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June 25, 2013

ECONOTES 2013-06-25: Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region

Featured

  1. Hamilton: Destruction of parks hurts all of Houston
    (Ann Hamilton, Opinion – Houston Chronicle, 6/22/2013)
    Together, we have advocated, acquired, developed and protected parks from encroachment by private, voracious developers and institutions that often view parks as “free land.” The recent news of Memorial Park being annexed into the Uptown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) led me and others to question how and why this decision was made seemingly without public participation.
    www.chron.com
  2. Record Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ may hurt billion-dollar fishing industry (Greg Barr – Houston Business Journal, 6/20/2013)
    Researchers say one of the Gulf of Mexico’s largest “dead zones” on record is shaping up this summer — which could affect the billion-dollar fishing industry and help drive up seafood prices. The Gulf dead zone forms each spring and summer off the Louisiana and Texas coasts when oxygen levels drop too low to support most life in bottom and near-bottom waters. Farmland runoff containing fertilizers and livestock waste is the main source of the nitrogen and phosphorus that fuel the growth of algae blooms, which, in turn, create the dead zone.
    http://www.bizjournals.com/
  3. Historic Houston tree cut down for development will be made into furniture (Cody Duty – Houston Chronicle, 6/17/2013)
    A century-old American Sycamore tree in the Heights was chopped down recently by developers to make way for new construction, even as locals were crying foul. A petition was created on the change.org site in an effort to stop Period Construction and Edward Goerig from cutting down the historic tree, which also happened to be listed in the 2011 Harris County Tree Registry. Goerig says that the old sycamore was unsafe, and was more than likely damaged by the recent drought.
    http://www.chron.com/
  4. Houston Biologist: Put Your Veggies ‘On the Clock’ For Better Nutrition (Carrie Feibel – KUHF News, 6/20/2013)
    Plants, like animals, are very responsive and active: they can sense wind; they can sense light; they can sense temperature. Plants even have internal clocks that regulate the rise and fall of chemicals that fight off insects. These insect-fighting chemicals are also good for humans to eat. Scientists are using this knowledge to find ways to store vegetables and enhance nutritional quality.
    http://app1.kuhf.org/

EcoNotes