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May 8, 2016

Environmental Headlines for the Houston Region: May 8, 2015

Featured

  1. As Houston Sprawls, New Roads Proposed For Katy Prairie (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media, 5/2/2016)
    “A new plan is under consideration by Harris County, a plan to build or expand miles of roads or “thoroughfares” in and around thousands of acres managed by the Katy Prairie Conservancy in far northwest Harris County. The land plays a crucial role in absorbing storm water and reducing flooding. Harris County’s Engineer, John Blount, says the county is very much aware of the sensitive environment and actually have eliminated 20 miles of new roads that had been proposed to cross the protected land. ‘The goal here is to eliminate all these proposed roads not only within the conservancy boundaries, the 20 miles that are within their current boundaries, and there’s additional roads that come to their boundaries that would be eliminated also,’ Blount told News 88.7. The Katy Prairie Conservancy has a different take on the plan. ‘Yes there are some roads they’re dispensing with but they are also putting in brand new major thoroughfares that they’re proposing going through east-west and north-south of our preserve system,’ says the conservancy’s Mary Anne Piacentini.”
    www.houstonpublicmedia.org
  2. Investigators: 500 Gallons Of Pesticides Burned In Massive Industrial Fire (Houston Public Media, 5/6/2016)
    “About 500 gallons of pesticides were stored at a Houston warehouse complex consumed by a large blaze Thursday, an HFD official said. Firefighters continued to extinguish on-going flare-ups and hotspots on Friday. Authorities on the scene are trying to determine how much ran off into nearby creeks. Fire Cpt. Ruy Lozano said on Friday that it’s not clear how much of the pesticide was burned in the fire and how much leaked into adjacent waterways, but that drinking water is safe. Officials are asking residents to stay away from water run-off to nearby areas.”
    www.houstonpublicmedia.org
  3. Clean Power what? Most Americans haven’t heard of climate rule (Elizabeth Harball – E&E Publishing, LLC, 5/5/2016)
    The Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, considered by many to be the most far-reaching climate regulation ever set forth by the U.S. government, has barely registered in the minds of most American voters. A new national poll found 7 in 10 voters have heard ‘just a little or nothing at all’ about EPA’s regulation to rein in carbon emissions from power plants. In a different poll of Texas voters that was also released yesterday, 85 percent of respondents surveyed had not ‘seen, read or heard of a federal policy called the Clean Power Plan.’ Steven Kull, director of the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, which conducted the national poll, said it didn’t shock him that EPA’s climate rule hasn’t made waves among average Americans. www.eenews.net

EcoNotes

  • 6 May
    • Investigators: 500 Gallons Of Pesticides Burned In Massive Industrial Fire (Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Neighbors Weary About Chemicals In Air, Water After Spring Branch Warehouse Fire (Florian Martin – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • In Big Bend, Trans-Pecos Pipeline Clears Last Hurdle (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Requiring clean water not anti-business (Pacific Coast Business Times)
      www.pacbiztimes.com
    • Officials consider closing eco-station (David Webb – The Monitor)
      http://themonitor.net
    • Environmentalists flood FERC with motions to intervene, comments against Texas LNG project (San Antonio Business Journal)
      www.bizjournals.com
    • Preterm birth linked to lengthy traffic exposure in Houston (Medical Press)
      http://medicalxpress.com
  • 5 May
    • Clean Power what? Most Americans haven’t heard of climate rule (Elizabeth Harball – E&E Publishing, LLC)
      www.eenews.net
    • Environmental groups sue EPA, seek stricter fracking waste rules (Priyanka Shrestha – Energy Live News)
      www.energylivenews.com
    • U.S. proposes giving wind farms 30-year permits to kill eagles (Laura Zuckerman – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
    • Economies could shrink by mid-century due to scarce water – World Bank (Sebastien Malo – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
    • Four Montgomery County cities to pick mayors Saturday (Matthew Tresaugue – Houston Chronicle)
      www.chron.com
    • Gulf Shrimp Season Closing May 15 (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
      http://tpwd.texas.gov
  • 4 May
    • Rising Seas are Swamping Our Archaeological Heritage (Brian E. Ostahowski – Scientific-American)
      http://blogs.scientificamerican.com
    • New Native Pollinator Management Guidelines Available for Texas Landowners Working to Achieve Wildlife Tax Valuation (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
      http://tpwd.texas.gov
    • Groups Say EPA Doing Too Little About Oil Drilling And Earthquakes (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Houston Suspicious As CenterPoint Asks State To Approve Cost Hike (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Survey: Texans Support a Statewide “Clean Energy” Plan (Jim Malewitz – The Texas Tribune)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 3 May
    • TPWD Taking Public Comment on Proposed Deer Movement Rules (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
      http://tpwd.texas.gov
    • Two fourth-graders start plastic bag petition in Houston ( Samantha Ptashkin – Click2Houston)
      www.click2houston.com
    • Spring rains could spur more U.S. rangeland fires this summer (Steve Gorman – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
    • US EPA takes report off line that says glyphosate not likely carcinogenic (P.J. Huffstutter – Planet Ark News)
      http://planetark.org
  • 2 May
    • As Houston Sprawls, New Roads Proposed For Katy Prairie (Dave Fehling – Houston Public Media)
      www.houstonpublicmedia.org
    • Texas High Court Strikes Down Houston’s Air Pollution Rules (Susan Carroll – Governing)
      www.governing.com
    • Pregnant women need to avoid drinking water with certain ag chemicals, researchers say (Brendan Gibbons – San Antonio Express-News)
      www.expressnews.com
    • FEMA opens four disaster recovery centers to offer much-needed help to flood victims (News Fix)
      http://cw39.com
    • Community Outdoor Outreach Program Provides Opportunity to Get Outside (Texas Parks & Wildlife)
      http://tpwd.texas.gov
  • 1 May
  • 29 April
    • Texas Congressman Plans Bill to Speed Hurricane Protection (Neena Satija – Trib+Water)
      www.texastribune.org
  • 28 April
    • Cornyn Files Bill to Speed Hurricane Study (Kiah Collier and Neena Satija – Trib+Water)
      www.texastribune.org
    • West Texas Site Applies for Nuke Waste License (Marisa Endicott, Medill News Service – Trib+Water)
      www.texastribune.org
    • Floods prompt free well-water testing (Jace Larson – Click 2 Houston)
      www.click2houston.com
  • 27 April
    • Climate change will noticeably reduce oxygen in the oceans by 2030 (Mary Beth Griggs – Popular Science)
      www.popsci.com
  • 26 April
  • 22 April
    • The world already would be out of water if everyone ate like Americans (Nathan Halverson – Reveal News)
      www.revealnews.org