The agenda for the upcoming session of the Texas Legislature will be dense with bills that, directly or indirectly, affect the quality of the environment in Texas. More than 50 bills have already been filed that match the criteria “environment” on the legislature’s online bill search.

The Texas Department of Transportation was reviewed by the Sunset Commission which recommended major changes in the way the agency operates and in the way it is structured. For example, the Sunset Commission recommended that the five-member board be replaced by a single highway commissioner. To see the draft report, go online.

The legislative session begins January 13. Newly elected State Representative Armando Walle, who will represent the North side/Aldine area (District 140) is hosting three town hall meetings next week. It is a great opportunity for constituents and activists to visit with him about legislative issues. The meetings are:

Monday, January 5th – 6 pm
MacArthur High School Cafeteria
4400 Aldine Mail Route

Tuesday, January 6th – 6 pm
Sam Houston Math, Science & Technology Center Cafeteria
9400 Irvington Blvd.

Tuesday, January 6th – 7:30 pm
Aldine-Greenspoint YMCA
10960 North Freeway

Please RSVP for any of the meetings by sending an email to representativewalle@gmail.com.

This week is a good opportunity to visit your own legislators about issues that you care about. Call the local office and make an appointment to visit the legislator (or a staff member) or see if there will be any public events. If you don’t know who your legislator is, find out online.

The last legislative session resulted in the highest level of funding for state parks in more than a decade, a two-year moratorium on the Trans-Texas Corridor, and a successful challenge to the process of fast-tracking permits for coal-fired electric plants. All these accomplishments were the result of bi-partisan coalitions of business leaders, environmental activists, farmers and ranchers, and urban and rural elected officials. Those coalitions can make a positive contribution toward making Texas a greener state.

The Houston-Galveston Area Council is a partner with regional transportation agencies in a program called “Commute Solutions”, a one-stop alternative transportation resource in the Houston-Galveston area. The program’s staff provides advice, answers and assistance on commuting options and employee transportation programs.

August is “Commute Solutions Month”. In the “My Solution Is…” pledge campaign, commuters promise to participate a commute alternative this month. To take the pledge, go online. You will be offered choices such as: car pooling to work or school, walking or biking, telecommuting, using mass transit and several others. You can also propose your own solution – mine is going to be “to shop close to home.” Anyone who makes a pledge on the website will receive a coupon for a free Jamba Juice, the chance to win a $1,000 gas gift card, and discounts for Houston Dynamo tickets.

One interesting program is NuRide – an online program that enables ride-sharing whenever and wherever you like, and offers rewards such as gift cards and movie tickets. Check out the program’s website.

In the Huntsville area, the Sam SHuttle begins service on Monday. Two shuttles will go from Sam Houston State University to the Woodlands with stops at League Line Road and I-45, Lone Star College on Highway 242, and the Portofino Shopping Center. A round trip ticket will cost $8. Riders do not have to be affiliated with the school. For details, go online.

METRO has been offering park and ride service from Baytown to downtown Houston since October and a local service for the Baytown area began last month. The Baytown Circular usually operates on weekdays, but it will run this weekend for the sales tax holiday. For information about that route, see METRO’s website.

A quick jaunt through Commute Solutions website shows a variety of alternatives to one man – one car. There is a list and map of area park and ride lots, resources for employers who want to offer teleworking, and a list of best workplaces for commuters. As part of your back to school preparations, check out SchoolPool.

Commute Solutions offers a free ride back home for people who use its program in case of emergency.

The Houston area now has three electric car dealers!

Apollo Scooters at 1239 Richmond and at 2103 Gray, an established scooter dealer, has recently gone electric. It now carries ZAP! products – autos (really an enclosed three-wheel motorcycle) and the retro style Zapino, an all-electric scooter with Italian chic. Apollo also sells the all-electric Segway. Apollo also plans to offer Segway tours of Houston. I saw a group of Segway tourists in San Antonio, all looking like ducklings following their mother.

On Monday, Houston Electric Cars opened its location at 2420 Rusk, just east of downtown, and made its first sale to Houston Electric Auto Association president Dale Brooks. He bought a blue ZENN (Zero Emissions No Noise) neighborhood electric vehicle. The car is governed to speeds slower than 30 mph, and goes 62 miles on a charge. It’s a two-seater, but there’s room in the back for three children. Unlike many electric autos, its air conditioning is standard. The car is built in Canada with parts from France. A 4-passenger, freeway-speed ZENN is scheduled for delivery in a few months.

Houston Electric Cars also plans to carry the Sun-motor sedan, which has a solar panel that extends over the hood past the rear window. The car plugs into any electrical outlet, but the 300-watt solar panel can produce some of the car’s power.

There is also a dealer for the MILES brand in Friendswood. These are also only for neighborhood use.

Also, Leisure Learning Unlimited offers a class on electric car conversion on August 27 and again on October 29. The class will discuss the basics: how far you can drive on a charge, what kind of batteries and motor to use, and how much the project might cost. The instructors will display the car and truck they converted for approximately $14,000 and $9,000 respectively. To register for the class go online.

Houston’s electric Auto Association meets on the third Thursday of the month at 3015 Richmond at 7 pm. For more information about the group, see their website.

I am starting a trip to Fort Davis in the morning, and the e-mail from the Chronicle “Subject: Breaking News – Texas gasoline prices hit record high” made me really glad that I have rented a Prius for the trip.

To my surprise, the rental rate for the Prius was the same as for Toyota Corolla and less than for a Camry. As I was trying to decide if it was really worth driving to the big airport to get that car, I ran across a really useful website. It’s the EPA’s Green Vehicle Guide. It lists a vehicle’s gas mileage, air pollution score, and greenhouse gas score; and also provides other useful information such as how many cubic feet of interior space and of truck space the vehicles have.

I used it to compare a Camry and a Prius and discovered that it would take 4 gallons of gas to get me 100 miles in the Camry and 2.17 gallons to get me that far in the Prius. Over the course of 1,200-mile trip, and at today’s prices, that’s a $70 saving in gas. One friend discovered an extra savings when he rented a Prius in Los Angeles – he got to park free at his hotel, rather than paying $15 per day.

The Prius also has a slightly better score on air pollution and greenhouse gasses. The comparisons also tell how many cubic feet of interior space and of truck space the vehicles have. I learned that the Camry’s inside is bigger, but the Prius’ trunk is bigger.

I rented from Hertz, which has a “Green Collection” that is chosen from cars that have the EPA’s “SmartWay” designation.

The EPA “SmartWay” and SmartWay Elite” designations indicate the vehicles with the best environmental performance. Higher air pollution scores indicate vehicles with reduced levels of emissions that cause smog. Higher greenhouse gas scores indicate vehicles with reduced levels of emissions that cause greenhouse gases. This is also connected to improved fuel economy. According to the website, SmartWay Elite is given to vehicles that have greenhouse gas and air pollution scores of 9 or better. There are eight models on this list.

SmartWay is a designation for vehicles that score a 6 or better on the air pollution and greenhouse gas scores and achieve a combined score of at least 13. There are more than fifty models on this list.

Other car rental places have plenty of eco-friendly vehicles available too. Think about getting a rental for your next road trip. If your car is a gas-guzzler, it might pay for itself.

Electrified rail and bicycles are the two most efficient and least-polluting modes of transportation. Combining the two is essential to induce Houstonians to reduce private vehicle usage. As of now, regular bicycles (but not folding bicycles) are banned from Houston’s light rail trains during rush hour. Furthermore, at other times, only two bikes are allowed per train car.

These timing and capacity limitations exist because METRO chose not to install vertical bike hangers on its first fleet of light rail cars. It is vitally important to correct this before the next fleet is built during 2008- 2012.

Given the sprawling and sweltering nature of Houston, it is imperative to make the rail accessible to people living within a 1-5 mile radius by providing bike hangers.

It is extremely important that citizens make their preferences known to METRO. I am urging all cyclists, transit fans, and environmentalists to write to Mr. Frank Wilson, the CEO of METRO, to let him know that:

• The new fleet of light rail cars needs vertical bike hangers, to hold as many as eight bikes per rail car
• The rush-hour bike prohibition needs to be lifted for suitably equipped train cars
• Ample safe and secure bike parking needs to be provided at all transit stops
• The current folding-bikes policy (unlimited times, unlimited numbers, must be covered) needs to be maintained

Please write a polite letter to Mr. Wilson in your own words and send it to him at 1900 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77002.

For more information, see my blog.

Editor’s Note – this represents the view of this writer/group, not the CEC or any other member group.

If you want to make your holidays green, there will be no shortage of ideas coming your way in the next few weeks. Magazines, TV shows, e-mails, and newspapers will feature stories like “12 Ways to Have a Green Thanksgiving” “Dreaming of a Green Christmas? Shop Debra’s List” and “Eco Friendly Holiday Gifts.”

A look behind the headlines reveals that a lot of the ideas involve buying something – and gadgets, even solar powered ones, still need to be manufactured, packaged, shipped and merchandised. And I find it hard to believe, even after reading the Union of Concerned Scientists message on LED lights, that I am giving the environment any help by getting rid of outdoor mini-lights and replacing them with LED lights, considering the short time I use them.

Moreover, some goods that claim that to be made of exotic, renewable resources actually are not. A recent New York Times article about a line of pricey yoga clothes reports that the label on one item says it contains seaweed, but the newspaper’s tests found no seaweed.

All holiday over-consumption can’t be blamed on buying and wrapping presents and decorating our homes. Shannon Buggs, the Houston Chronicle’s personal finance writer, recently suggesting making a holiday spending plan. She directed, “For every holiday on your calendar between now and mid-February, write down what you will do to prepare for and celebrate it. Will you:

Buy new clothes, shoes and accessories?
Get your hair styled or cut?
Buy presents for others?
Decorate your home?
Prepare a meal?
Invite relatives to stay in your home?
Entertain others at a restaurant or bar?
Travel to visit family or friends?”

Buggs calls each of these activities “opportunities to overspend.” She means money, but these activities are also opportunities to overuse resources.

Here are some ideas for a sustainable holiday season that don’t involve wrapping gifts in newspaper and giving everyone memberships in the Sierra Club – not that these are bad ideas, but they may not be your style.

Don’t forsake your everyday good habits like composting, recycling, and carrying a tote bag to the store, just because there is more to do.

Think about taking the bus for some of your shopping excursions. Busses run to most malls. Drive to a convenient parking spot on the bus line to avoid congested roads and large parking lots. That kind of slow, stop-and-go driving really lowers your gas mileage.

Tell your child to ride the bus home from college or catch a ride with friends. If you are driving somewhere new, get directions before you set out. And take them with you. If you are using a computer program, check the directions with another source. Getting lost can easily cost an extra 30 minutes of driving. Carpooling isn’t just for work. Share a ride to go shopping or to a church performance or the ballet.

If you’re hosting a party, choose reusable plates, cups, linens and utensils. These can be rented, and can be returned unwashed as long as the food is rinsed off.

Making wreaths and other decorations is easy. Before you buy magazines for instructions, see what the library has.

How about not having an office holiday party? Give your employees an afternoon off to go shopping and have a party after the holidays.

Make holidays less about things, more about values. Instead of gifts, plan a family excursion. CEC member groups offer all kinds of interesting outings. Make a donation to a group or cause that is near and dear to your giftee’s heart. Instead of “Shop ‘til you drop,” make this season’s motto “Reduce, reuse, recycle, rebuy, repair, reweave, reknit, regift, resale shop, and resist.”

And remember, even though the Grinch stole all the food, decorations, and gifts, the Whos still had a merry Christmas.

Article about LED Christmas Lights

Toxic Toys on the Web

Spending plan makes post-holidays brighter

The Houston-Galveston Area Council has extended the deadline for pubic comments about its draft 2035 Regional Transportation Plan until July 16. The plan, which took 18 months to develop, represents long-range goals, needs and projected transportation projects for Harris County and the seven counties that surround it. All federally funded and regionally significant transportation projects must be included in the plan.

H-GAC projects more than 3 million new residents in the region over the next 25 years, a significant challenge for regional mobility. The plan includes proposed future roadway and transit improvements and identifies environmental and land use issues.

Anyone who feels as if they don’t have anything to say about the transportation plan may find ideas in two upcoming events.

On Thursday, July 5, Andres Duany will be speaking at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Duany is the founder “The New Urbanism”, a quality-of-place approach to growth and change in our cities and suburbs. In response to suburban sprawl and urban divestment, new urbanism promotes traditional neighborhood developments such as “Seaside,” “Romans Beach,” and “Celebration” in Florida. Duany was brought in by Governor Haley Barbour to oversee the plans for the reconstruction of Mississippi’s coastal towns after Hurricane Katrina. Austin and Galveston have adopted new urbanist codes.

In Houston, Duany’s firm, DPZ, has been engaged by Lovett Homes to prepare the master plans for a traditional neighborhood development in Spring Branch, the “Fannin-South” transit-oriented development, and a brownfields redevelopment in the Lower Fifth Ward.

The talk is sponsored by the US Green Building Council – Houston. It will be from 7 to 9 pm at 1001 Bissonnet.

On Wednesday, July 11, Rice Design Alliance is hosting EcoCity, Part 1, which will examine the issues involved in preserving and even increasing the city’s green space. Presenters include David Crossley, President, Gulf Coast Institute; Gloria Sanderson, Program Director, LISC Houston; and Kevin Shanley, President, SWA Group. The forum is at the Museum Fine Arts, 1001 Bissonnet at 7 pm. Admission is free and open to the public.

For information on the 2035 plan, its projects or to post a comment on the plan, visit the plan’s website or call (713) 627-3200.

The City of Houston’s Planning Department, as part of its Urban Corridor Planning, is holding a series of workshops so residents can participate in planning for growth along METRO’s light rail and guided rapid transit corridors. These workshops will be held over the next six weeks, with an introductory workshop on April 14. After that, there will be workshops for each of the corridors.

The way the city grows is directly related to the rules for land development and infrastructure. Details such as the width of streets and sidewalks, the distance buildings are from the street, how many parking spaces a business must have, and what type of landscaping must be added, make the difference between a city that people can walk in or one where they must to drive everywhere.

The workshops will focus on developing plans about mobility, public spaces, urban design and implementation.

In the individual corridor workshops, planners and community members will explore the unique characteristics and needs of each corridor. For example, where are wider sidewalks and pedestrian crosswalks needed? Where are public gathering places, benches and parks needed? How can these improvements be funded?

Each corridor workshop take place over two consecutive evenings. Participants will work in small groups to respond to questions and complete activities from the design team. The first session will discuss key opportunities for change in the corridor. The next day, the design team will discuss design ideas and concepts for each corridor. These sessions are from 6 to 9 each evening. Also, participants may drop by the workshop location between 11 am and 5 pm either day and speak to a member of the design team one-on-one.

The introductory meeting, for all the corridors, is Saturday, April 14th, from 8:30 am to noon at the George R. Brown Con Convention Center. Ideas that may be applicable to all six corridors will be discussed.

The East End Corridor workshops will be Monday & Tuesday, April 16 & 17, at the Marbella Banquet Hall, 6632 Harrisburg Road.

The North Corridor meetings will April 18 & 19, at Reid Memorial United Methodist Church, 5203 Fulton St.

The Southeast Corridor meetings will be Wednesday & Thursday, April 25 & 26, at Holman Street Baptist Church, 3422 Holman Street.

The Main Street Corridor sessions will be Monday & Tuesday, April 30 & May 1, at Palmer Memorial Church, 6221 Main Street, close to the Hermann Park/Rice U Metro Rail stop.

The Uptown Corridor’s workshops will be May 2 & 3, at the Pavilion at Post Oak, 1800 Post Oak Blvd.

The workshop for the University Corridor will not be scheduled until the alignment for the corridor is chosen.

There will be a presentation of preliminary findings for all the corridors on Wednesday, May 23, from 6 to 9 pm at George R. Brown Convention Center.

Please RSVP to urban.corridor.planning@cityofhouston.net. For more information about the workshops, see the city’s website.

The Texas Department of Transportation has indefinitely suspended the state Transportation Enhancement Program, which distributes federal grants to local governments for projects that “encourage diverse modes of travel, increase the community benefits to transportation investment, strengthen partnerships between state and local governments, and promote citizen involvement in transportation decisions.” The grants are informally referred to as STEP grants.

If you have walked or biked on the White Oak Bayou, Braes Bayou, or Hermann Park trails; enjoyed the landscaping on the Gulf Freeway, Hardy Toll Road, or Bellaire Boulevard; or visited Allen’s Landing, you have been a beneficiary of these funds. Other area projects funded by the grants include the Fort Bend County courthouse restoration, Dickinson Depot restoration, the Mustang Trail project in Alvin, League City’s bikeways project, and pedestrian improvements in West University. In the program’s fifteen years, more than $466 million has been distributed to 505 different enhancement projects across Texas.

At the time the program was cancelled, thirty-two projects in the Houston Galveston area – building a bridge to connect the two sides of Memorial Park, repair of the Battleship Texas, beautification of the Turning Basin and NASA Parkway, building a trail along Spring Branch Creek, and beautification along Highway 225, for example – had grant applications pending.

Ramona Davis, executive director of the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance, which is organizing opposition to the move, said, “Everyone should be up in arms about these cuts.”

A grants officer with a local foundation said that the impact of the cuts goes beyond the loss of the federal funds. She is concerned that local governments’ matching funds will now be spent on other kinds of projects.

The decision to suspend the program was an administrative decision made by TxDOT, according to Barbara Cogburn, director of the Landscape Design Enhancement department, a section of the TxDOT Design division. She said the Texas Transportation Commission met yesterday, December 14, and heard a lot of thoughtful, well prepared testimony from supporters of the program, but did not vote on the issue.

TxDOT decided to ax the program when the federal government cut $305 million from the $14.5 billion 2004-09 allocation for Texas because of the cost of the Iraq War and hurricane reconstruction. This is roughly a two percent cut in the appropriation.

The November 20 letter from Texas Transportation Commission chair Ric Williamson to the entities that had submitted grant requests said, “[The funds cut] put us in the position of having to choose between congestion-relief projects and enhancement projects.”

Apparently, the Federal Transportation Agency has not objected to the Texas plan. Williamson’s letter said, “Under each rescission [of highway funds] we provided [the Federal Highway Administration] with a list of categories to be cut, with the majority of the cuts coming from the transportation enhancement program.”

David Bush with the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance said, “Even though federal law requires that 10 percent of federal transportation funding is to go to enhancement projects, this move has met with no resistance from the federal agency.”

According to Bush, “Texas is the only state, so far, that has responded to federal funding cuts by eliminating the enhancement program, but the National Trust for Historic Preservation has joined our fight against these cuts to be sure that other states don’t follow the Texas lead.”

State representative Garnett Coleman believes that funding of local projects was scrapped so that the Trans-Texas corridor would have sufficient start-up money. “They saved their pet projects and sacrificed economic development and quality of life projects,” Coleman said.

In the past ten days, METRO staff, engineers and consultants have literally rolled out aerial maps, engineering drawings, and artists’ sketches of six possible routes for the University Corridor rail line at three neighborhood meetings. The meetings have been well attended, with, according to the Houston Chronicle, about 150 people at the final meeting on July 25.

At that meeting, held at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church on Main, a mixed group of people peered over maps, asked questions, and filled out comment forms. A few people wore buttons opposing rail on Richmond, but most had no obvious point of view. I witnessed a small argument between a man who claimed there are no trees on Richmond east of Shepherd and a woman who said, yes there are,­ they were planted in 1983. One map viewer told me that the route should be along Westpark and was challenged by another who asked how riders would be able to go anywhere once they got off the train. Several viewers seemed to be making plans for how they would use the train.

The proposed routes for the section of the line east of Main are along Wheeler, Alabama, or Elgin (at Main, Wheeler becomes Richmond and Elgin becomes Westheimer). These routes would end at University of Houston.

If Elgin or Alabama is chosen for the route east of Main, the rail line will curve to join Wheeler/Richmond in the vicinity of Main Street. Then the rail line will run along Richmond, but at some point, yet to be chosen, will cross the Southwest Freeway and run beside Westpark to the Hillcroft transit center, where it ends. The places under consideration for the crossing point are Shepherd, Buffalo Speedway, Plaza Drive, Timmons, the SP railroad tracks, or Sage Road.

Architect Doug Childers, chair of RichmondRail.org, a group that favors placing the rail line entirely on Richmond, says, “These documents show clearly that most of the fears about a potential Richmond alignment have been unwarranted. METRO has demonstrated that they are working hard to address the legitimate concerns of residents and businesses along Richmond.

According to Childers, concerns over rail have included “exaggerated fears over excessive use of eminent domain, loss of traffic lanes, disappearance of trees, and major disruptions of business along Richmond.”

METRO reports that, if the University Line were built straight out Richmond, little property would need to be acquired, no traffic lanes would be taken out, most left-turn opportunities would remain, neighborhoods would not be closed off, and trees and esplanades west of Kirby would remain essentially untouched; however, the esplanade east of Kirby would be impacted.

METRO also promised to reduce construction impacts by building in short segments and providing assistance to business owners, using research prepared by the Gulf Coast Institute.

Ridership must be high enough on the chosen route to satisfy federal requirements, and METRO must weigh higher ridership for a Richmond route against possibly lower construction costs on Westpark.

METRO expects to select a route by August 8. Opponents and proponents are urging supporters to make their opinions known. In the past two weeks, RichmondRail.org delivered petitions with the names of more than 1,000 supporters to the METRO Board and Houston City Council.

In the meantime, plans for the other segments of the rail/bus rapid transit program are very close to being complete. The routes for the Uptown and East End segments have been chosen and construction is expected to begin next July. Uptown will run along Post Oak and East End will run along Harrisburg. Most of the route for the North and Southeast segment has been determined. There is a decision to be made about whether one section of the North segment will run along Irvington/Cavalcade or Fulton and whether one section of the Southeast segment will follow Scott St. or MLK Blvd. METRO will be holding meetings about these routes in August. Construction of rapid transit lanes for buses is expected to be finished in 2010. The rail line is expected to be finished in 2012.

To view the maps, see Metro’s website.

A green vacation does not have to be an “eco-adventure” to a foreign country or a Spartan camping trip to a remote park. Trips anywhere, for pleasure or business, can be made green friendly by staying at hotels that conserve resources, using public transportation at your destination, and supporting local businesses. Even though it’s not your utility bill, don’t waste water – and turn off the lights and turn down the air conditioning when you leave your room. Consider bringing a night light with you.

The Green Hotels Association, a Houston-based group, lists member hotels on its website. These hotels are encouraged to implement water-saving measures, execute energy-saving techniques, and reduce solid waste. The association also encourages all lodging facilities to involve guests and clients by offering towel- and sheet-changing options, soap and shampoo dispensers, and guest room recycling baskets.

Some hotels use environmentally friendly cleaning products, making them more pleasant for allergy sufferers. My experience staying at two motels in Austin that claim to use non-toxic cleaning products (Austin Motel and Habitat Suites) was that these motels were as clean or cleaner than any hotel or motel I’ve stayed in.

According the Green Hotels Association website, British Airways has a very strong environmental agenda, and Southwest Airlines recycles all cabin waste. Southwest was also the first airline to offer electronic ticketing, which reduces paper use.

Escapemaker.com is an online guide to green travel in the Northeast. Its website includes a lengthy list of destinations that are easily reached by bus or train from New York, and gives transportation alternatives for destinations it reviews. Suggestions from its website that apply anywhere include traveling mid week, seeking out souvenirs to support the local economy and, when eating out, trying local dishes.

Burton & Humboldt travel, an agency that specializes in low-impact adventure travel, has a listing of eco-hotels that look quite luxurious on its website.

Your hotel may be able to refer you to environmental programs or events in the area and to a restaurant that is not a chain. Some hotels will give you candid advice about which areas are safe to walk in or use public transportation. Other hotels, fearing liability issues, may not. If the hotel has a van, you may be able to use it instead of renting a car. If you are going to a convention, a combination of shuttle buses and shared taxis may eliminate your need for a car.

Before you leave home, you can take the first steps to green up your travel by turning down the thermostat on your hot water heater, adjusting your AC/heat thermostat, and suspending delivery of your newspaper. Appliances, such as TVs and cable converter boxes, should be unplugged because they can draw as much as 40 watts per hour even when they’re turned off. The Green Hotels Association site has a lengthy list of ways to make travel environmentally friendly and includes a checklist for meeting planners who want to have a green meeting.

Web searching using the term “environmentally friendly” will result in more on-point listings than using the term “green.”

3015 Richmond, Suite 201
Houston, Texas 77098
(713) 522-0590/fax: (713) 523-3057
hsweetnam@blueprinthouston.org

www.blueprinthouston.org

Heidi Sweetnam, Executive Director
hsweetnam@blueprinthouston.org

Callie Bluemer, Executive Assistant

Publications: Yearly annual report; Web site – www.blueprinthouston.org.

Programs: Periodic public meetings about planning in Houston.

Major Events: Citizens Congress, fall.

Volunteer Opportunities: Civic Awareness and Engagement Committee.

3015 Richmond, Suite 201
Houston, Texas 77098
(713) 523-5757/fax: (713) 523-3057
crossley@gulfcoastideas.org

www.gulfcoastideas.org
www.livablehouston.org

David Crossley, President

Strategy: Leads and facilitates the quality of life movement known as Smart Growth/Livable Communities. GCI seeks a dynamic economy that revitalizes neighborhoods, protects green space, increases mobility choices, improves air and water quality, and encourages safe, comfortable, interesting pedestrian environments.

Publications: Website, Bi-monthly e-mail newsletter called Gulf Coast Growth News, and a quartery journal called Houston Tomorrow.

Major Events: Community-wide stakeholder conferences.

Speakers Bureau: Contact David Crossley

Meeting Time: Fourth Wednesday, 11:30 am, Houston-Galveston Area Council, 3555 Timmons Lane, 2nd Floor.

Volunteer Opportunities: Contact David Crossley.

P.O. Box 52752
Houston, Texas 77252
(713) 935-2810

www.houstonbicycleclub.org

Ben Will, President
(281) 568-6071
benedwill@cs.com

Publications: Monthly newsletter, The Final Draft

Programs: Bike rides every Saturday and Sunday.

Major Events: Easter Hill Country tour. Kerrville, spring: New Year’s Day Ride.

Meeting Time: Second Tuesday of each month except May. & p,m., Tracy Gee Community Center; various organized rides throughout the year (in-town and out-of-town rides at different skill levels); weekly rides Saturday and Sunday. Volunteer Opportunities: Ride starter, serve as club officer.

3555 Timmons Lane, Suite 120
Houston, Texas 77027
(713) 627-3200/fax: (713) 993-4503

www.h-gac.com

Jeff Taebel, Director of Community and Environmental Planning
(713) 993-4560
jeff.taebel@h-gac.com

Carl Masterson, Enviromental Director
(713) 993-4561
carl.masterson@h-gac.com

Gabi de la Rosa, Public Information Planner
(713) 993-4568
gdelarosa@h-gac.com

Publications: Web site www.h-gac.com

Programs: Designs plans for solid waste management programs, land use, economic development, flood control, and water quality. H-GAC acts on behalf of local governments to receive funding, develop the regional solid waste management plan, provide technical assistance and GIS services, and implement local and regional projects. C&E programs include the Texas Clean Rivers Program, Solid Waste Management Program and Community Resource’s Program.

Major Events: Listed on Web site.

Meeting Time: Meetings listed on Web site.

Volunteer Opportunities: Listed on Web site.

P.O. Box 3021
Houston, Texas 77253-3021;
Club line: (713) 895-9309

http://lonestar.sierraclub.org/houston

www.houston.sierraclub.org

Evelyn Merz, Executive Committee Chair
(713) 664-8228
elmerz@hal-pc.org

George Batten, Newsletter Editor
(713)665-1505
gbatten@neosoft.com

Publications: Bayou Banner, monthly (call for free copy); Web site; local LISTSERV for conservation action alerts.

Major Events: Ongoing trips, workshops, outings, and classes; Yard Sale, spring; Annual Auction, at December meeting; and political endorsements for electionsand outdoor volunteerism.

Meeting Time: First Thursday, 7:30 pm, Central Presbyterian Church, 3788 Richmond @ Timmons.

Children’s Activities: Inner City Outings program. Contact Lorraine Gibson at raineygib@aol.com for local and state outings opportunities for children and teens.

Volunteer Opportunities: Conservation issues such as sprawl, air quality watershed, sustainability energy, and forestry; Political Committee endorsements; legislative issues and letter writing; trail maintenance on Lone Star Hiking Trail (2nd Sat each month); training for leading outings; training for Inner City Outings Program. Also adopted trails at Jesse Jones Park. Call (713) 895-9309.