ENVIRONMENTAL HEADLINES, JANUARY 10 – 20

REPORT: IKE DAMAGED HALF THE HOMES IN HARRIS COUNTY
Houston Chronicle 1/15/09
Hurricane Ike damaged almost half the homes in Harris County and left more than 18,000 dwellings uninhabitable, according to a detailed assessment by the Harris County Housing Authority.

FEMA RELEASES IKE DAMAGE REPORT
OFFICIALS: DIKES, FLOOD GATES COULD PROTECT AREA
Galveston County Daily News 1/14/09
A multibillion dollar flood protection system consisting of flood gates and dikes that encircle Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula could safeguard areas heavily damaged by Hurricane Ike against future hurricanes, Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said Tuesday.

FOCUS STORM PLANNING ON PREVENTING DAMAGE
Houston Chronicle 1/12/09
I have lived near the Texas coast for a long time. I have seen hurricanes come and go. I saw Carla’s impact. I have lived through Beulah, Alicia, Allison, Rita, Ike and others.

BIRDS’ FUTURE UNCLEAR AFTER IKE DESTROYS HABITAT
Galveston County Daily News 1/15/09
Bird lovers who flock to Galveston and Bolivar Peninsula will notice fewer species after Hurricane Ike wiped out the birds’ habitat and food sources.

SOOT CONCENTRATIONS MIGHT NOT BE AS SAFE AS FEDS SAY
Houston Chronicle 1/11/09
The amount of tiny particles in Houston’s air might actually pose a health risk despite the federal government’s recent decision to designate the region as safe.

‘REFINERY DUST’ REVEALS CLUES ABOUT LOCAL POLLUTERS, UH-LED RESEARCH TEAM SAYS
Pasadena Citizen 01/13/09
Cloaked in the clouds of emissions and exhaust that hang over the city are clues that lead back to the polluting culprits, and a research team led by the University of Houston is hot on their trails.

CONTRACT AWARDED TO OPEN SAN BERNARD MOUTH
Brazosport Facts 1/14/09
Jan Edwards said she had checked her e-mail several times already Tuesday for various reasons, but didn’t expect to see one that would have her wanting to break out the champagne.

CONOCO-PHILLIPS MULVA WARNS OF GREEN ENERGY’S COST
Houston Chronicle 1/13/09
President-elect Barack Obama’s plan to create a green energy economy is designed to address the problems of energy security, climate change and job creation, but its cost could be greater than policymakers realize, the chief executive of oil company ConocoPhillips said today.

NO KING COAL
Houston Chronicle 1/10/09
After signaling that it was aggressively pursuing new coal-fired power plant projects that would have made it one of the major builders of the controversial carbon generators, Houston-based Dynegy has made a welcome change of course

CLIMATE-CHANGE ALARMISM RUNS INTO A REALITY CHECK
Houston Chronicle 1/8/09
The new century has cooled the case for climate alarmism. Global warming has stalled — not accelerated as expected. Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere have increased, but temperatures have been flat for the last eight years and have slightly fallen since 1998’s El Nino-driven temperature spike.