Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: September 30, 2014
Featured
- Houston takes lead with climate plan (Matthew Treasaugue – Houston Chronicle, 9/22/2014)
Mayor Annise Parker briefly took center stage Monday in the campaign against climate change by pledging to make America’s energy capital a laboratory for experimentation and action. Frustrated with the congressional response to global warming, Parker and the mayors of Los Angeles and Philadelphia vowed to set more aggressive targets for reducing their cities’ heat-trapping pollution while challenging others to do the same. Houston, Los Angeles and Philadelphia are well-positioned to be leaders because of their size and big industries.
www.houstonchronicle.com - Study claims Texas textbooks ‘distort’ climate change (Lauren McGaughy – Houston Chronicle Blog, 9/15/2014)
Yet another group is questioning the integrity of Texas’ proposed social studies textbooks, this time casting doubt on their treatment of climate change. “The scientific debate over whether climate change is happening and who is responsible has been over for years, and the science textbooks Texas adopted last year make that clear,†said Dr. Minda Berbeco, director of the National Center for Science Education. “Climate change will be a key issue that future citizens of Texas will need to understand and confront, and they deserve social studies textbooks that reinforce good science and prepare them for the challenges ahead.â€Â On Monday, the California-based, pro-evolution group released the findings of its study into the proposed textbooks along with the Texas Freedom Network, a religious liberties nonprofit that advocates for the separation of church and state. NCSE singled out five publishers, saying their treatment of climate change contained misleading, biased information based on political wrangling over the divisive subject rather than on pure science.
http://blog.chron.com - Armand Bayou Nature center will celebrate 40th year (Annette Baird – Houston Chronicle, 9/23/2014)
When the Bay Area Armand Bayou Nature Center was established 40 years ago, alligators had almost disappeared from that part of the bayou, shore birds were on the decline and a portion of tall grass prairie was under threat. Today, the 2,500-acre preserve is home at one time or another to more than 350 species of animals and 220 species of birds, including a thriving alligator population, river otters and a rising population of herons, egrets and raptors. In addition, the center has for four decades enriched the lives of educators, school children, researchers and the general population seeking time out in nature.
www.chron.com
EcoNotes
- 28 September
- Debating What’s More Sacred: Private Land or Public Beaches (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org
- Debating What’s More Sacred: Private Land or Public Beaches (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
- 27 September
- Metro board approves updated bus reimagining plan (Charles Kuffner – Off the Kuff)
http://offthekuff.com
- Metro board approves updated bus reimagining plan (Charles Kuffner – Off the Kuff)
- 26 September
- Progress for long delayed energy efficiency program (R.A. Dyer – Fuel Fix)
http://fuelfix.com - Will Mexican Drilling Bring Texas Profit? (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Perry: More American Energy to Counter Russian Aggression (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Austin Energy Green Building (AEGB) Announces HID Global’s Four-Star Rating (Security Info Watch)
www.securityinfowatch.com - Perry: More American Energy to Counter Russian Aggression (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org
- Progress for long delayed energy efficiency program (R.A. Dyer – Fuel Fix)
- 25 September
- Take Climate Action during State Fair of Texas; Is your environmental footprint bigger than Big Tex? (EPA News)
http://yosemite.epa.gov - Metro inches forward on bus system, Uptown, new rail lines (Dug Begley – Houston Chronicle)
http://blog.chron.com - Fewer Atlantic Hurricanes Bode Well For An El Niño Winter (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Aerobiology Laboratory Associates, Inc. Purchases Pure Earth Environmental Laboratory (KSWO News)
www.kswo.com - HISD to participate in Green Apple Day of Service with beautification projects (The Examiner)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Is Solar About to Explode in Texas? (Reuben Brewer – The Motley Fool)
www.fool.com - U.S. judge rejects BP bid to recoup some payments made for spill (Terry Wade – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - U.N. climate summit falls short for marchers, world’s poorest (Megan Rowling – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org
- Take Climate Action during State Fair of Texas; Is your environmental footprint bigger than Big Tex? (EPA News)
- 24 September
- Flow Of Money From South Texas Oil Startles Economists (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Data App: Track Texas Reservoir Levels (Ryan Murphy and Kate Galbraith – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - Preschoolers learn about nature at Jones Park (The Atascocita Observer)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Board hopes slurry pit regulations prevent pollution (Gabrielle Shirley – KAIT 8 News)
www.kait8.com - Notice Anything Different About Your Neighborhood Recycling Truck Lately? (Michael Hagerty – Houston Matters)
www.houstonmatters.org - El Nino forecast to help Texas out of drought (Betsy Blaney – Capital Press)
www.capitalpress.com - Climate aid needed for 500 million small farmers: researchers (Chris Arsenault – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Ending deforestation is smart policy: officials (Lisa Anderson – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - Life’s Better Outside – September 2014 (Newsroom America)
www.newsroomamerica.com
- Flow Of Money From South Texas Oil Startles Economists (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
- 23 September
- Armand Bayou Nature center will celebrate 40th year (Annette Baird – Houston Chronicle)
www.chron.com - HARC Launches Interactive Hydraulic Fracturing Virtual Site (The Paper)
http://fatcatwebproductions.com - Governor Perry to deliver keynote for energy and climate policy summit in Houston (Bob Price – Breitbart)
www.breitbart.com - $142K grant allows Galveston to expand its recycling efforts (Daniel Durbin – The Galveston County Daily News)
www.galvestondailynews.com - What Does Fossil Fuel Divestment Mean For Texas? (Mose Buchele – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - EPA Backs Texas Disposal Well Plan (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org - About 100 climate protesters arrested in march on Wall Street (Sebastien Malo – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - EPA backs Texas disposal well plan (KTSM News)
www.ktsm.com - Walker: Clean power plan good for Texas jobs, health and environment (Scheleen Walker – Statesman)
www.statesman.com - EPA’s SmartWay Honors Green Freight Industry Leaders (EPA News)
http://yosemite.epa.gov - EPA Reinforces Standards to Use “Representative Data” After Sierra Club (The National Law Review)
www.natlawreview.com - Lowe’s wins top EPA transportation award (Dan Berthiaume – CSA)
www.chainstoreage.com - The Q&A: Jennifer Walker (Bobby Blanchard – Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org
- Armand Bayou Nature center will celebrate 40th year (Annette Baird – Houston Chronicle)
- 22 September
- Houston takes lead with climate plan (Matthew Treasaugue – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com - Bill McKibben: Activist, author, People’s Climate March organizer (Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org - Oil & Gas Trouble In Texas Ranchland: Whose Road Is It? (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Eminent Domain Debate Goes To The Railroad Commission (StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org - Friendswood ISD Transportation Dept. wins Clean Air Champion Award (The Friendswood Journal)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Dayton ISD receives Clean Air Champion Award (Dayton News)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - TxDOT Ordered To Investigate Speeding Up Oil Patch Highway Repairs (Andrew Schneider – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - Will Texas Make It Harder For Pipelines To Take Private Land? (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org - In film on alternative car fuels, former Shell executive speaks out (Lucas Iberico Lozada – Planet Ark News)
http://planetark.org - The road to cleaner air (Cierra Bailey – Pleasanton Weekly)
www.pleasantonweekly.com - HARC Launches Interactive Hydraulic Fracturing Virtual Site (Fort Mill Times)
www.fortmilltimes.com - Latta co-sponsor of EPA limiting measure (The Van Wert Independent)
www.thevwindependent.com - For Polar Bears, a Climate Change Twist (James Gorman – The New York Times)
www.nytimes.com
- Houston takes lead with climate plan (Matthew Treasaugue – Houston Chronicle)
- 21 September
- With emissions rising, it’s time to embrace natural gas (Chris Faulkner – The Examiner)
www.yourhoustonnews.com - Thousands of protesters, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, join People’s Climate March (Ben Kochman, Erin Durkin, and Stephen Rex Brown – Daily News)
www.nydailynews.com
- With emissions rising, it’s time to embrace natural gas (Chris Faulkner – The Examiner)
- 19 September
- City reviving car-free street events starting Oct. 12 (Dug Begley – Houston Chronicle)
www.houstonchronicle.com
- City reviving car-free street events starting Oct. 12 (Dug Begley – Houston Chronicle)
- 18 September
- Acidic seas block fishes’ survival mechanism (Tim Radford – Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org - Texas Efforts to Improve Oil Traffic Safety Yield Mixed Success (Andrew Schneider – Houston Public Media)
www.houstonpublicmedia.org
- Acidic seas block fishes’ survival mechanism (Tim Radford – Texas Climate News)
- 17 September
- Texas oil and gas production jobs exceed new milestone (Jordan Blum – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com - At “Kumbaya” Meeting, New Colorado River Plan Passes (Neena Satija – Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org
- Texas oil and gas production jobs exceed new milestone (Jordan Blum – Houston Business Journal)
- 16 September
- Dietary effect on greenhouse-gas emissions is hard to swallow (Tim Radford – Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org - States suing to stop CO2 cuts prepare for them anyway (Bobby Magill – Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org
- Dietary effect on greenhouse-gas emissions is hard to swallow (Tim Radford – Texas Climate News)
- 15 September
- Study claims Texas textbooks ‘distort’ climate change (Lauren McGaughy – Houston Chronicle)
http://blog.chron.com - Study pins shale water contamination on well construction, not drilling or fracking (Lance Murray – Houston Business Journal)
www.bizjournals.com
- Study claims Texas textbooks ‘distort’ climate change (Lauren McGaughy – Houston Chronicle)
- 12 September
- Aquifer is No Quick Fix for Central Texas Thirst (Neena Satija – Texas Tribune)
www.texastribune.org
- Aquifer is No Quick Fix for Central Texas Thirst (Neena Satija – Texas Tribune)