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Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: May 4, 2015
May 4, 2015

Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: May 4, 2015

Featured

  1. Breathe easier: Houston’s air quality is improving, according to new report (Elizabeth Rhodes – Culture Map Houston, 5/1/2015)
    “In spite of all the traffic congestion around town, Harris County’s air quality appears to be improving, according to a new report from the American Lung Association. The State of the Air 2015, released earlier this week, found that Houston ranks as one of the cleanest cities in the nation for short-term particle pollution. The number of days spent with unhealthy ozone levels and year-round particle pollution improved, as well. The city has seen slight improvements in year-round particle pollution (soot) levels from 2014, which is in keeping with the national trend, according to the report.”
    http://houston.culturemap.com
  2. EPA Promotes Green Initiatives at Port of Houston (Eric Haun – Marine Link, 4/27/2015)
    “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy visited the Port of Houston April 24 to highlight grants aimed at improving air quality. The port will receive about $900,000 in funding as part of EPA’s Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) grant program for clean diesel projects at U.S. ports… The grant will help replace 25 older drayage trucks with trucks powered by certified engines that are model year 2011 or newer. These drayage trucks operate in the Port of Houston and along the Houston Ship Channel. The new trucks will also have GPS units to collect data on idling and port operations, which will allow fleet owners and operators to gauge opportunities for additional fuel savings and emissions reduction. These reductions are important to overall air quality in the Houston-Galveston area, which currently does not meet Clean Air Act standards for ozone.”
    www.marinelink.com
  3. Texas Considers New Regulations To Restore Oyster Habitat (Laurie Johnson – Houston Public Media, 4/27/2015)
    “First there was Hurricane Ike. Then the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Then a serious drought, followed by another smaller oil spill in the Houston Ship Channel. Combine all of that with a seemingly insatiable demand for fresh oysters and you have a classic case of short supply, inflated prices and the temptation for oyster fishermen to bend the rules. Lance Robinson manages the Coastal Fisheries division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He said a legal sack of oysters weighs 110 pounds. ‘In the absence of live oysters, some of the fishermen are adding dead shell into that sack to make up that difference, make up that weight,’ said Robinson… The TPWD is proposing a new rule to make it illegal for more than 15 percent of the bag to be composed of dead shell and undersized oysters. Robinson said besides the ethical concerns, there’s also an environmental reason to limit the amount of shell allowed in the sack.”
    www.houstonpublicmedia.org

EcoNotes

  • 1 May
    • Breathe easier: Houston’s air quality is improving, according to new report (Elizabeth Rhodes – Culture Map Houston)
      http://houston.culturemap.com
    • Aramco Services Company Volunteers Join the Galveston Bay Foundation in Restoring Oyster Reef on Galveston Island (Click2Houston)
      www.click2houston.com
    • University Of Houston Encourages Commuters To Bike To Campus (Syeda Hasan – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • State Supreme Court Punts on Major Water Case (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Texas Lawmakers Voting To Restrict City Regulation Of Oil & Gas (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Justices Again Avoid Underground Trespassing Question (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Tesla unveils suite of batteries for homes, businesses (Nichola Groom and Paul Lienert – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
  • 30 April
    • Group focuses on improving FM 1960 corridor (Bryan Kirk – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • Survey finds optimism about Houston economy despite oil downturn (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • American Lung Association Releases State of the Air 2015 Report; California Most Polluted (Rachel Cruz – HNGN)
      www.hngn.com
    • House Advances Bill to Speed Permits, Limit Protests (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Houston partnerships pay off…again! (Christina Wolfe – EDF)
      http://blogs.edf.org
    • List: America’s most polluted cities (Independent Mail)
      www.independentmail.com
    • Decoding the causes and consequences of the 2014 oil price drop (Jason Bordoff and Akos Losz – Horizons)
      www.cirsd.org
    • Watershed conservation works to control flooding (Gainesville Daily Register)
      www.gainesvilleregister.com
    • House Advances Bill to Speed Permits, Limit Protests (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • This Isn’t Your Normal Bill to Gut the EPA (Jason Plautz – National Journal)
      www.nationaljournal.com
    • Texas Republicans Push Energy Changes in Congress (Zachary Vasile, Medill News Service – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Lawmakers Move to Speed Permits, Limit Protests (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 29 April
  • 28 April
    • The weird way that air pollution impacts how we think about innovation (Dominic Basulto – The Washington Post)
      www.washingtonpost.com
    • I-45 mega-project meetings move to Midtown Tuesday (Dug Begley – Houston Chronicle)
      http://blog.chron.com
    • Kingwood residents share thoughts on mobility plans (Jennifer Summer – The Kingwood Observer)
      www.yourhoustonnews.com
    • Baylor University Geology Doctoral Candidate Receives Prestigious Award for Groundwater Research (Baylor)
      www.baylor.edu
    • Pinemont Deal Gets Green Light by METRO Board and Harris County Commissioners (Guidry News)
      http://guidrynews.com
    • Chipotle goes GMO-free in first for fast-food sector (Lisa Baertlein – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
    • Texas needs network for sharing water supplies (WATR News)
      http://watrnews.com
    • Texas Big Game Awards to Recognize Texas Hunters and Land Stewards (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
      http://tpwd.texas.gov
  • 27 April
  • 26 April
  • 24 April
    • Justices Prolong North Texas Fracking Battle (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Drought persisting in part of Central Texas (Jared Plushnick – KVUE)
      www.kvue.com
  • 23 April
    • Lone Star Land Steward Program Celebrates 20th Anniversary (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
      http://tpwd.texas.gov
  • 22 April
    • Williams: Houston group of Sierra Club donates money to USW oil workers strike fund (Nikki Whitehead – Sierra Club)
      http://texas2.sierraclub.org
    • Plant flares could pump out more pollution than previously thought (Jamie Smith Hopkins – The Center for Public Integrity)
      www.publicintegrity.org
    • San Angelo to get first graywater development (Monique Ching – Go San Angelo)
      www.gosanangelo.com
  • 20 April
  • 15 April
    • Double Bayou Watershed Partnership Holds Ninth General Meeting of Stakeholders (The Liberty County Vindicator)
      www.thevindicator.com
  • 13 April
    • Air quality video on HARC’s BeeTEX project (HARC News)
      www.harc.edu
  • 6 April