ENVIRONMENTAL HEADLINES, JULY 14-20

 

LYONDELL UNIT SETTLES POLLUTION CASE WITH EPA
Houston Chronicle 7/19/07
A subsidiary of Lyondell Chemical will spend more than $125 million to address air, water and hazardous waste violations at petrochemical plants in Texas and three other states under a settlement announced Wednesday by the U.S. government.

CITGO CONVICTED IN DUCK DEATHS AT CORPUS CHRISTI REFINERY
Houston Chronicle 7/19/07
A judge has convicted Citgo on three federal misdemeanor counts of killing birds at its Corpus Christi East plant in 2003 but acquitted the plant’s former environmental manager of the same charges.

HOUSTON-AREA GREEN BUILDING MOVEMENT BLOSSOMS
Houston Chronicle 7/20/07
More property developers, brokers and architects are participating in the nationwide green building movement.

LANDFILL AGAIN SURFACES AT STATE MEETING
Houston Chronicle 7/19/07
Proponents and opponents of proposed landfill expansion in east Fort Bend are set to have another showdown in Austin July 25 as a state commission decides whether to grant a hearing.

STATE SETS HEARING ON WASTE PERMIT APPLICATION
Houston Chronicle 7/17/07
A Conroe company is seeking a permit to pump industrial waste underground in Montgomery County.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY PROMOTES MEASURES TO SAVE WATER
Houston Chronicle 7/12/07
With the underground water supply dwindling and the prospect of higher water rates when the county converts to lakes for drinking water, the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District is encouraging homeowners and businesses alike to mine liquid gold from their rooftops.

TRI-COUNTY CHAIR NOT GIVING UP
Baytown Sun 7/16/07
Public transportation advocate Barbara Bunn is still prepared to fight for public transportation in the area.

TAX HOLIDAY FOR ENERGY EFFICIENT APPLIANCES TO START IN 2008
Houston Business Journal 7/16/07
A sales tax holiday for energy-efficient appliances will take place for the first time in 2008, according to Texas Comptroller Susan Combs.

DOING WRONG BY LADY BIRD
Houston Chronicle 7/20/07
In the fall of 1965, as the weeds of political opposition threatened to strangle Lady Bird Johnson’s Highway Beautification Act in Congress, her husband issued a stern warning.

SOLAR POWER WINS ENTHUSIASTS BUT NOT MONEY
New York Times 7/16/07
The trade association for the nuclear power industry recently asked 1,000 Americans what energy source they thought would be used most for generating electricity in 15 years. The top choice? Not nuclear plants, or coal or natural gas. The winner was the sun, cited by 27 percent of those polled.

IS GLOBAL WARMING MAKING HURRICANES STRONGER?
Houston Chronicle 7/18/07
Author Chris Mooney has written a new book, Storm World, on the question of global warming and whether it has made hurricanes stronger. The book captures an intense scientific debate in progress and concludes that neither side has the data to definitively prove its case. Last week, he spoke with science writer Eric Berger about storms in a warming world.

ENVIRONMENTALISM FOR BILLIONAIRES
Tom Payne.Com 7/17/07
Lately, I’ve been inundated with phone calls from venture capitalists, private equity guys, and hedge fundistas. They’re coming to me because I’m their environmentalist friend and they all want to know one thing: how they can make a buck off the surge in interest in combating global warming.