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Houston Environmental News Update December 9, 2015
December 9, 2015

Houston Environmental News Update December 9, 2015

Thank you to everyone who came out for our happy hour last Thursday. It was great to meet with friends new and old.

On another note, CEC is currently seeking candidates for our board of directors and board committees. If you would like to use your time, expertise, and resources to help CEC connect our environmental community, please contact rachel@cechouston.org for more information.

CEC NOTES

  • Tickets now on sale: Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour.
    After hosting a sold-out showing in January 2015, the Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (CEC) is bringing The Wild & Scenic Film Festival on Tour, one of the largest environmental film festivals in North America, back to Houston for two nights: January 27 & 28, 2016 at the historic River Oaks Theatre! The Festival consists of twenty-two short documentary films which speak to the environmental concerns and celebrations of our planet, covering topics ranging from adventure and the beauty of the great outdoors to grass roots efforts to combat serious issues. Each night, eleven films will be shown including one created by local groups depicting local issues.Tickets now on sale. Tickets are per night and start at $13 for members who buy tickets in advance to $20 for General Admission. Buy now for the best price and to reserve VIP seating.

    Sponsors to Date:

    If you are interested in being a sponsor, partner, or volunteer, please contact rachel@cechouston.org. The Festival is an amazing opportunity to raise awareness for your own green initiatives and show your support for local environmental groups and green business. It is a great opportunity to offer Kickback coupons, promote a new line or service, or generate goodwill with free giveaways.

  • Save the Date: CEC’s Greater Houston Environmental Summit
    Please mark your calendar for our annual summit on Thursday, March 24, 2016. If you are interested in sponsoring the event or participating in the planning committee, please contact rachel@cechouston.org.
  • New Subscribers Thank you to our new subscribers: Joanne, Jorge, Jaime, Diana, Mary, Kate, Zhimin, Stacy, and Garrett. We hope you enjoy our emails. Please consider liking us on facebook.

COALITION NOTES

  1. Texas Christmas Bird Counts. The 116th annual Christmas Bird Count is scheduled for December 14, 2015 to January 5, 2016. Organized by the National Audubon Society, this all-volunteer effort takes a snapshot of bird populations to monitor their status and distribution across the Western Hemisphere. The results are compiled into a database that is shared with federal, state, and private authorities. Past data can be viewed at the Audubon’s website. Counts are open to birders of all skill levels. Novices are placed in groups with more experienced birders. New to CBCs? Join us in the fun! Discover new areas to bird which may not be normally accessible and take advantage of this great opportunity to bird with some of our foremost birding experts. Be part of a long-standing holiday program that ultimately helps protect our extraordinary birds! There is NO FEE to participate in Christmas Bird Counts! The annual CBC report is an online publication and National Audubon relies on donations for funding. Learn more at www.houstonaudubon.org.
  2. 7th Annual Gingerbread Build-Off. Architecture Center Houston will host the 7th Annual Gingerbread Build-Off at City Hall’s Hermann Square Saturday December 12, 2015. Over 30 competing teams will create their masterpieces using 100% edible materials. More than 3,000 spectators are expected to attend and cheer on the teams, play in the kids’ construction zone, and see Santa! All of that entertainment is free and open to the public! Find the details at https://aiahouston.org.
  3. Urban Harvest’s Growing Citrus in Houston Citrus trees bear fruit abundantly and deliciously for many years. They are evergreens and have fragrant flowers, attract North America’s largest butterfly and are a good bird habitat. Explore the types of citrus available, best varieties for flavor and production, how to obtain them and grow them and how to keep them alive during very bad freezes. Citrus can be purchased at the Eastside Farmers Market on Dec. 12th. http://urbanharvest.org 
  4. Holiday with the Cranes on Galveston Island. Spend a wild weekend in Galveston celebrating the island’s wintering flocks of Sandhill Cranes at the first annual Holiday with the Cranes, December 11-13, 2015. A weekend experience like no other, it’s chock-full of indoor and outdoor nature activities, combined with the arts and ambiance of historical Galveston Island! Learn more at www.galvestonnaturetourism.org. Some events are already sold out, so reserve your spot today!
    • A Crane Affaire: Opening Celebration Of Art on the Wing Juried Affaire (December 11, 6:30-9pm)
    • Coffee & Cranes with Keanna Leonard (December 12 and 13, 8-11:30am)
  5. ABNC Guided Canoe Trip. Want to see Armand Bayou from a whole new perspective? Come on a guided canoe trip the second Saturday of each month. The next trip will be held on December 12, 2015. Ages 12 and up. The trip will begin at 8am and go until 11am. Reservations are required. Please call 281-474-2551×10 to make your reservation.
  6. Cigna Sunday Streets: Midtown. Cigna Sunday Streets Houston is an initiative to promote and improve the health of Houstonians. Cigna Sunday Streets Houston opens a stretch of streets normally reserved for cars and other vehicles to allow cycling, walking, dancing, socializing and provides a family-friendly opportunity to be physically active. Come out and enjoy Houston! The next event will be held on December 3, 2015, 12-4pm at Smith between Elgin and West Gray and West Gray between Smith and Valentine. Find out more at www.houstontx.gov.
  7. The Wildlife Center of Texas: Oiled Wildlife Response Workshop. The Wildlife Center of Texas will be providing an oiled wildlife response training workshop right here in Houston! The workshop will be sponsored by Shell and held on Monday, December 14, 2015, from 9am-4pm. The workshop will take place onsite at The Wildlife Center of Texas at 7007 Katy Road. The purpose of the workshop is to certify and train personnel that are interested in assisting The Wildlife Center of Texas Oiled Wildlife Response Team during a spill. Certification and training are required for anyone who may participate in any role during an oiled wildlife response. The workshop will cover topics such as the effects of oil on wildlife, initial intake and exam of oiled wildlife, an introduction to OSHA training, wildlife rehabilitation’s role in Incident Command System, and actual hands on cleaning of oiled feathers in which participants will practice by washing an unoiled white duck. There is no cost for the workshop, but spaces fill up quickly and seating is limited, so please register as soon as possible. RSVP via e-mail with your information to WildlifeResponse@WildlifeCenterofTexas.org.
  8. Reading Towards Sustainability V. Presentation and Book Swap! For the past four years the Program Director featured a slide presentation of many quotes from a plethora of interesting books that range from best sellers to a few you might not have heard about, based upon his “Continuing Education 101” booklist. Books allow readers to explore subjects in depths that are either abbreviated or getting no coverage in the mainstream media; a way to keep up with current thought leaders; and further insight into the whys of green building and behavior. Quoting Thomas Carlyle, “What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us” lending credence to the booklist title. This year will also be a book swap. Steve will have some personal books regarding sustainability available. Bring a book you have read and would like to share and take a different one home. This event will be held on December 16, 2015, 6-8pm at the Green Building Resource Center. The event is limited to 100 attendees, so please RSVP to Steve Stelzer at 832-394-9050 or e-mail at steve.stelzer@houstontx.gov. Learn more at www.greenhoustontx.gov.
  9. HANC’s Trees & Stars Winter Celebration. Join HANC for their first-ever winter celebration! Celebrate the winter night sky with delicious food and drink in the Arboretum’s forests enlivened with festive spirit. Take a night hike through the winter woods to the meadow deck where everyone will view twinkling stars and the waxing moon through telescopes brought by the Houston Astronomical Society. This event will be held on December 19, 2015, 6:30-9:30pm. Tickets are $30 individual, $50 couple, or $70 family of four. Register at http://houstonarboretum.org.
  10. ABNC Winter EcoCamp. Winter is no reason to stay inside…get your kids outside! Keep your kids active and engaged during their break at Armand Bayou Nature Center’s Winter EcoCamp. Take hikes, see animals, make shelters, go canoeing, fish and play plenty of games! There will be two sessions during the winter break: December 21, 22, & 23, 2015, and December 28, 29, & 30, 2015. Members: $75 per camp session; Non-Members $90 per camp session. A session is either am or pm and is for 3 days. Please call 281 474 2551 ext 13/14 to register. Learn more at www.abnc.org.
  11. Additional Upcoming Events  

COMMUNITY NOTES

    1. Paris Climate Change Conference. The Texas Climate News is providing updated coverage of the Paris climate conference. You can find the conference series, continuing summaries of key developments, introduction to the negotiations and recommendations for background reading. View more at http://texasclimatenews.org.
      • What would an independent Texas tell the UN?
      • Initial days: Renewables, carbon tax, early trouble
      • A brief introduction to the negotiations
      • Recommendations for a little background reading
    2. Film Screening: “This Changes Everything”. Climate Event Opportunity! A screening of the documentary “This Changes Everything” inspired by Naomi Klein’s book of the same name will be shown on December 9, 2015, at 7:30pm at the Edwards Houston Marq’E Stadium 23 & IMAX theater located at 7620 Katy Freeway, Houston, TX 77024. “This Changes Everything” is a documentary on the climate crisis, inspired by Naomi Klein’s international best-selling book of the same name. What if confronting the climate crisis is the best chance we’ll ever get to build a better world? Filmed over 211 shoot days in nine countries and five continents over four years, This Changes Everything is an epic attempt to re-imagine the vast challenge of climate change. See the trailer here: www.youtube.com. There will be a Q&A session following the screening. Tickets may be reserved at www.tugg.com.
    3. Work Boots on the Ground – Trinity River Refuge. The Union Sportsmen’ Alliance worked together with other refuge partners to build a boardwalk in the Trinity River Refuge. This elevated boardwalk was started help improve park accessibility in areas that are often flooded by frequent rain. Find out about this project in this video: Work Boots on the Ground.
    4. 10th State of the Bay Symposium–Early Registration through Dec. 11, 2015. The Galveston Bay Estuary Program and partners have made great progress in protecting the bay’s ecological and economic health over the past 20 years! Don’t miss an opportunity to hear from regional leaders and local experts, and connect with other leading scientists and natural resource management experts. January 13-14, 2016 at the Moody Gardens Hotel and Convention Center in Galveston, TX. For more information on the Galveston Bay Estuary Program and the latest symposium updates, visit http://gbep.texas.gov.
    5. 2016 Community Solutions Program Seeks Hosts. IREX seeks U.S. community-based, non-profit or other grassroots organizations, government offices or legislative bodies that actively engage in community development projects to host, mentor and guide community leaders from August to December. Community Solutions participants are among the best and brightest global community leaders working in Transparency & Accountability, Tolerance & Conflict Resolution, Environmental Issues, and Women & Gender Issues. Community leaders participating in the program will come from over 60 countries. Learn more at www.irex.org. You can also express your interest in hosting and mentoring a global community leader and have an IREX representative will follow-up with you by filling out an interest form: www.surveymonkey.com.
    6. Environmental Literacy Grants (ELG). The NOAA Office of Education has issued a competitive funding opportunity for education projects designed to strengthen the public’s and/or K-12 students’ environmental literacy to enable informed decision-making necessary for community resilience to extreme weather events and other environmental hazards. Successful projects will advance NOAA’s mission and build the environmental literacy necessary for community resilience by focusing on geographic awareness and an understanding of Earth systems and the threats and vulnerabilities that are associated with a community’s location. Eligible applicants are limited to institutions of higher education; other nonprofits, including informal education institutions such as museums, zoos, and aquariums; K-12 public and independent schools and school systems; and state, local and Indian tribal governments in the United States. Proposed projects should be between two and five years in duration and have total budget requests of $250,000 to $500,000 for all years of the project. The deadline for applications is February 8, 2016. Learn more at www.oesd.noaa.gov.
    7. Additional Dates of Note.
    8. TV: Texas Parks & Wildlife. Broadcast on KUHT Channel 8 at 3:00 PM each Saturday and on municipal access cable channels in Baytown, Deer Park, Houston, Nassau Bay, Pasadena, Seabrook, Sugar Land, and on HCC TV. More info on the TPWD website (* indicates a segment about the Houston area). For a preview, visit TPWD’s YouTube Page.
      • The Gulf Wardens
      • Lone Star Land Steward: Rancho Zunzun
      • Swimming Holes
    9. Air Quality Forecast http://www.tceq.texas.gov/airquality/monops/forecast_today.html. Houston Clean Air Network and Realtime Ozone Mapping: http://houstoncleanairnetwork.com.
      • December 9, 2015: Yellow–PM2.5. Winds may be light enough for the daily PM2.5 AQI to reach the lower end of the “Moderate” range in the Houston area, with highest concentrations in the morning and evening.
      • December 10, 2015: Green–Good. Moderate winds and/or lower incoming background levels should help to keep air quality in the “Good” range.
      • December 11, 2015: Green–Good. Moderate to strong winds, cooler temperatures, increased cloud cover, and/or lower incoming background levels should help to keep air quality in the “Good” range.
      • December 12, 2015: Green–Good. Moderate to strong winds and/or lower incoming background levels should help to keep air quality in the “Good” range.

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