Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: March 6, 2015

Featured

1. New research magnifies concerns about sea-level impacts in coastal areas (Bill Dawson – Texas Climate News, 3/6/2016)
   “With 367 miles of Gulf coastline (and 3,359 miles of total coastline, including tidal inlets), Texas is unquestionably susceptible to sea-level rise and associated hazards that climate change is aggravating, especially storm-driven flooding. That much has been accepted by scientists for some time. But science constantly moves on, refining, advancing and correcting earlier findings and conclusions. In recent weeks, a number of studies have added to researchers’ understanding of, and underscored their warnings about, the impacts that human-caused global warming is projected to have on coastal regions in decades and centuries ahead. Consider together, these studies show how research is continuing to magnify concerns about the recurring conditions that coastal areas, including the swath of Texas stretching from Beaumont-Port Arthur through Houston-Galveston and Corpus Christi to Brownsville, will increasingly have to deal with.”http://texasclimatenews.org
2. Ozone Season begins in Houston (Adrian Shelley – airCurrent News, 3/3/2016)
   “March 1 marks the beginning of ozone season in Houston. From now until November 30, we’ll watch out for Ozone Action Days, report on air quality in real time with houstoncleanairnetwork.com, and keep Houstonians informed about ozone air pollution and its potential to impact their health. What can we expect in 2016? Well, 2015 was a bad year for ozone air pollution, as we showed in an analysis late last year. There were 30 high ozone days that year, up from just 14 in 2014. The general trend in ozone has been downward for some time, but 2015 put a bump in that road.”
   http://airalliancehouston.org
3. Texas Considers Letting Utilities Pass Millions Of ‘Tax Dollars’ From Customers To Investors (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media, 3/3/2016)
   “”The three members of the Public Utility Commission of Texas tackled a proposal that’s being fought by consumer groups. The AARP, the retirees advocate, says what’s at stake is an ‘unacceptable wealth transfer’ from electricity customers to the shareholders of big utility companies. Commission member Brandy Marquez appeared to agree: ‘We’re not in the business of enriching companies that aren’t paying taxes. But what I will say is a REIT is a different animal,’ Marquez said during the Commissions public meeting. That animal she’s talking about and what’s at the center of all this is a REIT, a Real Estate Investment Trust. A utility company in North Texas wants to convert itself into a REIT and Houston’s CenterPoint Energy, says it’s studying how it might do the same. Why would it want to? A REIT is a financing strategy that could mean a big utility could collect hundreds of millions of dollars from customers to cover the company’s income taxes. But because of the way the REIT is set up, it’s tax exempt, so the company would never pay the taxes but instead pass the millions onto its investors, its shareholders.”
   www.houstonpublicmedia.org

EcoNotes

• 6 March
  • New research magnifies concerns about sea-level impacts in coastal areas (Bill Dawson – Texas Climate News)
    http://texasclimatenews.org
• 5 March
  • Reveal Radio: A Monster Storm in the Making (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
    www.texastribune.org
• 4 March
  • The United States Turns On the Gas (Jason Bordoff and Akos Losz – Foreign Affairs)
    www.foreignaffairs.com
• 3 March
  • Ozone Season begins in Houston (Adrian Shelley – airCurrent News)
    http://airalliancehouston.org
  • AAH Honors the Air Scientists of Tomorrow (Brian Butler – airCurrent News)
    http://airalliancehouston.org
  • Hell and High Water (Neena Satija, Kiah Collier, Al Shaw, Jeff Larson – The Texas Tribune)
    www.texastribune.org
  • Vote Delayed, But Hunt’s Oncor Plan Inches Forward (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
    www.texastribune.org
  • Supreme Court Hands Paxton Setback on Mercury Rule (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
    www.texastribune.org
  • Texas Considers Letting Utilities Pass Millions Of ‘Tax Dollars’ From Customers To Investors (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
    www.houstonpublicmedia.org
  • Government Canyon SNA Celebrates City Partnership This Sunday (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
    http://tpwd.texas.gov
  • Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Conservation Council Approves $1.4 Million in Grant Awards (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
    http://tpwd.texas.gov
  • Brown Trout Coming Back to Texas (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
    http://tpwd.texas.gov
• 2 March
  • Texans Remember Late Fracking Magnate’s Impact (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
    www.texastribune.org
  • Texas Regulators Poised To Vote On Hunt’s Oncor Plan (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
    www.texastribune.org
  • New Program for Texas Rice Growers Improves Water Use, Waterfowl Habitat (AmmoLand)
    www.ammoland.com
  • Exposure to Certain Air Pollutants may Impact Pregnancy Outcomes (AZO CleanTech)
    www.azocleantech.com
  • UAB researcher named one of five Outstanding New Environmental Scientists (Jeff Hansen – UAB News)
    www.uab.edu
• 1 March
  • Earth Day 2016: Building on New Hope (Vicki Wolf – CLEAN)
    www.cleanhouston.org
  • Gary Gates, Wayne Christian Advance to Railroad Commission Runoff (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
    www.texastribune.org
  • In Texas Super Tuesday Primary, Ted Cruz Oil Industry Support Could Provide An Edge (Clark Mindock – IBT)
    www.ibtimes.com
  • Air pollution linked to higher risk of preterm birth for mothers with asthma (EurekAlert!)
    www.eurekalert.org
  • The 2016 Presidential Candidates’ Views on Environmental Issues (Gizmodo)
    www.gizmodo.in
  • Bruce E. Johansen: Sea-level rise by 40 feet ‘baked into the cake’ (Bruce E. Johansen – News Times)
    www.newstimes.com
  • The coal ash mess: Three “must reads” plus a powerful video (Rob Schofield – The Progressive Pulse)
    http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org
  • Reading Iran’s Elections: Implications for Change, the Future of the Iran Deal, and the Hardliner Risk (Center on Global Energy Policy)
    http://energypolicy.columbia.edu
• 29 February
  • Port of Beaumont Gives Funding for BTA Neches River Adventures Environmental Education Classes (Guidry News)
    http://guidrynews.com
  • Texas Sues EPA Over Wilderness Haze Regulations (Madlin Mekelburg – The Texas Tribune)
    www.texastribune.org
  • Moving To A Future Of Potable Water Reuse (Justin Mattingly – Water Online)
    www.wateronline.com
  • EPA urges states to locate lead water lines as required (Todd Spangler – USA Today)
    www.usatoday.com
• 28 February
  • Bernie Sanders’ Nuclear Waste Votes Divide Texas Activists (Jamie Lovegrove – The Texas Tribune)
    www.texastribune.org