Tag Archives: pollution

EPA public hearing on hazardous ozone standards in Houston

Posted on January 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The following was sent to me from the Sierra Club: Right now the EPA is accepting public comments on proposed new ozone standards that will make the air we breathe cleaner and our communities healthier, but they are facing fierce … Continue reading →

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Of smog and hot air

Posted on January 9, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Get ready for the upcoming fight over Texas’ – and Houston’s – air quality. The federal government proposed a tougher limit on ozone pollution Thursday that will force Houston to make deeper emissions cuts just as the former smog capital … Continue reading →

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Air cleanup progress report

Posted on December 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Some good news about efforts to get manufacturing plants to pollute less. In 2005, following Houston Chronicle and state reports about alarming levels of butadiene in neighborhoods near Texas Petrochemicals, the company signed a non-binding agreement with the TCEQ to … Continue reading →

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Commissioners Court wants a lapdog, not a watchdog

Posted on November 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Back in June, we learned that County Attorney Vince Ryan was going after polluters that had been ignoring court orders to clean up their acts. You would think this would be a good thing to do – you know, enforcing … Continue reading →

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Our air might be cleaner than we think

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is a pleasant surprise. Houston, once considered the nation’s capital of dirty air, is on the verge of meeting federal limits for smog for the first time. If the numbers hold as the smog season draws to an end, … Continue reading →

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Be like Bill

Posted on October 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

On the matter of where the Mayoral candidates stand on environmental issues, I don’t mind that they’re basically indistinguishable. As long as they follow the good example that has been set for them, it’s fine by me. To improve air … Continue reading →

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If that’s your best, your best won’t do

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We may never actually comply with federal clean air regulations. Texas’ new plan to improve the Houston area’s famously dirty air may not meet federal limits for smog. The pollution-fighting plan that state regulators are rolling out today predicts marked … Continue reading →

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EPA to tighten air quality standards

Posted on September 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Good. Federal regulators signaled Wednesday that they would abandon Bush-era limits on smog pollution that scientists said didn’t go far enough to protect public health. Amid concerns that the current rules don’t adhere to the federal Clean Air Act, the … Continue reading →

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Our illegal air

Posted on September 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Apparently, we don’t sufficiently enforce clean air standards in Texas. Who ever could have guessed that? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that many of the air pollution rules Texas uses to control the state’s industry do not comply … Continue reading →

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Bryan Shaw

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

One gets used to disappointments with Rick Perry. In late 2007, the appointment of Bryan Shaw, a Texas A&M professor and air pollution expert, to the three-member board that oversees the state’s environmental agency drew praise from a prominent government … Continue reading →

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Ryan versus the polluters

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is the sort of thing that happens when you elect Democrats. Here’s something relatively new: A Harris County polluter is going to jail. Vince Ryan, the new Harris County Attorney, has decided to make pollution a priority, and he … Continue reading →

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The science of smog

Posted on May 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I thought this was a very interesting article about a current research project that is investigating the effect of industrial flares from refineries and chemical plants on ozone levels, but one bit of it really amazed me. Industrial flares burn … Continue reading →

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Voting right on climate change, take two

Posted on May 15, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Yo, Democrats. You were given a mandate this past November. Please act like it. Democratic leaders pushing to cap greenhouse gas emissions were working Wednesday to appease key lawmakers who want to ease the financial burden that the climate change … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Voting right on climate change

Posted on May 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

It is, of course, a good thing that President Obama has Democratic majorities in both chambers of Congress as he tries to get his agenda implemented. That doesn’t mean he’ll have smooth sailing, of course – between the weirdly ahistorical … Continue reading →

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Clean Air update

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Some news of interest from ACT Texas: The House Committee on Environmental Regulation will hear important clean air bills today including SB 16 – Senator Averitt’s omnibus clean air and energy efficiency bill. Several address flaws in the TCEQ permitting … Continue reading →

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Senate passes clean air bill

Posted on April 10, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This sounds pretty good. New plants in heavily polluted areas like Houston’s Ship Channel could have a harder time getting state permits under a clean air bill tentatively passed Wednesday by the Texas Senate. Environmental regulators would have to examine … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Green clean

Posted on March 15, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is amazing. It’s a kitchen degreaser. It’s a window cleaner. It kills athlete’s foot. Oh, and you can drink it. Sounds like the old “Saturday Night Live” gag for Shimmer, the faux floor polish plugged by Gilda Radner. But … Continue reading →

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For the money, I sure hope so

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

News flash: Travel times on the newly-expanded Katy Freeway have improved. The expansion of 23 miles of roadway along the Katy was completed in October. The $2.8 billion project took five years to complete and added 18 lanes between the … Continue reading →

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In the long run, we’re all dead

Posted on February 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

There’s long-term planning, and then there’s long-term planning. Big Bend National Park is known for its jagged beauty, but sometimes the mountains are blotted from the horizon by a sky the color of mud. The air is so dirty on … Continue reading →

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California breathin’

Posted on January 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We may get some cleaner air to breathe here in Texas thanks to California and President Obama. Obama ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to review the Bush administration’s refusal to allow California and 13 other states to set the nation’s … Continue reading →

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