Subject:

Environmental Issues and Protection

  • News

    February 3, 1994

    Just Don't Breathe It

    What Houstonians can -- and probably won't -- do to clean up the air they drive through

  • News

    May 19, 1994

    The Battle for Lavaca Bay

    Diane Wilson asked only that her home bay be allowed to live. She says she was told no. So she went to war.

  • News

    January 12, 1995

    Clunkers R Us

    Sell your jalopy, help an industry breathe easier

  • News

    December 14, 1995

    Letters

    Sell your jalopy, help an industry breathe easier

  • News

    February 15, 1996

    Smoke and Mirrors (and more smoke)

    It's called "Motorist's Choice." But the new emissions testing program for Houston may not offer much of a choice after all. And it won't do much for cleaning the city's air, either.

  • News

    April 24, 1997

    Smile! It's Earth Day!

    It's called "Motorist's Choice." But the new emissions testing program for Houston may not offer much of a choice after all. And it won't do much for cleaning the city's air, either.

  • News

    September 11, 1997

    The Airport That Wouldn't Die

    Last fall, environmentalists thought they'd finally put a stake through the heart of the West Side Airport. But the mayoral race seems to have given it a new lease on life.

  • News

    November 6, 1997

    Mall Rat

    Last fall, environmentalists thought they'd finally put a stake through the heart of the West Side Airport. But the mayoral race seems to have given it a new lease on life.

  • News

    August 27, 1998

    Wetlands Maul?

    The Sierra Club got paid off, but a developer's bizarre problems continue

  • News

    January 21, 1999

    Looking for Answers Down Below

    The city doesn't seem to care that a Houston developer's plans for high-density apartments and a supermarket rest atop abandoned oil fields and possible contamination

  • News

    February 18, 1999

    Blowing Smoke

    Government and civic boosters know the way to clean up the air in polluted southeast communities: add another chemical plant

  • News

    June 3, 1999

    Local Control

    Will the state be able to continue to review environmentally sensitive projects, or will it cede power to the feds?

  • Calendar

    April 9, 2009

    Earth Day Houston

    Web exclusive!

  • Calendar

    April 16, 2009
  • News

    February 15, 2001

    The Sky's the Limit

    Stop wheezing and cheer up. A front group finds a bright spin on our brown air.

  • Calendar

    June 1, 2006

    More Gore!

    Stop wheezing and cheer up. A front group finds a bright spin on our brown air.

  • News

    April 4, 2002

    Earth Quake Day

    CEC splits from an increasingly commercial fest

  • News

    February 14, 2002

    Under The Volcano

    Crown Central Petroleum spews, sputters and flares up. Neighbors of the plant view it uneasily, never quite sure when it's going to blow.

  • News

    June 7, 2001

    Red Light, Green Light

    With billboards of windmills promising gentle, nonpolluting energy, Green Mountain offers Texans a new power avenue. Will they take it? Should they?

  • News

    October 26, 2000

    Smoke and Mirrors

    As part of the Bush legacy, a special law can hide polluting industries

  • News

    December 30, 1999

    We're No. 1!

    Houston seems destined to remain the country's biggest stink hole

  • News

    September 30, 1999

    Adrift

    Has the fight over port expansion turned a bay watchdog group into a rubber duck?

  • News

    March 18, 1999

    Enron's Earth (Day) Quakes

    Has the fight over port expansion turned a bay watchdog group into a rubber duck?

  • News

    November 23, 1995

    The Exterminator

    Tom DeLay, the bug man from Sugar Land, has always despised environmental regulation. Now, as House majority whip, he's in a position to do something about it.

  • Blogs

    August 13, 2009

    ExxonMobil Fined $600,000; We Think They Can Come Up With It

    ​Let's be honest.There aren't a lot of "bad days" for a global petrochemical company that made a record $45.2 billion profit last year, so we'll just say ExxonMobil had a less than stellar day on Wednesday when state regulators penalized it more than $600,000 for environmental crimes.ExxonMobil's ... More >>

  • News

    December 17, 2009

    A Quiet Hell

    Thanks to lax enforcement by TCEQ, plants along the Houston Ship Channel launch tons of toxic gases into our air, and face little penalty even when they exceed pollution limits over and over again.

  • Blogs

    January 6, 2010

    Obama's EPA Accused Of "Castrating" Clean Air Act In Houston

    ​Clean-air advocates in Texas had such high hopes for the EPA under the Obama administration. After all, the federal environmental agency has said that, as early as today, it will significantly lower the national ozone limit and has essentially stated that some of Texas' pro-business industrial pe ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 6, 2010

    The EPA: "Castrating," Maybe, But Also Getting Tougher

    ​The EPA may giveth, but it can also taketh away -- the agency is toughening guidelines in the fight against smog pollution, lowering the national ozone limit for the eight-hour standard.A federal Environmental Protection Agency spokesman says the agency will announce today that it is lowering the ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 2, 2010

    The EPA Might Actually Listen To People At Today's Hearing On Ozone Levels

    ​The Environmental Protection Agency is in the midst of deciding exactly how low it is going to decrease the national smog pollution limit, otherwise known as ozone, and clean-air advocates want you to do your part to help ensure a cleaner, healthier Houston.All day today, the EPA is hosting a pub ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 23, 2010

    Houston Scores Big In Fed's List Of Cities With Energy-Efficient Buildings

    ​Houston's air may be a national joke, but we do score the occasional surprise good showing in environmental matters.The Environmental Protection Agency today put out its list of the Top 25 cities with the highest number of energy-efficient buildings, and Houston came in a solid sixth.The EPA coun ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 26, 2010

    Feds To Texas' Environmental Regulators: Good God, You Suck (UPDATED With Rick Perry Saying No, You Suck)

    Feds come to the same conclusion we did​The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency smacked the hell out of Texas environmental regulators earlier this week, announcing that the feds will begin taking control over the issuance of operating permits to chemical plants and refineries because the s ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 3, 2010

    Rick Perry To EPA: Stop. Sierra Club To EPA: Hurry The Eff Up

    The Environmental Protection Agency is getting hit from both ends for its actions in Texas.The EPA has threatened to take over the permitting process from the Texas Commissin on Environmental Quality if the TCEQ doesn't get tougher on polluters.Governor Rick Perry was in Deer Park yesterday, once a ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 28, 2010

    Texas' Environmental Agency & The Feds: This Week May Be Crucial

    This week's decision will be watched closely​All eyes are on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality this week as its three commissioners will decide whether to grant an air permit to a proposed $3 billion petroleum coke-fired power plant in Corpus Christi.The Las Brisas Energy Center has be ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 29, 2010

    TCEQ & The Sunset Commission: Texas Environmental Groups Try Working Together

    Coming together vs. TCEQ​The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, made up of 12 state legislators who evaluate state agencies every dozen years, is examining the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and will make a recommendation during the next legislative session whether to renew, tweak, or ab ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 15, 2010

    TCEQ, State's Clean-Air "Watchdog," About To Be Sued Over A Local Plant

    Austin's power supplier a major polluter, groups say​As the Houston Press has written about, and as the Obama administration has determined, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is a pretty lax watchdog.Now they're going to get sued over it.A coalition of clean-air groups has served forma ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 1, 2010

    TCEQ & The EPA: Feds Again Slam Texas' Pollution-Control Efforts

    TCEQ: Honeymoon with the feds is definitely over​The EPA took yet another bite out of the Texas air-pollution regulatory system on Tuesday when it decreed that some of state's rules violate federal clean air law.At issue is what's called the New Source Review Program. It deals with the permitting ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 8, 2010

    Climate Change, Houston's Hot Summer And An Extreme-Weather Future

    The heat is on in Texas and elsewhere​August was the hottest month ever in Houston. A whopping 88.7 degrees, on average, topping previous records from both 1980 and 1962 by a full three-tenths of a degree.And while that doesn't sound like a lot to most folks, it's the kind of number that makes sci ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 18, 2010

    Chevron Phillips Settles Suit Over Pollution At Baytown Plant, No Thanks To TCEQ

    Chevron-Phillips: The TCEQ wouldn't step in, so local groups did​After years of illegally emitting carcinogens and other toxic pollutants into the air, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company has agreed to a settle a lawsuit against it and clean up its Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown."We can all breathe ea ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 14, 2010

    ExxonMobil's Baytown Refinery Sued For Being So Damn Leaky

    Headed to court​Following in the footsteps of Shell and and ChevronPhillips, ExxonMobil has been sued by environmental groups who say its refinery routinely violates clean-air regulations and doesn't really do anything about it. The Sierra Club and Environment Texas announced their lawsuit to ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 23, 2010

    TCEQ Gets Slammed: Feds Take Powers Away From Texas' Air-Pollution "Watchdog"

    TCEQ step aside, feds say​Is an agency a "watchdog" when it doesn't watch? Apparently the feds don't think so. In a bold move today, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it was taking over the job of issuing greenhouse-gas permits in Texas because the Texas Council on Environmental ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 30, 2010

    Texas To EPA: Keep Your Hands Off Our Rubber Stamp!!

    Texas goes to court​As expected, Texas state officials are not just going to roll over and accept the Obama administration's taking away their right to rubber-stamp every application to let companies pour greenhouses gases into the air. Texas AG Greg Abbott went to court today, filing a petit ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 2, 2011

    Duct Tape Holding Pollution Equipment Together: So Bad Even Texas AG Acts

    Greg Abbott goes after polluters!!! Take that, Obama!!​Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott took precious time off from suing the federal government to get it to stop forcing Texas to enforce Clean Air provisions in order to do a little Clean Air-ing of his own. Abbott's office charged Gulf Che ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 7, 2011

    Texas AG Greg Abbott Grabs The Spotlight In Fight Against EPA's Tailpipe-Emissions Rule

    Greg Abbott leads a mostly southern uprising​Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott wants everyone to know that he is doing everything he can to stop the federal Environmental Protection Agency from trying to implement greenhouse-gas limits on cars and trucks. In the latest of a series of lawsuit ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 17, 2011

    Annise Parker Wins National Award for Making Houston Greener

    Getting some (wind-powered) props.​What with all the electric cars and the green municipal buildings, Houston is maybe starting to ditch its reputation for being one of the more polluted cities in the country. Of course, there's still a boatload of pollution, but at least the city government i ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 7, 2011

    EPA Hits Texas, Other States With Tougher Air Pollution Regulations: Cue Outrage From Rick Perry, Greg Abbott

    Feds up the ante in battle against TCEQ, Perry​The Environmental Protection Agency announced stricter rules on air pollution, rules that will especially affect Texas, whose politicians have been fighting tenaciously to avoid federal regulation of the state's many pollution producers. The EPA ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 12, 2011

    Good Air Pollution News in Texas? "Flexible Permit" Companies Agree to EPA Guidelines

    Breath of fresh air​It's a rarity: Good air-pollution news in Texas that doesn't involve the Obama administration forcing state officials to do their job. The Environmental Protection Agency announced today that 156 Texas companies who have received the notoriously loose "flexible" permits ha ... More >>

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