Coalition Notes
Piney Woods Wildlife Society to Celebrate 20 Years
On Saturday, September 21, the Piney Woods Wildlife Society (PWWS) will celebrate its 20th year with special exhibits and a brief program at the Mercer Arboretum where their monthly meetings are held. Exhibits of photography and collections of members can be viewed from 10 am to 2 pm. Past presidents including the first president, Gary Clark, Houston Chronicle columnist, will be honored at 11 am. At 1:30 pm Charles Peterson, a PWWS member, will release his homing pigeons as a special commemoration of the anniversary, weather permitting. The public is invited to celebrate with PWWS. There will be no charge. For more information, email challen@flash.net.

EcoNotes
Putting the Pieces Together
The Texas Environmental Education Partnership will host their second annual conference, titled Putting the Pieces of the Texas EE Puzzle Together, in San Antonio September 12 - 14. Keynote speakers, presentations, and hands-on workshops will focus on current programs and the future of environmental education in Texas. Optional field trips to Government Canyon, San Jose Mission, the San Antonio River, and Sea World are offered. For more information and registration materials, visit www.eih.uh.edu/conference/teep2002.

Diversifying
Texas ranks second in the nation in overall biodiversity, as measured by the number of native species, according to NatureServe’s 2002 State of the Union: Ranking America’s Biodiveristy. Texas also ranks third for endemism, or the number of species unique to the state, and fourth for the number of species that are presumed or possibly extinct. Several major ecosystems – including the southwestern dessert, the Great Plains, the Gulf Coast, and the Mexican subtropics – overlap in the vast state, resulting in a unique ecological heritage, according to the report. The entire document is available at www.natureserve.org

Same Agency, New Name
On September 1, 2002, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) will formally change its name to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or the TCEQ. The Texas legislature mandated the new title, noting that it is shorter and gives people a better sense of the agency’s purpose. It’s also more consistent with what other states are calling their environmental enforcement agencies.

40 More Years of Oil
The world has at least 40 years of oil supply left, and oil will remain the predominant fuel for at least the next 30 years, according to BP’s 51st annual statistical review of world energy. There is good news for environmentalists, however. Wind power capacity additions have exceeded those of nuclear power for the past three years. Installed solar electric capacity has increased more than ten times over the last decade. And, geothermal capacity has grown about 37 percent over the past ten years. The full analysis is available at www.bp.com/centres/energy2002.