Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: May 1, 2015
- 5 Things to Know About Communities of Color and Environmental Justice (Jasmine Bell – Center for American Progress, 4/25/2016)
“Environmental racism and failing infrastructure have plagued communities of color for decades. The environmental justice movement seeks to rectify the problems created from these issues by ensuring the fair treatment of all people from different races, ethnicities, and incomes with the laws, regulations, and policies that affect their environment. The water contamination in Flint, Michigan, is just one window into the failures of infrastructure and environmental quality that have threatened communities across the country for generations. It has been more than 100 days since President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency due to the contaminated water in Flint. This column provides a snapshot of the environmental justice issues that communities of color across the country face every day.”
www.americanprogress.org - Past week, over $50 million in environmental grant applications in Greater Houston Region were submitted to TCEQ to fund projects that will reduce flooding and improve habitat, quality of life and economic development (The Katy News, 4/20/2016)
“This past week over $50 million in grant proposals benefiting the eight-county Greater Houston Region were submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to be considered for funding under the RESTORE Act, part of the gulf oil spill recovery plan. The total amount available for funding under TCEQ’s current request for RESTORE applications is $56 million (www.restorethetexascoast.org). As part of a two-year effort to create the first-ever 8-county Gulf-Houston Regional Conservation Plan (Gulf-Houston RCP), over 50 partners collaborated together to submit the 14 respective projects, ranging in amounts from $750,000 to over $12 million. These projects allow for hundreds of acres in restored prairies, riparian corridors along 14 creeks and bayous, coastal wetlands, reforestation and nature-based pedestrian trails (see attached Joint Letter of Support from the Gulf-Houston RCP Steering Committee and map of the project locations).”
http://thekatynews.com - Texas Court: Houston Overstepped with Air Pollution Rules (Jordan Rudner – The Texas Tribune, 4/29/2016)
“In passing two ordinances designed to regulate air pollution, the city of Houston overstepped its authority and illegally subverted state law, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday. The ruling is a victory for a coalition of industrial facilities whose emissions were subject to inspection and possible prosecution by the city. The case pit the BCCA Appeal Group, a coalition of companies including ExxonMobil, the Dow Chemical Company, and ConocoPhillips, against the city of Houston, which sought to penalize companies in criminal court when those companies violated state emission guidelines. Attorneys for the city of Houston argued that the city was simply trying to enforce the standards set out by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, a state agency, by putting in place a parallel enforcement mechanism that would impose fines on the companies even if the Commission chose not to act.”
www.texastribune.org
See other headlines about the Houston region’s environment!
EcoNotes
- 1 May
- Unfriendly Climate (Sonia Smith – Texas Monthly)
www.texasmonthly.com
- Unfriendly Climate (Sonia Smith – Texas Monthly)
- 29 April
- Texas Court: Houston Overstepped with Air Pollution Rules (Jordan Rudner – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Texas Congressman Plans Bill to Speed Hurricane Protection (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Texas Lawmaker Warns of Outer Space Death Pulse (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Solar Together: A Proposal (Colin McCormick and David Sandalow – Center on Global Energy Policy)
http://energypolicy.columbia.edu
- Texas Court: Houston Overstepped with Air Pollution Rules (Jordan Rudner – The Texas Tribune)
- 28 April
- “Bridge to Clean Air†Project Completes First Phase (Adrian Shelley – airCurrent News)
http://airalliancehouston.org - Grassland To Gas Land: How Texas Ranches Could Help Offset Climate Change (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Texas Breakdown: 68 Million Pounds of Pollution Released During Industrial Malfunctions and Maintenance Last Year (airCurrent News)
http://airalliancehouston.org - Another year of conservation impacts: new IRNR and TWRI annual reports (Texas Water Resources Institute)
http://twri.tamu.edu - Rebuilding monarch numbers: landowners, agencies and cities pitch-in (Eva Vigh – Texas Water Resources Institute)
http://twri.tamu.edu - New USDA research: feral hogs threaten turkey populations (Texas Water Resources Institute)
http://twri.tamu.edu - Record year for whooping cranes in USFWS surveys (Texas Water Resources Institute)
http://twri.tamu.edu - HARC’s People and Nature Speaker Series, Featuring Michael E. Webber (HARC Blog)
www.harcresearch.org - METRO police to enhance service with body cameras (Memorial Examiner)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - NOAA Announces New Gulf Red Snapper Catch Limits, Targets and Seasons (The Fishing Wire)
www.thefishingwire.com
- “Bridge to Clean Air†Project Completes First Phase (Adrian Shelley – airCurrent News)
- 27 April
- Plants Emitting Pollutants Illegally, Report Finds (Kiah Collier, Texas Tribune – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - How Driverless Cars Could End Up Harming the Environment (Jason Bordoff – The Wall Street Journal)
http://blogs.wsj.com - Renowned climate and energy expert Dr. Phil Sharp joins columbia SIPA Center on Global Energy Policy (Center on Global Energy Policy)
http://energypolicy.columbia.edu
- Plants Emitting Pollutants Illegally, Report Finds (Kiah Collier, Texas Tribune – Houston Public Media)
- 26 April
- Seed Paper – It Grows on You! (Ryan Draper – The Houston Zoo Blog)
www.houstonzoo.org - Reliant Program Raises More Than $450,000 for EarthShare of Texas (EarthShare)
http://earthshare-texas.org - Billionaire green donor launches U.S. millennial voter drive (Valerie Volcovici – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Groundwater quality changes alongside expansion of hydraulic fracturing (Phys.org)
http://phys.org - From coast to coast, seas shape economy — and political debate (Emily Yehle – E&E Publishing)
www.eenews.net - U.S. fight against Zika mosquito depends on local effort (Liz Szabo – USA Today)
www.usatoday.com - Texas Farm and Ranch Lands Council Approves Over $580,000 in Conservation Grants (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
http://tpwd.texas.gov - Exciting Things Are Happening in the Southeast! (NOAA’s Marine Debris Blog)
https://marinedebrisblog.wordpress.com - Senate testimony: Challenges and opportunities for oil and gas development in different price environments (Center on Global Energy Policy)
http://energypolicy.columbia.edu - Damage Estimates Rise for Houston-Area Flooding (Juan A. Lozano and David Warren – Claims Journal)
www.claimsjournal.com - Opponents call EPA smog restrictions ‘unachievable’ (Robert Walton – Utility Dive)
www.utilitydive.com - Texas joins group challenging federal ozone rule (Leah Durain – 12 News)
www.12newsnow.com - Storm cleanup waiting on TCEQ approval (The Daily Tribune)
www.dailytribune.net - Check and clean those windshield wipers often (Pat Peschka – The Hutchinson News)
www.hutchnews.com
- Seed Paper – It Grows on You! (Ryan Draper – The Houston Zoo Blog)
- 25 April
- 5 Things to Know About Communities of Color and Environmental Justice (Jasmine Bell – Center for American Progress)
www.americanprogress.org - How A Deadly Cloud In Houston Decades Ago Led To ‘Shelter-In-Place’ (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Solar Energy War: Utilities Set Their Sights on Rooftop Solar – Motley Fool (Green Sight)
www.greensight.com - Houston Zoo Staff Saving Wildlife in the Mariana Islands (Part III)! (The Houston Zoo Blog)
www.houstonzoo.org - The Economic Value of Urban Forests (Builder)
www.builderonline.com - Politics and Global Warming, Spring 2016 (Anthony Leiserowitz, Edward Maibach, Connie Roser-Renouf, Geoff Feinberg and Seth Rosenthal – Yale Program on Climate Change Communication)
http://climatecommunication.yale.edu - Land restoration on the Gulf Coast is showing some progress (Adam Wernick – PRI)
www.pri.org - What’s next for Japan’s energy and climate landscape (Center on Global Energy Policy)
http://energypolicy.columbia.edu
- 5 Things to Know About Communities of Color and Environmental Justice (Jasmine Bell – Center for American Progress)
- 23 April
- Is this the new normal? (Kim McGuire and Mike Tolson – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Legislation governing water reuse in Texas (Rashda Khan – Standard-Times)
www.gosanangelo.com - Valley Residents Have Been Eating Toxic Fish for Decades (Alexa Ura – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org
- Is this the new normal? (Kim McGuire and Mike Tolson – Houston Chronicle)
- 22 April
- How To Avoid Future Houston Flooding Crises? Build Higher And Away From Bayous (Florian Martin – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Texas A&M Forest Service supports soil and water stewardship week (Texas A&M Forest Service)
http://tfsweb.tamu.edu - Colorful Wildflowers and Blooming Plants Abound at Texas State Parks (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
http://tpwd.texas.gov
- How To Avoid Future Houston Flooding Crises? Build Higher And Away From Bayous (Florian Martin – Houston Public Media)
- 20 April
- Past week, over $50 million in environmental grant applications in Greater Houston Region were submitted to TCEQ to fund projects that will reduce flooding and improve habitat, quality of life and economic development (The Katy News)
http://thekatynews.com - Wrecked wetlands lead to flooding. Here’s what you can do. (Jennifer Lorenz – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - After Texas Flooding, Health Hazards Emerge as Water Recedes (Gillian Mohney – ABC News)
http://abcnews.go.com
- Past week, over $50 million in environmental grant applications in Greater Houston Region were submitted to TCEQ to fund projects that will reduce flooding and improve habitat, quality of life and economic development (The Katy News)
- 19 April
- Houston gets an extension on meeting air standards, but for what purpose? (Marcelo Norsworthy – EDF)
http://blogs.edf.org
- Houston gets an extension on meeting air standards, but for what purpose? (Marcelo Norsworthy – EDF)