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November 22, 2015

Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: November 22, 2015

Featured

  1. Conservation efforts extended on almost 2,000 acres of Galveston Bay coastal habitat (Marissa Barnett – The Galveston County Daily News, 11/21/2015)
    “A local environmental group successfully protected more than 1,700 acres of wetland and prairie habitat near Smith Point in an effort to provide habitat for bird species, fish and certain Gulf crustaceans. The Galveston Bay Foundation purchased a conservation easement from a local landowner for property known as Gordy Marsh in Chambers County. Under the terms of the easement, the landowner agreed to limit future development or use of the land that would harm water quality or wildlife, according to the Galveston Bay Foundation.”
    www.galvnews.com
  2. Why Houston Isn’t Getting A Price Break On New Pavement Despite Low Oil Prices (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media, 11/16/2015)
    “There were so many potholes in Houston’s streets that Mayor Parker called it ‘crisis’ earlier this year… Re-surfacing those streets with a new coat of asphalt would certainly help. Across Houston, the city says it’s over-laying new asphalt on 150 miles of streets a year at a cost of over $11 million, or about $75,000 per lane, per mile. But hold on. Asphalt is made from crude oil. It’s what’s at the bottom of the barrel after the refining process. With oil prices having dropped so much, it would seem to follow that asphalt would be cheaper, allowing the city to repave more street for the same money. But is that what’s going on?… Economists trace it back to the refining process and changes made over the past decade.”
    www.houstonpublicmedia.org
  3. How this CEO is reducing pollution in the manufacturing industry (Melissa Wylie – Houston Business Journal, 11/12/2015)
    “Some of the country’s biggest businesses rely on manufacturing plants with large smokestacks that spew chemicals and pollutants into the air. When federal and state governments crack down on emission standards — limiting that ability to spew — it often leads to disgruntled businesses. It’s also created an opportunity for one pollution control company, which is turning a profit by helping factories meet requirements and reduce their harmful impact… Ship & Shore is a California-based engineering and manufacturing company with about 100 employees that designs and builds pollutant-reducing add-ons for factories. These large duct systems are attached to buildings, filtering dirty air while harnessing heat and energy. The company creates and installs products for factories nationwide and does a lot of work in states such as Texas and California, where there are strict environmental regulations.”
    www.bizjournals.com

EcoNotes

  • 21 November
    • Conservation efforts extended on almost 2,000 acres of Galveston Bay coastal habitat (Marissa Barnett – The Galveston County Daily News)
      www.galvnews.com
  • 20 November
    • US, Cuba sign first environmental accord since thaw (Christine Armario – News Times)
      www.newstimes.com
    • Investor Objection Threatens Hunt’s Oncor Takeover Plan (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 19 November
  • 18 November
    • Keystone, the power of symbols, and prospects for a Paris climate accord (Bill Dawson – Texas Climate News)
      http://texasclimatenews.org
    • 5 things to know about The Woodlands’ water taxis (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Announces Annual Winter Trout Stocking (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
      http://tpwd.texas.gov
    • Resending Corrected Version: Changes to METROLift Pay Structure Beginning in New Year (METRO News)
      http://content.govdelivery.com
    • Water Quality Trading: Polluting Public Waterways for Private Gain (Food & Water Watch)
      www.foodandwaterwatch.org
    • EPA wants tougher new air-pollution rule in 23 states (Record-Courier)
      http://recordpub.com
  • 17 November
  • 16 November
    • Why Houston Isn’t Getting A Price Break On New Pavement Despite Low Oil Prices (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Texas largely free of drought (Doug McDonough – My Plainview)
      www.myplainview.com
    • New study assesses the global volume and distribution of “modern” groundwater (Todd Reubold – Ensia)
      http://ensia.com
    • Tracy named institute director (Texas Water Resources Institute)
      http://twri.tamu.edu
  • 15 November
  • 13 November
  • 12 November
    • Wild weather shifts in Texas spark concern about “new normal’ (Rick Jervis and Doyle Rice – USA TODAY )
      www.usatoday.com
    • Earth may have kept its own water rather than getting it from asteroids (Julia Rosen – Science)
      http://news.sciencemag.org
    • How this CEO is reducing pollution in the manufacturing industry (Melissa Wylie – Houston Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
  • 11 November
    • Federal grant covers research of acidification impacts in Texas coastal waters (Steven Williams – 7 WDAM)
      www.wdam.com