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Environmental News Update 4/19/02 COALITION NOTES
Be a Marsh Maniac
Individuals, groups, and clubs can join the Galveston Bay Foundation and its partners to restore valuable marsh habitat in the Galveston Bay system during Marsh Mania, a community-based restoration event scheduled for Saturday, April 27 from 9 am to 1 pm. Sites include Armand Bayou Nature Center & Coastal Preserve, Baytown Nature Center, Redfish Cove, and Texas City Prairie Preserve at Moses Lake. Volunteers are needed to plant cordgrass and seagrass, fix lunch, do educational outreach, and help setup and breakdown. Participants are asked to bring a good attitude, outdoor wear, closed toe shoes, a towel, a change of clothes, a hat, bug spray, and sun block. Lunch, door prizes, and T-shirts will be available for those who pre-register. To pre-register or for more information, contact Laura Woolley of GBF at 281-332-3381 or e-mail to MarshMania@galvbay.org.
LOCAL
Engaging the Questions
On Sunday, April 21 at 6 pm, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 1805 W. Alabama will host "Engaging the Questions," an event that explores Earth Day and the spiritual aspects of our relationship to nature. Various spiritual traditions will be explored. The respondent will be John D. Wilson, Executive Director, Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention (GHASP). For more information, contact wilson@ghasp.org.
STATE Sierra Club Files Suit Against South Padre Drillers The Sierra Club is bringing a legal challenge today against a controversial gas drilling operation on Padre Island National Seashore, the first oil or gas well to be drilled in a national park during the Bush Administration. The complaint, filed today in Federal District Court in Corpus Christi, seeks to halt heavy truck traffic involved in the drilling that, according to the environmental group, poses an imminent threat to critically endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles. Secretary of Interior Gale Norton is named as the defendant, along with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Park Service. Sierra is seeking a revocation of the Park Service's permit allowing the truck traffic and drilling activity. For more information, contact Sierra Club’s Fred Richardson at fsrichardson@earthlink.net. NATIONAL California Moves Toward Strengthening Clean Air Standards
The California Air Quality Advisory Committee (AQAC) unanimously supported their staff’s proposal to set the standard for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels averaged over 24 hours at 25 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) of air. The federal standard is set at 65 ug/m3. AQAC has previously given their unanimous support to for an annual PM2.5 standard of 12 ug/m3, an annual PM10 standard of 20 ug/m3, and a 24-hour PM10 standard of 50 ug/m3. The federal standards are 15, 50, and 150 ug/m3, respectively. A 45-day public comment period on the proposed new standards will commence in May, leading up to an official decision by the ARB on June 20. ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION CEC Environmental News Update is a weekly publication by the Citizens' Environmental Coalition, a 501(c)3 dedicated to fostering dialogue, education and collaboration about environmental issues in the Houston-Gulf Coast Region. Visit the CEC online at www.cechouston.org. To subscribe or unsubscribe, or to suggest items for inclusion, send your request via e-mail to Sarah Doss at sarah@cechouston.org. |
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