Tag Archives: pollution

Hempstead landfill trial update

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

It’s complicated. For many in the courtroom, a judge’s promise Friday that the Waller County landfill trial would conclude “before Santa Claus comes” was welcome news. Earlier in the week, they had lamented the possibility that the trial – one … Continue reading →

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Here come the new ozone standards

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

I have three things to say about this. Over the objections of Texas officials, the Obama administration on Wednesday proposed a long-delayed rule to slash levels of ozone – a smog-forming pollutant known to worsen asthma, lung disease and heart … Continue reading →

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Hempstead landfill fight goes to court

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

An update on a story I’ve been following for a few years. For the last two years, Waller County and the city of Hempstead have been pitted against each other in a high-profile legal battle over a proposed landfill in … Continue reading →

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“Environmental tort reform”

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, hell no. After failing in their attempt to limit cities and counties’ ability to take industrial polluters to court, some Houston businesses and statewide lobbyists now want to limit how much local governments can collect in penalties, a sort … Continue reading →

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News flash: Greg Abbott wants to sue the EPA again

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Nobody could have foreseen this! Foretelling a new environmental battle between state and federal regulators, Attorney General Greg Abbott on Monday demanded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency back down from a proposal to expand the definition of federal waters to … Continue reading →

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Texas will do just fine under the new EPA clean air regulations

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Unless it wants to fail, of course, which is always an option under the likes of Rick Perry and Greg Abbott. Texas could lead the way into a less carbon-intensive future under the Obama administration’s plans to sharply reduce greenhouse … Continue reading →

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Court rules for the EPA against Texas again

Posted on April 20, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Another win for the environment. A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the Obama administration’s new rules that for the first time limit emissions of mercury and other harmful pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants. In a split decision, … Continue reading →

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San Antonio plastic bag ban update

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s an update on the city of San Antonio’s effort to regulate plastic bag usage, which may include a ban. It’s written by San Antonio City Council member Cris Medina, who is the point person for the effort. Late last … Continue reading →

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Texas stands with polluters against the EPA one more time

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

Here we go. The Obama administration’s climate change agenda on Monday faced one of its first real tests in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, where Texas and a group of industry leaders challenged an Environmental Protection Agency regulation aimed … Continue reading →

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EPA and TCEQ settle lawsuits over flex permits

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Charles Kuffner

One less court fight for us and the feds. The EPA and Texas on Wednesday said they have reached a deal over state permits for industrial air pollution, ending a four-year fight that to some had become a symbol of … Continue reading →

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That pollution isn’t our fault!

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

You have to admire the creativity. Harris County’s problem with tiny, lung-damaging particles in the air can be blamed partly on African dust and crop-clearing fires in Mexico, the state’s environmental agency has told federal regulators. If the Environmental Protection … Continue reading →

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Going after the dumpers

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Glad to see this. City Council District B will be the site of a pilot program in which five surveillance video cameras have been placed in undisclosed locations, [Mayor Annise] Parker announced. The cameras will be monitored in real time … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS to hear CSAPR appeal

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I’m not terribly excited about anything the Supreme Court does these days, but we’ll see about this. The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday to take a case that has pitted Texas against the Obama administration over a federal rule aimed … Continue reading →

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Everybody sues the EPA

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The state of Texas and our pollution-loving Attorney General do it because they think the EPA does too much to protect us from harm. Some other groups do it because they think the EPA isn’t doing enough. In the suit … Continue reading →

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Texas versus EPA, round one zillion

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The desire to coddle polluters is strong in this one. A Texas-led coalition of energy-producing states has asked the Supreme Court to hear a case involving the Obama administration’s efforts to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases. … Continue reading →

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Protecting polluters

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Ridiculous. It’s never been easy fighting powerful polluters in Texas. A bill approved by a Senate committee today would make it even harder. With a big push from the Texas Chemical Council and the Texas Association of Business, the Senate … Continue reading →

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Still fighting the Waller County landfill

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve written before about a battle in Waller County over a proposed landfill that would be built there. While the landfill has moved closer to being approved, it’s not yet a done deal, and its opponents are still fighting against … Continue reading →

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Houston loses air pollution permit lawsuit

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Bummer. The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that Houston may not effectively void a state air pollution permit. The justices agreed with Southern Crushed Concrete that Houston’s 2007 law restricting the location of concrete-crushing facilities violates state statute by nullifying … Continue reading →

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White Stallion coal plant deep sixed

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I mentioned this in passing the other day, but the news that White Stallion has been shelved deserves its own post. Developers have dropped plans for the White Stallion Energy Center about 90 miles southwest of Houston, signaling the end … Continue reading →

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We’ve got mercury, yes we do

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Once again, Texas overachieves at something bad. Even though mercury and other hazardous air pollution from U.S. power plants are declining, the progress at the coal-fired power plants are uneven, leaving in place a significant remaining risk to the health … Continue reading →

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More on metal recycling

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron has a followup story on metal recycling and hexavalent chromium. Houston air experts plan to deepen their investigation into the air outside metal recycling companies after their measurements showed – apparently for the first time – that the … Continue reading →

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Recycling pollution

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is unfortunate. The calls to the city of Houston’s 311 help line came in the early morning and the middle of the night – complaints of red smoke, yellow smoke, explosions, fire, a child having trouble breathing. Reports like … Continue reading →

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Soot

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

We have it. What are we going to do about it? Harris County, long known for smog, will need to clamp down on another harmful type of air pollution for the first time under new rules imposed by federal regulators … Continue reading →

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EDF report on school buses

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From the Environmental Defense Fund: Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) [Monday] released a report titled “Review of Texas’ Clean School Bus Programs: How Far Have We Come and What Is Still Left to Do?” This report evaluates each of the clean … Continue reading →

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The dumbest plastic bag argument I’ve seen so far

Posted on October 14, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This story is about the city of San Francisco rolling out a new ordinance intended to further limit the use of disposable bags by retailers. I’ve heard a variety of arguments against the different versions of this kind of law, … Continue reading →

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CSAPR knocked down by federal court

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Score one for the polluters. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in a 2-1 decision that the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority with the new regulation. Led by Texas, 14 states and several … Continue reading →

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Count tells EPA to review flex permits

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Score one for Texas. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the Environmental Protection Agency’s disapproval of Texas’ Flexible Permits program was not supported by the Clean Air Act. Under the Flexible Permits program, which had been … Continue reading →

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More on the landfills of Waller County

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Last July I wrote about a proposed landfill in Waller County near Hempstead and the residents who are fighting against it. The Statesman has an update on the story. In many ways, the landfill fight in this rural Texas town … Continue reading →

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Guess who likes the Obamacare ruling now?

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The state of Texas, that’s who. But not for any positive reason, of course. The high court decision limited the power of Congress to force states to take certain actions by threatening to withhold federal money – in the Affordable … Continue reading →

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Seattle bans plastic bags

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Spotted this while we were in Portland. Those ubiquitous, single-use plastic bags will no longer be available at checkout counters at grocery and retail stores across Seattle starting Sunday. The ban intended to cut down on pollution requires grocers and … Continue reading →

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Tyson Sowell: The Problem of Single-Use Bags

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. On Wednesday, June 20, Houston City Council approved a budget amendment to “address littering by plastic bags or phasing out plastic … Continue reading →

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That other big lawsuit

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

In case you missed it, there was another big ruling last week that will have a profound effect on Texas. A federal appeals court Tuesday upheld a finding by the Environmental Protection Agency that greenhouse gases pose a public health … Continue reading →

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Fifth Circuit rules for EPA against Texas

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s always a pleasure seeing our litigious Attorney General get slapped down by whatever court he’s bothering this week. In the latest turn in a saga pitting environmental regulators in Washington against those in Austin, a panel of federal judges … Continue reading →

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CNG garbage trucks

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

You won’t hear them coming. Waste Management [announced on Friday that] it is pushing forward on a nationwide plan to convert all of its 18,342 trucks from loud and smoky diesel engines to quieter and cleaner compressed natural gas-powered machines. … Continue reading →

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