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April 13, 2015

Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: April 13, 2015

Featured

  1. First ‘Bayou Greenway Day’ highlights Houston’s waterways (Katherine Driessen – Houston Chronicle, 4/4/2015)
    “For the Houston Parks Board and city officials, the first-ever Bayou Greenway Day offered a glimpse of the 150-mile network of bike and cycling paths they hope will weave through Houston’s nine bayous by 2020. Voters approved a bond package in 2012 that will provide $100 million in matching funds to double trail connections along the city’s bayous, with the nonprofit Houston Parks Board raising the rest of the $215 million through private fundraising. So far, parks board officials say they’ve raised about $80 million in private funds, including a significant $50 million pledge from Rich and Nancy Kinder‘s family foundation. Officials say the emphasis is on showcasing the bayous and providing better access, creating a necklace of trails that twists through the city with the waterways as the crown jewels.”
    http://m.chron.com
  2. The Woodlands’ water program named top in Texas (WATR News, 4/5/2015)
    “The Woodlands Joint Powers Agency (WJPA) earned the 2015 Texas Municipal Blue Legacy Award for its work in water conservation. The award, presented by the Texas Water Conservation Advisory Council (TWCAC), recognizes water suppliers that have demonstrated “outstanding and innovative commitment to the state’s mission of promoting responsible conservation and management of water resources,” said James M. Stinson, WJPA general manager… Facing continued residential, and commercial growth along with a reduction in groundwater supplies, the WJPA realized a comprehensive water awareness, and conservation program was imperative to help offset rising demands.”
    http://watrnews.com
  3. Researchers, Water Providers Launch Conservation Effort (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune, 4/9/2015)
    “With a third of Texans still facing drought conditions, a coalition of Texas universities and water providers has launched an $8 million effort to curb water use in cities. The University Municipal Water Consortium – a team of more than 25 local, state and regional water providers and researchers from Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at San Antonio – seeks to develop new ways to conserve water and chart use in hundreds of homes across the state… Urban water use in Texas is growing nine times faster than all other uses combined, according to the Texas Water Development Board. That’s what triggered the consortium’s focus on cities.”
    www.texastribune.org

EcoNotes

  • 13 April
    • Five things you need to know in Texas energy this week (Jordan Blum – Houston Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
  • 10 April
    • How Corporations and Law Enforcement Are Spying on Environmentalists (Adam Federman – Truthout)
      www.truth-out.org
    • US carbon pollution set for 2015 drop as coal plants close (RTCC News)
      www.rtcc.org
    • Acidic oceans implicated in Earth’s worst mass extinction (Will Dunham – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
    • Climate change seen bringing more fires, less snow to Yellowstone (Laura Zuckerman – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
  • 9 April
    • Researchers, Water Providers Launch Conservation Effort (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Study: Radon increased along with ramp-up in fracking (Jennifer A. Dlouhy – San Antonio Express News)
      www.expressnews.com
    • Wastewater-raised algae potentially broaden environmental advantages scope (FIS News)
      www.fis.com
    • Gas-Happy Texas Goes Solar (Daniel Cusick and ClimateWire – Scientific American)
      www.scientificamerican.com
    • Colorful Blooms Decorate Texas State Parks (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
      http://tpwd.texas.gov
    • San Jacinto Day Festival, Battle Re-enactment Set for April 18 (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
      http://tpwd.texas.gov
    • EPA seeks to ban fracking wastewater from going to public treatment plants (Laura Legere – Eagle Ford Texas)
      http://eaglefordtexas.com
    • Spotted owl could be designated ‘endangered’ (Courtney Sherwood – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
  • 8 April
  • 7 April
    • The Lite Guv and the Frack Master (Steven Bodzin – Texas Observer)
      www.texasobserver.org
    • Texas City Opts For 100% Renewable Energy–to Save Cash, Not the Planet (Tom Dart – Climate Desk)
      http://climatedesk.org
    • Proposed Law Would Allow Houston To Regulate Mountains Of Coal (Dave Fehling – StateImpact)
      http://stateimpact.npr.org
    • Texas in sync with rest of nation on climate issues, Yale study finds (Texas Climate News)
      http://texasclimatenews.org
    • Legislation Aims to Prevent Another Fertilizer Plant Blast (Eva Hershaw – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • ‘Green’ political donor vows climate agenda push in 2016 U.S. race (Valerie Volcovici – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
    • NOAA Fisheries Announces New Recreational Fishing Regulations for Red Grouper in the Gulf of Mexico (Oyster Radio)
      http://oysterradio.blogspot.com
  • 6 April
    • Texas is recovering from the drought, but lakes are still suffering (Chris Eudaily – My SA News)
      www.mysanantonio.com
    • Five things you need to know in Texas energy this week (Jordan Blum – Houston Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
    • Texas renewable energy requirement in cross hairs at Capitol (Asher Price – Austin American-Statesman)
      www.mystatesman.com
  • 5 April
  • 4 April
    • First ‘Bayou Greenway Day’ highlights Houston’s waterways (Katherine Driessen – Houston Chronicle)
      http://m.chron.com
    • Rattlers are natural part of Texas spring (Shannon Tompkins – Houston Chronicle)
      www.houstonchronicle.com
    • Bayou Greenway Day Shines Light on Houston’s Bayou System (Elissa Rivas – ABC 13 News)
      http://abc13.com
  • 3 April
    • Water woes follow increased population projections in Houston suburbs (Cindy Horswell – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • Memorial Park plans for the future (Andrea Watkins – My Fox Houston)
      www.myfoxhouston.com
  • 2 April
    • Water Ruling Cuts State’s Power in Droughts (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 1 April
    • Memorial Park’s multimillion-dollar makeover approved ( Joe Martin and Olivia Pulsinelli – Houston Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
  • 31 March
  • 30 March
    • Houston energy company weighs restructuring with “severe” money woes (Jordan Blum – Houston Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
  • 26 March
    • Texas Counties, Metros Among Fastest-Growing in U.S. (Alexa Ura – Trib+Water)
      www.texastribune.org