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January 17, 2016

Environmental Headlines for the Houston Area: January 17, 2015

Featured

  1. It’s Houston versus Texas in a looming court battle over climate rules (Bill Dawson – Texas Climate News, 1/14/2016)
    “…in a looming court struggle over federal climate-protection rules for power plants, it’s Houston versus Texas. A ruling is expected early this year on whether those Obama administration regulations, aimed at replacing many coal-fired plants with cleaner methods of producing electricity, will be delayed while a lawsuit to kill them, led by the states of Texas and West Virginia, moves ahead. Late last month, the city of Houston, along with other cities and municipal organizations, joined the judicial fray on the side of the power-plant rules and against its own state government. Neither Texas’ opposition to the regulations nor Houston’s support for them was a surprise, given the state’s and city’s respective, opposing stances on manmade climate change and what to do about it in recent years. Nonetheless, Houston’s entry into courthouse battle over the administration’s Clean Power Plan illustrates key features of the political and legal maneuvering over climate policy as the nation enters a presidential election year.”
    http://texasclimatenews.org
  2. Opinion: PUC Should Consider Easements in Line Case (Blair Calvert Fitzsimons – The Texas Tribune, 1/12/2016)
    “The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) has proposed construction of a large electrical transmission line across the largest piece of protected land — public or private — in Gillespie County, southwest of Austin. Owned by renowned conservationist Terese T. Hershey, the 1,500-acre Hershey Ranch is protected by a conservation easement, which was supposed to conserve it in perpetuity. This proposal by LCRA challenges the integrity of the conservation easement, and undermines an effective tool for conserving the state’s critical natural resources.”
    www.texastribune.org
  3. Texas Sets New All-Time Wind Energy Record (Robert Fares – Scientific American, 1/14/2016)
    “On December 20, a low-pressure weather system crossed through the Texas panhandle and created sustained wind speeds of 20 to 30 mph. The burst of wind propelled Texas to surpass its all-time record for wind energy production, with wind providing 45 percent of the state’s total electricity needs — or 13.9 gigawatts of electric power — at its peak. That’s 13,900,000,000 watts: enough electricity to power over 230 million conventional 60 watt incandescent light bulbs, or more than 11 times the 1.21 gigawatts that Doc Brown’s time machine needed in Back to the Future. In other words, a heck of a lot of power. The latest record is news not only because wind provided nearly half of Texas’s electricity needs, but also that it did so for so many hours in a row. The sustained winds brought on by the low-pressure front caused wind energy production to exceed 10 gigawatts for essentially the entirety of December 20.”
    http://blogs.scientificamerican.com

EcoNotes

  • 16 January
  • 14 January
    • It’s Houston versus Texas in a looming court battle over climate rules (Bill Dawson – Texas Climate News)
      http://texasclimatenews.org
    • Texas Sets New All-Time Wind Energy Record (Robert Fares – Scientific American)
      http://blogs.scientificamerican.com
    • Employee honored with Vice Chancellor’s Award in Excellence for Public Service in Forestry (The Gilmer Mirror)
      http://gilmermirror.com
    • Global mercury emissions down 30 percent as coal use drops: USGS (Planet Ark News)
      www.planetark.org
    • NOAA Announces Final Aquaculture Plan for Gulf of Mexico (The Fishing Wire)
      www.thefishingwire.com
    • New study indicates students’ cognitive functioning improves when using standing desks (EurekAlert!)
      www.eurekalert.org
    • EPA and VW mum on meeting of leaders amid emissions scandal (Virginia Carter – GoSportTimes)
      http://gosporttimes.com
  • 13 January
    • Visualize Your Water: A Citizen Science Challenge for High School Students (USGS Newsroom)
      www.usgs.gov
    • Additional funds available for prescribed burning near Sam Houston National Forest (Your Southeast Texas)
      http://yoursoutheasttexas.com
    • Zika virus hits Texas: Will the mosquito-borne disease spread through the United States? (Inquisitr)
      www.inquisitr.com
    • Bid to mine more coal on U.S. federal lands tests Obama’s green agenda (Patrick Rucker and Valerie Volcovici – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
  • 12 January
    • Environmentalists Ask EPA to Strip Texas’ Authority (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Opinion: PUC Should Consider Easements in Line Case (Blair Calvert Fitzsimons – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Crude Oil Prices Plunge To Lowest Level Since 2003 (Andrew Schneider – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Texas Oil Family Faces Opposition In Deal For Big Utility Company (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Greens ask the EPA to take over pollution enforcement in Texas (Timothy Cama – The Hill)
      http://thehill.com
    • Future of The Woodlands’ water taxis remains in doubt (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • Mosquito-Borne Zika Virus Confirmed In Texas Patient (CBS DFW)
      http://dfw.cbslocal.com
    • EPA questions its own fracking report right when it’s least likely to matter (Dianna Wray – Houston Press)
      www.houstonpress.com
    • Volkswagen promises emissions fix ‘in coming weeks or months’ (Ellis Neal – Tri-County Sun Times)
      http://thevillagessuntimes.com
  • 11 January
    • Wild & Scenic Film Festival returns to Houston in January (Your Houston News)
      www.yourhoustonnews.com
    • What’s Causing Persistent Power Outages In One Master Planned Community? (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Oncor Airs Concerns with Ray Hunt Takeover Plan (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 8 January
  • 7 January
    • Clearing the Air: How Market-Based Policies Help Meet the Tighter US Ozone Limit (Alan J. Krupnick, Joshua Linn, Kristen McCormack – Resources for the Future)
      www.rff.org
    • The Impacts of Biofuel Mandates on Food Prices and Emissions (Ujjayant Chakravorty – Resources for the Future)
      www.rff.org
    • How Climate Change Affects Traffic Accidents (Benjamin Leard, Kevin Roth – Resources for the Future)
      www.rff.org
    • Are We Becoming Greener? Trends in Environmental Desire
 (James W. Boyd, Carolyn Kousky – Resources for the Future)
      www.rff.org
    • Commentary: Does Bicycle Infrastructure Reduce Traffic Congestion? (Casey J. Wichman – Resources for the Future)
      www.rff.org
  • 6 January

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