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December 15, 2014

Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: December 16, 2014

Featured

  1. From Refining Black Gold, A Black Dust And Maybe A Pollution Problem (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media, 12/9/2014)
    “Think of the industry in the Ship Channel and big refineries with flares burning off chemical vapors might come to mind. But how about pollution from coal? Huge piles of coal… It’s called petroleum coke, a more concentrated form of coal. Millions of tons of it pile up at terminals that often export it to places like China where it’s used for fuel. There are 56 refineries nationwide that produce it. Half of them are along the coast in Texas and Louisiana.”
    www.houstonpublicmedia.org
  2. Scientists Seek Public Help to Track Monarch Butterfly Milkweed Habitat (Texas Parks & Wildlife, 12/8/2014)
    “Since monitoring of overwintering monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) populations in the Mexican states of Michoacán and México began in 1993, the World Wildlife Fund has documented a significant decline in overwintering area (a surrogate for population size) that reached an all-time low in the winter of 2013. Monarch decline has been attributed to multiple factors including illegal logging of Oyamel forests in Mexico, extreme weather conditions in overwintering and breeding grounds, and widespread decline in milkweed abundance in the United States. Biologists from the department’s Wildlife Diversity Program recently launched a project to explore Texas milkweed and determine where it is, how much is out there and are the monarchs using it.”
    http://tpwd.texas.gov
  3. Disease, Drought, And Over-harvesting Blamed For Poor Gulf Coast Oyster Production (Pat Hernandez – Houston Public Media, 12/11/2014)
    “Hurricane Ike buried half of Galveston’s oyster reefs under a lot of sediment. Clifford Hillman, president of Hillman Shrimp and Oyster Company in Dickinson, says disease, over-harvesting and drought have affected the whole bay system… Larry Robinson is head of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Coastal Fisheries division. He says fresh water is needed to rid the bay of disease brought on by the high saline content due to the drought.”
    www.houstonpublicmedia.org

EcoNotes

  • 15 December
    • State Law Could Short-Circuit Battery Breakthrough (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 13 December
  • 12 December
    • TEXAS VIEW: UT methane study helps on well issues (OA Online)
      www.oaoa.com
    • How Will Texas Power Plants Meet New EPA Standards? (Syeda Hasan – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Dizzying Renewable Energy Price Declines Can Help States Meet Ambitious Carbon Targets Under The EPA’s Clean Power Plan (The Energy Collective)
      http://theenergycollective.com
    • Tragedies In Texas: Why Senators Say New Chemical Safety Rules Are Needed (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • Reminders Regarding the Individual Fishing Quota Programs in the Gulf of Mexico (Southeast Fishery Bulletin)
      http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov
  • 11 December
    • Disease, Drought, And Over-harvesting Blamed For Poor Gulf Coast Oyster Production (Pat Hernandez – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Metro Bus Barn Doors Open to Schools for Holiday Celebrations (Jo-Carolyn Goode – Style Magazine Newswire)
      http://t.stylemagazine.com
    • EPA awards significant funds to Texas for UST leaks (Water Technology)
      www.watertechonline.com
    • Investigators: La Porte Workers Died In Building With Broken Vent Fans (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Tragedies In Texas: Why Senators Say New Chemical Safety Rules Are Needed (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
  • 10 December
  • 9 December
    • From Refining Black Gold, A Black Dust And Maybe A Pollution Problem (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Birders Flock To See New Species in Texas in 2014 (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
      http://tpwd.texas.gov
    • New Study Sheds Light on Emissions From Gas Wells (Mose Buchele, KUT News – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • U.S. Supreme Court rejects BP challenge to Gulf spill settlement (Lawrence Hurley – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
    • Local Officials Weigh In as State Officials Discuss Cutting Property Tax (Summer Rascoll – Texas Home Page)
      www.texomashomepage.com
    • Federal Investigators: Chemical Industry Has A Safety Crisis (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • Abandoned U.S. oil wells still spewing methane, study find (Richard Valdmanis – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
    • Houston County residents oppose a proposed new sand mining ordinance (Michael Fields – Argus)
      http://hometownargus.com
  • 8 December
    • Galveston Island Finds New Solutions to Age-Old Problem of Beach Erosion (Laurie Johnson – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Scientists Seek Public Help to Track Monarch Butterfly Milkweed Habitat (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
      http://tpwd.texas.gov
    • Special Report: New EPA Rules Might Cost You (Rick Spruill – KRISTV)
      www.kristv.com
    • It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Mercer(The Atascocita Observer)
      www.yourhoustonnews.com
    • Control Date for the Gulf of Mexico Grouper/Tilefish Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) Program (Southeast Fishery Bulletin)
      http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov
    • NOAA Fisheries Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Actions to Modify Catch Limits for Snapper – Grouper Species and Gray Triggerfish Management Measures (Southeast Fishery Bulletin)
      http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov
  • 7 December
    • COLUMN-Why Energy Leaders Need to Read Cicero (Jason Bordoff and Carlos Pascual – Reuters)
      www.reuters.com
  • 6 December
  • 5 December
  • 4 December
    • CenterPoint Energy and Trees For Houston partner to give away 2,500 shade trees (Cypress Creek Mirror)
      www.yourhoustonnews.com
    • The Implications of Lower Oil Prices for the US Economy Amid the Shale Boom (Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy)
      http://energypolicy.columbia.edu
  • 1 December
  • 26 November
    • EPA proposes tougher smog limit, saying health depends on it (Randy Lee Loftis – The Dallas Morning News)
      www.dallasnews.com
  • 24 November
  • 19 November
    • Scientists look to reverse sea turtle’s sudden decline (Harvey Rice – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com