CEC Notes

Synergy winners (from left to right) Linda Knight; Brandt Mannchen; Stephen Klineberg; Mickey Merritt, accepting award for the Houston Green Coalition; Gloria and John Tveten; Doug Lipka; Wendy Kelsey; Joe Bernard, accepting award for Equistar/Lyondell; and Judy Boyce, accepting award for Terry and Jake Hershey.

Synergyzed
More than 110 folks came out on October 2 for CEC’s 2001 Synergy Awards for Environmental Excellence and a celebration of the organization’s 30th anniversary. The awards presentation, emceed by Ned Hibberd of Fox 26 News, was interspersed with comic interludes from Esther’s Follies, an Austin-based comedy troupe.

Three of CEC’s founders, Hana Ginzbarg, Cynthia Taylor Rowan, and Barrie Zimmelman, were in attendance.

The CEC Board of Trustees would like to give special thanks to this year’s sponsors, Abitibi Consolidated, Crowne Plaza Hotel, DuPont LaPorte Plant, Groundwater Services and Randalls Food Markets, Inc.

Coalition Notes
Birds on the Prairie
The Katy Prairie Conservancy will treat nature enthusiasts to a morning raptor, duck, and goose watching tour at its Barn Owl Woods Preserve on Saturday, November 3 from 8 am to noon. Participants will see and learn about some of the more than 200 species of migratory waterfowl, shore birds, and songbirds that call the Katy Prairie home. Pants, long sleeved shirts, and close toed shoes are suggested, and don’t forget sunscreen, insect repellent, and plenty of water. The tour is free, but space is limited; reservations are required by November 1. Visit www.katyprairie.org or call 713-523-6135 for more details.

A Watershed Event
Several local organizations will host A Watershed Event, a Conference on Flooding, Development, and Habitat on the Houston Gulf Coast, on Wednesday, November 14 from 8:30 am to 5 pm at the University of Houston Hilton Hotel, 4800 Calhoun. Conference topics include flooding on the Gulf Coast, green infrastructure, building a more livable Houston, successful green developments, and preserving flood plains. Event sponsors include Texas Sea Grant, Bayou Preservation Association, Terry Hershey, Legacy Land Trust, Gulf Coast Institute, Texas Floodplain Management Association, and Turner, Collie & Braden. Registration for the conference costs $75. For more details, visit http://www.watershedevent.org, email jjacob@tamu.edu, or call Chris LaChance at 281-333-2386.

EcoNotes
To Build or Not to Build

The Endangered Ocelot, courtesy of Texas Parks & Wildlife

After a tugboat crashed through the Queen Isabella Causeway to South Padre Island on September 15, the Texas Transportation Commission voted to consider building a second bridge to access the island. Although the Commission has not officially selected a site for consideration, some are concerned that another bridge could have serious ecological consequences.

Ocelots, an endangered cat, make their home in the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on the mainland across from the island, near one potential bridge location, according to the Texas Center for Policy Studies (TCPS). A bridge there and subsequent development in this rural area could destroy ocelot habitat and mating ground. TCPS also fears that a new bridge anywhere would disrupt sensitive seagrass beds in the Laguna Madre.

Instead, the group supports continued use of ferries, which have been traversing the bay since the bridge collapsed. The ferries could boost ecotourism as well, as passengers often see dolphins who enjoy accompanying the boats.

Bayport, Cont.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to release its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Bayport container port facility on November 7. Two public workshops will be held at the Pasadena Convention Center from 5 to 8 pm on November 28 and December 4. An additional workshop will be held from 5 to 7 pm on Wednesday, December 12 at the George R. Brown Convention Center, followed at 7:30 by the Public Hearing on the DEIS.

The Galveston Bay Conservation and Preservation Association, which opposes the Bayport facility, is calling on the environmental community to attend the public hearing and voice their concerns.

Written comments on the DEIS will be accepted until February 5, 2002, and the Corps expects to release its final permit decision by July 1. All dates are subject to change; to see the latest updates, visit www.swg.usace.army.mil/reg/pha/schedule.htm

Contaminated Corn
To their surprise, Mexican authorities discovered that some native corn varieties have been contaminated by genetically engineered DNA. Mexico has not approved the commercial planting of genetically modified corn. The contaminated seeds were collected from a region considered to be the world’s center of diversity for corn — exactly the kind of repository of genetic variation that many scientists had hoped to protect from contamination. (New York Times 10/01)

Gas Guzzling
The average fuel efficiency of new vehicles has hit a two-decade low of 20.4 miles per gallon, according to a report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The report attributed the decline in fuel economy largely to the popularity of sports utility vehicles, which get notoriously poor fuel economy and are regulated by laxer rules than other passenger vehicles.
(Grist Magazine 10/01)