Nature and the Environment

Promised Land's Hard Sell

For Matt Damon and company, the message is the message.

Yes, You Too Can Adopt a Manatee This Christmas Season

This year the biggest Christmas gifts are once again set to be tablets, smart phones, booze, Fleshlights, engagement rings and anything else that will be obsolete by next summer. Sure, you could shell out big bucks for something with an Apple logo on it, but why not adopt a manatee? Yes, the Sav ... More >>

Retired Lab Chimps Pressed Back Into Service

A San Antonio lab says primate research is necessary for curing diseases like AIDS and hepatitis. But what progress has really been made.

New Cracks in the Frack

Pesky little complaints like pollution, flaming water and abandoned homes continue to cast doubt on the argument that drilling into shale will benefit all.

Spring Break Family Lab: Flight of the Butterflies 3D

Houston's Cryptic New Noise Ordinance

Confusing new law has bar and club owners screaming.

State and EPA Battle Over Fracking, Flaming Well Water

When Steve Lipsky blamed fracking for turning his water well into a flamethrower, he set off an epic battle between the EPA and Texas.

Fracking Wreaks Fiery Havoc with Texas's Well Water

Fracking is supposed to be an energy godsend, a cheap way to get lots of natural gas. But property owners are finding it brings along with it such problems as flames coming out of their water hoses and wells, and poisonous chemicals in their drinking water. There's a big fight going on nationwide, ... More >>

Crazy for Crawfish at The Hideaway

I'll make this short and sweet, because let's just get straight to the point here: The Hideaway on Dunvale served me the best and the largest crawfish I've had all season this past Sunday afternoon. We ate ten pounds, all said and done. And at $5.99 a pound (with corn and potatoes), it just might be ... More >>

EPA Can't Block Texas's Clean-Air Rules for Being Too Lax, Appeals Court Says

The federal Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its bounds when it rejected a Texas clean-air plan it thought was too lax, an appellate court has ruled. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says the EPA was limited to reviewing whether Texas's controversial plan met the absolute minimums o ... More >>

10 Fish You're Eating That Are Endangered Species

Human beings: acting like jerks since we killed off the pupfish.​Yesterday, we touched briefly on the plight of the idiot fish, a small red fish with giant, round marbles for eyes. It's delicious, despite its odd appearance. And it's also endangered. Yet it's still sold and served across the w ... More >>

Idiot Fish: The Night I Ate an Endangered Species

The idiot fish is endangered for a reason: It's delicious.​A couple of weeks back, I enjoyed a beautiful dinner at Kubo's next to a table of hilariously drunk Japanese people boisterously eating sashimi off a giant wooden boat that acted as a centerpiece/serving tray, while my dining companion ... More >>

Khanh Vu: Fish-Farm Owner Says Ignore the Shotgun Shells, Those Protected Birds Died Because of Transmission Lines

Time for revenge.​The owner of a Palacios fish farm was found guilty of killing 90 protected brown pelicans and a slew of other birds, the U.S. Attorney's Office says. Khanh Vu, the owner of Seaside Aquaculture Inc., faces a fine of up to $15,000 and six months in prison for his conviction. ... More >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Tupelo: New Baby Elephant To Challenge Baylor's Cuteness Crown

Courtesy Houston ZooTupelo says move over, Baylor​Mere months afte winning the epic Houston Zoo Cute-Off, Baylorthe baby elephant is seeing his reign challenged by the arrival of Tupelo, an equally cute -- and younger -- rival.Such us the hard life of the jungle. Or the zoo.Tupelo entered the wor ... More >>

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 >>

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 >>

Basketball Diaries

Readers respond to "Trash Talk"

BP Oil Spill: Tunes For Turtles This Weekend

Onward through the oil​Since the BP oil spill began 8,427 days ago, we've heard about how the catastrophe has endangered the welfare of birds, fishermen, tourist shops, and at least one British dickhead CEO, but there hasn't been much said about our society's most vulnerable -- Gulf Coas ... More >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

You Get Promised Thousands Of Wild Hogs To Kill, You Get Tame Pigs Instead

​It may be difficult to believe that some internet advertising claims are exaggerated, but Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott insists such is the case in an action filed today. Worse, the victims of the alleged false claims are Texas hunters. It's almost sacreligious.All the hunters wanted to do w ... More >>

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 >>

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 >>

Coyotes And Bobcats Invade Area Yuppie Enclaves

​Back in 2004, we covered the battle of man vs. coyote in League City. Now it appears the wily canines have moved the battlefront closer to town.WestUInstantNews picks up the, um, tail: Coyotes and bobcats have recently been spotted prowling the border of Bellaire and West University Place, prom ... More >>

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 >>

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 >>

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.

Mother-effin Snakes In Our State!!

Photo courtesy USGS​There's nothing like a release from the U.S. Geological Survey headlined "Report Documents the Risks of Giant Invasive Snakes in the U.S." to get your attention. (Unless it's "Osama bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S." But we digress.)Bottom line: Look out Texas, we got gian ... More >>

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 >>

Free Willy. Seriously.

The Cove expertly exposes the horrific treatment of dolphins, but what about the uglies?

Love in the Time of Leprosy: The Critter Connection

Where there's leprosy, there's usually an armadillo.

Protect The Texas Jaguarundi!! He's Cute!!

The Jaguarundicourtesy of blueskull611Ever heard of the jaguarundi? Neither have we. Perhaps that's because this unique type of cat that lives along the Texas border with Mexico is endangered. Perhaps it's because nobody really cares. We're guessing it's a bit of both, but that doesn't mean every an ... More >>

Wild About Wine

Web exclusive!

Global Climate Change: In Search of the Science

Web exclusive!

Sharks 3D

Web exclusive!

BP Pays Big (Kinda) To Settle Texas City Pollution Claims

Logo courtesy BPGood news and bad news for Texas City: The good news is that BP will be spending $167 million to reduce pollution in its plant there.The bad news is that they were polluting the area so bad it's going to take $167 million to do something about it.The Environmental Protection Agency a ... More >>

Open up at Beaucoup Wings N Wings

New EPA List Of Polluted Cities Leaves Off Houston, To Some Folks' Dismay

The good news is that the Environmental Protection Agency has issued its list of counties that don't meet the agency's standards for fine-particle air pollution, and Harris County is not on that list.The bad news is that the American Lung Association thinks it damn well should be on the list.The EPA ... More >>

The Houston Zoo's Got More Herpes Than A Motley Crue Groupies' Convention, PETA Says

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals protested at the Houston Zoo Saturday, demanding that the zoo stop breeding elephants after the death of two-year-old Mac from the elephant herpesvirus.Hair Balls caught up with PETA spokeswoman Lindsay Rajt at the protest. "PETA is appalled that yet anoth ... More >>