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August 5, 2014

Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: August 5, 2014

Featured

  1. Facing budget gap, city may consider garbage fee (Mike Morris – Houston Chronicle, 7/25/2014)
    For years, Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department Director Harry Hayes has suggested the city implement a garbage fee to expand curbside recycling and pay for other initiatives. And for years, Mayor Annise Parker has demurred. Now, with a looming budget deficit that could force widespread layoffs and cuts to services, the idea may see serious discussion at the council table for the first time.
    www.houstonchronicle.com
  2. Outlook: EPA’s proposed rules on C02 above criticism (Richard Eidlin – Houston Chronicle, 7/31/2014)
    Some national business organizations have hammered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for proposing new rules on carbon pollution from existing power plants, cutting carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030, using 2005 levels as a baseline. It’s ludicrous to pretend that climate change isn’t happening. It’s beyond comprehension that large business advocacy organizations, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, think that our government should stand by and do nothing, while climate-related disasters in 2012 caused more than $139 billion in damages, while U.S. taxpayers shelled out $96 billion in climate-related damages in 2012 alone, or while sea levels rise 6.6 feet by 2100 – enough to swamp Miami.
    www.chron.com
  3. Conservation efforts helping longleaf pine rebound in E. Texas (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle, 8/1/2014)
    The 5,600-acre Sandyland Sanctuary, a Nature Conservancy-managed property some 100 miles northeast of Houston, is home to some of the states’ last stands of longleaf pine, a towering tree that dominated these sandy flatlands before the area was heavily logged a century ago. Across the eight-state region, timber companies, conservation groups and government officials are working to revert millions of acres to longleaf-pine forests and keep them free from development.
    www.houstonchronicle.com

EcoNotes

  • 3 August
    • Ohio Water Crisis a Warning for Texas, Other States (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 1 August
    • Conservation efforts helping longleaf pine rebound in E. Texas (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • What Every Texan Needs to Know About “Toilet to Tap” Water (Desmond Lawler – Know)
      www.utexas.edu
    • As Renewable Energy Grows, Wind and Solar Pull Ahead of Hydropower (Dylan Baddour – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
  • 31 July
    • Eidlin: EPA’s proposed rules on C02 above criticism (Richard Eidlin – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • Texas Tech Researchers Discover Low-Grade Nonwoven Cotton Picks Up 50 Times Own Weight of Oil (Newswise)
      www.newswise.com
    • EPA Sends Rule Reports on Air Quality Implementation Plans to Senate (Aile Dayandante – Insurance News Net)
      http://insurancenewsnet.com
  • 30 July
    • Why a Tanker of Kurdish Oil is Stranded by the Galveston Coast (David Brown & Rhonda Fanning – KUT News)
      http://kut.org
    • RestoreTheTexasCoast.org is unveiled (News 23 Center)
      www.kveo.com
    • MillerCoors In Fort Worth Is Saving Water While Brewing Beer (Justin Martin – KERA News)
      http://keranews.org
    • Four Guys and a Boat Tackle a Texas-Sized Water Problem (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • EPA Public Hearing on Carbon Pollution Standards Draws More “Public” than Power Industry Speakers (Gail Reitenbach – Power)
      www.powermag.com
    • VIDEO: How to ‘Drive Clean Across Texas’ year-round (Tyler Morning Telegraph)
      www.tylerpaper.com
    • Honey, I Shrunk The Windmills! To The Size Of An Ant (Lauren Silverman – Breakthrough)
      http://breakthroughs.kera.org
    • Federal officials extend deadline for offshore drilling comments (Jennifer A. Dlouhy – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • U.S. EPA kicks off hearings on power plant emissions rules (Valerie Volcovici – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
  • 29 July
    • 4 Ways Texas Could Win Big Under New Climate Change Rules (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • Drought conditions down sharply from last year (Mike W. Thomas – San Antonio Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
    • Don’t Frack on Me: Local Challenges to the Right to Drill (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • U.S. coastal flooding on the rise, government study finds (Ryan McNeill – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
  • 28 July
  • 26 July
    • Skelly: More transit choices critical if city to remain low-cost place to live (Michael Skelly – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
  • 25 July
  • 24 July
  • 21 July