ECONOTES 2012-04-16: Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region
Featured
- The Top Ten Invasive Species in Texas (Yana Skorobogatov – StateImpact, 04/13/2012)
Over the past few decades, Texas has had a great influx of invasive species. These invasive species can cause an immense amount of agricultural, ecological, and economic damage. State regulators and citizens will need to implement stronger measures to stop the spread to prevent further damage. Species that are invasive to Texas include nutria, red fire ants, giant salvinia, africanized bees, and zebra mussels.
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - Outgoing Sierra Club leader looks to water’s future in Texas (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle, 04/14/2012)
Ken Kramer, the first and only director of the Sierra Club’s Lone Star chapter, is retiring after more than three decades with the environmental group. He has seen the environmental movement in Texas expand and develop over time. Now, Kramer says the most critical environmental facing Texas is the management of water resources, which should be addressed by promoting the conservation of existing resources first.
http://www.chron.com/ - Report finds Texas lags in preparing for climate change (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle, 04/05/2012)
According to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Texas is behind most states in planning for impacts of climate change on landscape and economy. There is no state strategy for responding to effects of climate change, particularly those related to water. Although the state plan includes increasing water conservation and building more reservoirs, desalination plants and pipelines, the NRDC advocates for more aggressive water conservation and reuse strategies to meet long-range needs. In addition, Texas needs to plan for rising sea levels caused by climate change, which could increase flooding and coastal erosion.
http://www.chron.com/
EcoNotes
- 14 April
- Outgoing Sierra Club leader looks to water’s future in Texas (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/ - 13 April
- Private Donations To Fund Reforesting Of Memorial Park (Pat Hernandez – KUHF News)
http://app1.kuhf.org/ - The Top Ten Invasive Species in Texas (Yana Skorobogatov – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - How a New Tax Ruling Favoring the Oil and Gas Industry Could Cost Texas Billions (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - New Natural Gas Pipeline Will Link Denver to Texas Panhandle (Andrew Schneider – KUHF News)
http://app1.kuhf.org/ - Ranking of metro areas illustrates Texas efforts to boost energy efficiency (Texas Climate News)
http://texasclimatenews.org/ - Shell Says Gulf Of Mexico Sheen Dissipating (Kristen Hays – Planet Ark)
http://planetark.org/ - Mayors Want Permanent H20 Restrictions (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - 12 April
- Texas fights EPA over clean-air rule (Matthew Tresaugue – My SA News)
http://www.mysanantonio.com/ - Why Texas Still Has a Way to Go to Recover From the Drought (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - Mayor Parker, Houstonians Join Nationwide Water & Energy Saving Contest (Guidry News)
http://www.guidrynews.com/ - Texas still leads in wind power, industry group says (Star-Telegram)
http://blogs.star-telegram.com/ - Please Welcome Buddy Garcia to the Railroad Commission of Texas (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - Where Does America Get Oil? You May Be Surprised (Corey Flintoff – NPR)
http://www.npr.org/ - 11 April
- EPA Announces Top Cities in Texas with the Most Energy Star Buildings – Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth Metro Areas Rank in the Top Ten (EPA News)
http://yosemite.epa.gov/ - Flares: Smoking or Non-smoking? (Larry R. Soward – Air Alliance Houston)
http://airalliancehouston.org/ - Need More Water? Build More Buckets (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - Is the Texas Grid Ready for Summer? (David Barer – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - TCEQ Approves Fines Totaling $460,109 (TCEQ News)
http://www.tceq.texas.gov/ - 10 April
- Poll: Consumers Favor Domestic Energy Production, Natural Gas (Yana Skorobogatov – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - Texas spends Gulf oil spill cash on conservation (Ramit Plushnick-Masti – Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/ - TCEQ to Vote on State Agencies’ Role in Contested Cases (Minjae Park – The Texas Tribune)
http://www.texastribune.org/ - Why Texas Water Planners Worry about Mussels (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - ERCOT doesn’t foresee rolling summer power outages (Star-Telegram)
http://www.star-telegram.com/ - 9Â April
- War of Words over Supreme Court Beach Ruling (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ - Measuring the Rain, Drop by Drop (Laurie Johnson – KUHF News)
http://app1.kuhf.org/ - The High Cost of Losing Urban Trees (Nate Berg – The Atlantic Cities)
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/ - 7 April
- As Texas worries about power generation, is answer underground? (Laylan Copelin – The Statesman)
http://www.statesman.com/ - 6 April
- Attwater’s Prairie-Chicken Recovery on the Cusp of Success (Guidry News)
http://guidrynews.com/ - Keep Houston Beautiful Day And National Day of Action (Guidry News)
http://www.guidrynews.com/ - 5 April
- Report finds Texas lags in preparing for climate change (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
http://www.chron.com/ - Water release to Mexico strikes angry response from Texas officials (Logan Hawkes – Southwest Farm Press)
http://southwestfarmpress.com/ - 4 April
- Pickens Reviving Plans for Texas Wind Power at Smaller Scale (Andrew Herndon – Bloomberg)
http://www.bloomberg.com/