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March 27, 2016

Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: March 27, 2015

Features

  1. Stressed Texas Rivers Could Mean Too Little Water For Galveston Bay (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media, 3/22/2016)
    “Galveston Bay took a hit back in 2011 during the big drought. So little freshwater was coming into the bay from the Trinity and San Jacinto Rivers that it became saltier than what sea creatures consider ideal. ‘One of the key species that suffer the most are oysters,’ said Paula Paciorek, Water Resources Coordinator with the Galveston Bay Foundation. She told News 88.7: ‘Oysters don’t do well in high salinity levels.’ That’s one concern of the foundation and other environmentalists which is why some of them were at a meeting in Austin. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality yesterday held the latest in a series of meetings to write new rules for how Texas river water is used by cities and industry. As things are now, if water rights that have already been granted were used to their full extent in future years, it’s feared that some river flows would permanently be as low as they were in the 2011 drought.”
    www.houstonpublicmedia.org
  2. Houston City Council Approves New Recycling Contract, Excludes Glass (Florian Martin – Houston Public Media, 3/24/2016)
    “The new contract with Waste Management is good for two years and will cost the city up to $5.76 million. It’s a compromise after the garbage collection company asked to renegotiate the old contract with the city, because Waste Management is losing money due to low commodity prices for recyclables. The council rejected a different contract two weeks ago that would have cost the city even more. Council member Mike Knox, along with Greg Travis, voted against the new agreement.’Now, we can continue to piecemeal this and kick the can down the road,’ Knox said. ‘Or we can do what the citizens of Houston really want, which is to establish a long-term, sustainable recycling program, if we just take the time to do a little bit more research.'”
    www.houstonpublicmedia.org
  3. Houston-area Residents Protest Hurricane Plan (Kiah Collier – The Texas Tribune, 3/22/2016)
    “A public meeting to gather input from Houston-area residents on various hurricane protection plans turned into a mini protest Tuesday with several attendees wielding homemade signs with messages challenging a levee proposal that would leave certain communities around Galveston Bay unprotected… Earlier this month, a six-county coalition formed in the wake of Hurricane Ike unveiled a $3.5 billion plan for a 56-mile levee system, concluding it would provide a nearly equivalent level of protection to another, more popular plan — called the ‘coastal spine’ — while costing several billion dollars less. But it has set off a firestorm of opposition in the Houston-area communities on the west side of Galveston Bay, including Shoreacres, which would be left outside the dike. Residents and officials there have shot down similar proposals in the past.”
    www.texastribune.org

EcoNotes

  • 26 March
    • Deal Struck to Move Forward With Vista Ridge Pipeline (Kiah Collier – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 25 March
  • 24 March
    • Houston City Council Approves New Recycling Contract, Excludes Glass (Florian Martin – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Will Being A ‘True Texan’ Help Legendary Oil Family Win State Approval For Power Deal? (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Monarch butterflies are headed for extinction. We may have to get creative to save them. (Brad Plumer – Vox)
      www.vox.com
    • Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission Awards $10.4 Million in Local Park Grants to Texas Communities (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
      http://tpwd.texas.gov
    • Texas Regulators Approve Oncor Deal, But Uncertainty Persists (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Community Health Survey begins in Pasadena (Adrian Shelley – airCurrent News)
      http://airalliancehouston.org
    • Bright lights big city: do energy-efficient LED lights cause unexpected ecological damage? (Alexandra Wright – PLOS)
      http://blogs.plos.org
    • Houston-based petrochem co. expands footprint, looks to grow staff (Cara Smith – Houston Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
  • 23 March
    • “Hotter, wetter, drier” – Scientists say temp records a view of the future (Bill Dawson – Texas Climate News)
      http://texasclimatenews.org
    • Houston Recycling Industry Concerned About Losing Curbside Glass Pickup (Florian Martin – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Houston-Area Residents Protest Hurricane Plan (Kiah Collier – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • River, Lakes, Bays ‘N Bayous Trash Bash® Receives Keep Texas Beautiful Award (Guidry News)
      www.guidrynews.com
    • METRO Welcomes New Board Chair and Members (Jo-Carolyn Goode – Houston Style Magazine)
      http://stylemagazine.com
    • Disabled Veterans Offered Free Ticket to Ride METRO Buses and Rail Starting April 11 (Jo-Carolyn Goode – Houston Style Magazine)
      http://stylemagazine.com
  • 22 March
    • Stressed Texas Rivers Could Mean Too Little Water For Galveston Bay (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • US Expands Tougher ‘Dolphin-Safe’ Rules Around The World (Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Houston-area Residents Protest Hurricane Plan (Kiah Collier – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Texas Regulators Tell Utilities To Share The Wealth (Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • How Energy-Water Data Can Help Cities Conserve Both, on World Water Day and Beyond (Kate Zerrenner – EDF)
      http://blogs.edf.org
    • Texas scientists go to White House summit (The Statesman)
      www.statesman.com
    • Drought and Management Actions Affect World Waterway–the Rio Grande (USGS Newsroom)
      www.usgs.gov
  • 21 March
  • 20 March
    • Some communities worried of being left out of surge protection plans (John Wayne Ferguson – The Galveston County Daily News)
      www.galvnews.com
  • 19 March
    • TCEQ takes in public comment on water study concerning San Jacinto River, Lake Houston (Jay R. Jordan – The Potpourri)
      www.yourhoustonnews.com
  • 11 March
    • Texas’ Lamar Smith, U.S. House science chair, can’t leave controversy alone (Joseph A. Davis – Texas Climate News)
      http://texasclimatenews.org

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