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August 18, 2014

Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: August 19, 2014

Featured

  1. Houston Plays a Role in Solar Green Energy Movement (Pat Hernandez – Houston Public Media, 8/6/2014)
    The roof of Houston’s Green Building Resource Center is lined with giant solar panels that help power the building. It’s a facility that promotes solutions to improve the environment. Program Director Steve Stelzer believes solar energy is the wave of the futures. A new report by Environment Texas, a statewide, citizen-funded group that advocates for a cleaner environment, shows strong solar growth across the country. Texas saw a 45% increase in 2013, but director Luke Metzger says Houston was ranked 44th in the country.
    www.houstonpublicmedia.org
  2. Greens Bayou Coalition works to make improvements (Flori Meeks – Houston Chronicle, 8/12/2014)
    Along its 45-mile span from Jersey Village to the Houston Ship Channel, Greens Bayou passes neighborhoods and schools, hospitals and shopping centers, Bush Intercontinental Airport and the FM 1960 corridor. Since 2007, the Greens Bayou Corridor Coalition has been working to make improvements along the way. Most recently, it completed a strategic plan for a 27.5-mile bayou paddle trail, the creation of the Ida Gaye Park for seniors in north Houston and a master plan that outlines parks and trail projects for the entire span of the bayou.
    www.chron.com
  3. HGAC promotes awareness of commute alternatives in August (The Potpourri Tomball Edition, 8/13/2014)
    The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) recognizes Commute Solutions Month by encouraging drivers to try a commute alternative this month to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality. For the fourth year, Houston made Forbes’ “Fasting Growing Cities in America” list. This rapid growth is great news for our economy, but presents new challenges for our region. Commuting in our region has become synonymous with wasting time and money, and air quality continues to be a major concern. In fact, the EPA designated our region a severe-nonattainment area because we do not meet national air-quality standards for pollution. Since on-road vehicles account for approximately 40 percent of our region’s air emissions, committing to a commute alternative is essential to helping improve our region’s health.
    www.yourhoustonnews.com

EcoNotes

  • 18 August
    • Eagle Ford Sees Another Kind of Boom: Publishing (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 16 August
  • 15 August
    • On Climate Rules, Regulators Look Beyond Litigation (Jim Malewitz and Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 14 August
    • New LEED certification favors downtown, mixed-use projects (Jenny Agee-Aldridge – Houston Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
    • How Trucks Can Remind Us To Recycle (Pat Hernandez – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • H-E-B steps up its efforts on sustainable seafood (Vicki Vaughan – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • EPA blames Texas for Illinois air pollution (H. Sterling Burnett, Ph.D. – Human Events)
      http://humanevents.com
    • Your iPhone is about to get (a little) less toxic (Sara Bernard – Grist)
      http://grist.org
    • Migrating hummingbirds will soon arrive, public welcomed to see hundreds at Huffman home (Casey Stinnett – Your Houston News)
      www.yourhoustonnews.com
    • Is Railroad Commission Getting Serious About Man-Made Quakes? (Terrence Henry, StateImpact Texas/KUT – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
  • 13 August
    • HGAC promotes awareness of commute alternatives in August (The Potpourri Tomball Edition)
      www.yourhoustonnews.com
    • Environmental Group Says Illegal Diesel Fracking Used in Texas (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • Railroad Commission Starting to Get Serious About Manmade Quakes (Terrence Henry – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • Proposed Water Supply Project Draws Praise, Concerns in San Antonio (KDH News)
      http://kdhnews.com
    • Group Says Illegal Fracking Used In Texas (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • 5 Undeniable Truths about the Clean Power Plan (Ben Schneider – EDF Blog)
      http://blogs.edf.org
    • State regulator unveils proposed rules on disposal wells (Rhiannon Meyers – Fuel Fix)
      http://fuelfix.com
    • Texas weighs new pipeline rules (Fuel Fix)
      http://fuelfix.com
    • San Antonio Mulls $3 Billion Water Supply Project (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • When climate disaster strikes, just hit the reset button (Heather Hansman – Grist)
      http://grist.org
    • Tesla is becoming the 800-pound green jobs gorilla (Heather Smith – Grist)
      http://grist.org
  • 12 August
  • 11 August
    • Protesters urge hasty cleanup at abandoned chemical plant (Cindy Horswell – Beaumont Enterprise)
      www.beaumontenterprise.com
    • Trains and Traffic: No Time for Crossed Signals (METRO – Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County) (WN News)
      http://article.wn.com
    • Some Texas cities turn to higher water impact fees (KTSM News)
      www.ktsm.com
    • Keystone XL’s Carbon Pollution More Than State Department Estimated, Study Finds (Seth Borenstein – Huffington Post)
      www.huffingtonpost.com
    • Why Are Environmentalists Being Blamed for Bursting the Fracking Bubble? (Alter Net)
      www.alternet.org
  • 10 August
  • 9 August
  • 8 August
    • In the Garden with Urban Harvest: Get the most out of garden space with permaculture (Bob Randall, Ph.D. – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • For Legacy Oil Family Facing Drought, It’s Conservation or Bust (Marfa Public Radio)
      http://marfapublicradio.org
    • Local architect hopes energy-efficient Heights home could lead by example (Erin Mulvaney – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • Garden enthusiasts to gather for Greater Houston Plant Conference Sept. 12 (AgriLife Today)
      http://today.agrilife.org
    • Teaching kids about climate change? Read them a classic story (Lori Rotenberk – Grist)
      http://grist.org
    • Heat shmeat. Talk fall planting, protection of Heights trees (Martin Hajovsky – Houston Chronicle)
      http://blog.chron.com
  • 7 August
    • Bird identification expert to speak at Sugar Land Garden Club Aug. 26 meeting (Your Fort Bend News)
      www.yourhoustonnews.com
  • 6 August
  • 4 August
    • Feds face backlash trying to regulate wetlands that often aren’t wet (Chris Adams – The Tribune)
      www.sanluisobispo.com
  • 1 August
    • EPA Finalizes Greenhouse Gas Permit for Texas Power Plant;$607 million in economic development and new jobs (EPA News)
      http://yosemite.epa.gov