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August 29, 2014

Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: August 26, 2014

Featured

  1. Houston’s newest neighborhood park looks like a million dollars, but it was a long time coming (Clifford Pugh – Culture Map Houston, 8/22/2014)
    Mayor Annise Parker and other city leaders gathered under the broiling sun on Thursday to dedicate Mandell Park and marvel at how it came about. More than 30 years ago, the city bought the 1.2-acre property at the corner of Mandell Street and Richmond Avenue in the Montrose area for a library and leveled a strip shopping center and homes to clear the land for construction. But when plans changed to locate the library in a church building on nearby Montrose Boulevard, no one knew quite what to do with the old property. It soon became a dumping ground for trash, tires and old furniture until neighbors cleared it and started a community garden. Over the years, they convinced city officials that it deserved to be a park and embarked on a $1.2 million campaign to build and maintain it.
    http://houston.culturemap.com
  2. New State Park Largest Conservation Purchase In Texas History (Florian Martin – Houston Public Media, 8/21/2014)
    Texas is getting a new state park and wildlife habitat. The Powderhorn Ranch is a 17,000 acre piece of land off Matagorda Bay, about 150 miles southwest of Houston. Multiple public and private conservation organizations worked together to secure the property. They gathered at Houston’s Museum of Natural Science to make the spectacular announcement. Conservationists have had an eye on the property for more than 30 years. At almost $38 million, the acquisition marks the largest conservation land purchase in Texas history. Carter Smith, executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said the sheer size of the land along with its rich flora and fauna are some of the things that make this addition to Texas’ state parks special.
    www.houstonpublicmedia.org
  3. Environmental study begins on high-speed rail from Houston to Dallas (Matt Stephens – Community Impact Newspaper, 8/20/2014)
    The Federal Railroad Administration and the Texas Department of Transportation have begun work on an environmental impact statement for the Texas Central Railway, a 240-mile high-speed rail system between Houston and Dallas. Robert Eckels, president of Texas Central Railway, said the FRA and TxDOT issued a notice of intent June 25 to begin the environmental study. Three routes are being considered for the train, Eckels said, including rights of way along I-45, north along Hwy. 249 through Tomball and along a Union Pacific path along Hwy. 290. Stops are being considered near Bryan College Station and possibly along Beltway 8 or the Grand Parkway. “All [routes] have their strengths,” Eckels said. “The main thing we’re looking for is the cost of construction and to minimize the impact on the communities.”
    http://impactnews.com

EcoNotes

  • 25 August
    • Environmental Justice Advocates Question Houston’s Recycling Plan (Neena Satija – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 23 August
    • METRO’s System Reimagining Plan Moves to Next Step: Board Review on Aug. 28 (WN)
      http://article.wn.com
  • 22 August
    • Houston’s newest neighborhood park looks like a million dollars, but it was a long time coming (Clifford Pugh – Culture Map Houston)
      http://houston.culturemap.com
    • The EPA’s Costly ‘Clean Power Plan’ Power Grab (Karen Lugo – Forbes)
      www.forbes.com
    • Ecologists Just Saved Miles Of Texas Coastline Using BP Oil Spill Money (Ari Phillips – Climate Progress)
      http://thinkprogress.org
    • Companies ask Lege for help to fight county lawsuits (Kiah Collier – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • Kleb Woods Nature Preserve attracts hummingbirds and their fans (Gary Clark – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • Renovated Mandell Park opens with a ribbon cutting and reception (Marc Pembroke – Examiner)
      www.examiner.com
    • NASA’s first green fuel spacecraft figures out eco-power – SlashGear (Chris Davies – Green Sight)
      www.greensight.com
    • Industry Groups Streamline Green Building Tool Development – Environmental Leader (Green Sight)
      www.greensight.com
    • Exxon Mobil touts chemical plant expansion (Fuel Fix)
      http://fuelfix.com
  • 21 August
  • 20 August
    • Environmental study begins on high-speed rail from Houston to Dallas (Matt Stephens – Community Impact Newspaper)
      http://impactnews.com
    • Texas regulators OK expanding nuclear waste site (Betsy Blaney – The Salt Lake Tribune)
      www.sltrib.com
    • EPA urged to reduce refinery pollution (LaGloria – FROST)
      www.frostillustrated.com
    • You might think bikeshares cut down on CO2, but the truth is complicated (Madeleine Thomas – Grist)
      http://grist.org
  • 19 August
    • Texas’ Water Rights System Gets Tested in Drought (Kate Galbraith – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • How Illegal Fishing Costs Texas And Mexico Millions Each Year (Pat Hernandez – KUHF News)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Texas’ Nuclear Waste Dump Poised to Get Wiggle Room (Jim Malewitz, The Texas Tribune – The Gilmore Mirror)
      www.gilmermirror.com
  • 18 August
    • Texas Officials Blast New Pollution Rules For Power Plants (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • Free Mobile App Available for Texas Hunting and Fishing Regulations (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
      www.tpwd.state.tx.us
    • Oil And Gas Industry Added 10,500 Jobs In Second Quarter (Andrew Schneider – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Fracking Eco Worries Breed Fraudsters (Ted Knutson – FA Magazine)
      www.fa-mag.com
  • 16 August
    • State of Texas clashes with EPA on water issues (Matthew Waller – Caller Times)
      www.caller.com
  • 15 August
  • 11 August
    • Reducing hurricane impacts: HARC, university partners studying breakwater islands, public opinions (HARC News)
      www.harc.edu