Calendar
Categories
Archives
My linkage
Polling Texas 2020
UT/Trib, Apr 25: Trump 49, Biden 44
DT/PPP, Apr 29: Biden 47, Trump 46
UT-Tyler/DMN, May 3: Trump 43, Biden 43
Emerson, May 13: Trump 47, Biden 41
Quinnipiac, June 3: Trump 44, Biden 43
PPP, June 5: Trump 48, Biden 48
PPP/PT, June 23: Trump 48, Biden 46
Fox, June 25: Biden 45, Trump 44
UT/Trib, July 2: Trump 48, Biden 44
PPP/Emily’s List, July 2: Biden 48, Trump 46
UT-Tyler/DMN, July 12: Biden 48, Trump 43
CBSNews, July 12: Trump 46, Biden 45
Quinnipiac, July 22: Biden 45, Trump 44
Morning Consult, July 28: Biden 47, Trump 45
Morning Consult, August 3: Biden 47, Trump 46
Polling Texas 2018
WPA, Jan 5: Cruz 52, O'Rourke 34
PPP, Jan 27: Cruz 45, O'Rourke 37
Quinnipiac, April 19: Cruz 47, O'Rourke 44
Quinnipiac, May 31: Cruz 50, O'Rourke 39
PPP, June 8: Cruz 48, O'Rourke 42
GQR, June 16: Cruz 49, O'Rourke 43
CBS/YouGov, June 24: Cruz 44, O'Rourke 36
UT/Trib, June 25: Cruz 41, O'Rourke 36
Gravis, July 10: Cruz 51, O'Rourke 42
Lyceum, July 31: Cruz 41, O'Rourke 39
Quinnipiac, July 31: Cruz 49, O'Rourke 43
PPP, August 2: Cruz 46, O'Rourke 42
NBC News, August 23: Cruz 49, O'Rourke 45
ECPS, August 27: Cruz 38, O'Rourke 37
Crosswinds, September 12: Cruz 47, O'Rourke 44
Quinnipiac, September 18 (LV): Cruz 54, O'Rourke 45
Ipsos, September 19 (LV): O'Rourke 47, Cruz 45Polling Texas 2016
Beatty, Jun 22: Trump 37, Clinton 30
UT/TTP, Jun 27: Trump 41, Clinton 33
KTVT/Dixie, Aug 11: Trump 46, Clinton 35
PPP, Aug 16: Trump 44, Clinton 38
WaPo-SurveyMonkey, Sep 6: Clinton 46, Trump 45
ECPS, Sep 14: Trump 42, Clinton 36
Texas Lyceum, Sep 15: Trump 39, Clinton 32
YouGov, Oct 3: Trump 50,1, Clinton 41.5
KTVT/Dixie, Oct 5: Trump 45, Clinton 38
WFAA/SurveyUSA, Oct 14: Trump 47, Clinton 43
UH Hobby Center, Oct 17: Trump 41, Clinton 38
WaPo/SurveyMonkey, Oct 17: Trump 48, Clinton 46
CBS/YouGov, Oct 23: Trump 46, Clinton 43
Crosswind/Statesman, Oct 27: Trump 45, Clinton 38
UT/TT, Oct 27: Trump 45, Clinton 42
KTVT/Dixie Strategies, Nov 2: Trump 52, Clinton 39
NBC/WSJ/Marist, Nov 3: Trump 49, Clinton 40
ECPS, Nov 3: Trump 49, Clinton 34
YouGov, Nov 5: Trump 50.3, Clinton 42.4Polling Texas 2014
UT/TT, Nov 2013: Abbott 40, Davis 35, Glass 5
PPP, Nov 2013: Abbott 50, Davis 35
UT/TT, Feb 2014: Abbott 47, Davis 36
ECPS, Mar 2014: Abbott 49, Davis 42
Rasmussen, Mar 2014: Abbott 53, Davis 41
PPP, Apr 2014: Abbott 51, Davis 37
UT/TT, June 2014:Abbott 44, Davis 32
YouGov, July 2014: Abbott 50, Davis 34
Rasmussen, Aug 2014: Abbott 48, Davis 40
YouGov, Sep 2014: Abbott 56, Davis 38
Lyceum, Oct 2014: Abbott 49, Davis 40
Rasmussen, Oct 2014: Abbott 51, Davis 40
KHOU, Oct 2014: Abbott 47, Davis 32
UT/TT, Oct 2014: Abbott 54, Davis 38
YouGov, Oct 2014: Abbott 57, Davis 37Polling Texas 2012
PPP April 26: Romney 50, Obama 43
UT/TT May 22: Romney 46, Obama 38 (RV) - Romney 55, Obama 35 (LV)
WPAOR Sep 13: Romney 55, Obama 40
YouGov Sep 24: Romney 52, Obama 41
Lyceum Oct 2: Romney 58, Obama 39
YouGov Oct 17: Romney 55, Obama 41
UT/TT Oct 29: Romney 55, Obama 39
Baselice Oct 30: Romney 54, Obama 38
YouGov Nov 3: Romney 57, Obama 38-
Recent Posts
- Today is Election Day
- A brief list of things I’ll be watching for today
- The billboards of Fayette County
- No observers allowed here
- Loving County defunds its police
- On cryptomining and power plants
- Weekend link dump for November 3
- Final November 2024 early voting: Definitely short
- Houston re-ups its membership in H-GAC
- John Devine continues to be an ethical quagmire
Recent Comments
- J on A brief list of things I’ll be watching for today
- Flypusher on A brief list of things I’ll be watching for today
- Jeff N. on A brief list of things I’ll be watching for today
- Meme on No observers allowed here
- Mainstream on No observers allowed here
Tags
- Annise Parker
- Attorney General
- blog roundup
- budget
- Commissioners Court
- Congress
- coronavirus
- Dan Patrick
- Democratic primary
- Donald Trump
- Election 2010
- Election 2012
- Election 2014
- Election 2015
- Election 2016
- Election 2018
- Election 2020
- Election 2022
- Governor
- Greg Abbott
- Harris County
- HISD
- Houston
- Houston City Council
- interviews
- judicial races
- Ken Paxton
- lawsuit
- linkdump
- Mayor
- polls
- President
- redistricting
- Rick Perry
- runoff
- schools
- SCOTUS
- Senate
- Supreme Court
- Sylvester Turner
- Texas
- The Lege
- TPA
- turnout
- videos
Blogroll
- ‘stina is a shiny special one
- 2 On The Beat
- A Perfectly Cromulent Blog
- AintNoBadDude
- alicublog
- Amygdala
- ArchPundit
- AS THE COURT TURNS
- Asian American Action Fund
- Austin Contrarian
- B and B
- Bald Heretic
- Baseball Musings
- Bay Area Houston
- BEYONDbones
- Big Pink Cookie
- Blog con Queso
- bloggin’ all things brownsville
- Blue Bloggin'
- BlueBloggin
- Booman Tribune
- Boots on the Bayou
- Boyd’s Blog
- Brains and Eggs
- Burkablog
- Burnt Orange Report
- BY THE BAYOU
- calle viena
- Campos Communications
- Capitol Annex
- Christine Quinones
- ConFrijoles
- Coyote Mercury
- Daily Kos
- DARE to LIVE in Farmers Branch
- David Ortez
- debutaunt.com
- Defending People
- Dig Deeper Texas
- Digby
- Dog Canyon
- Don Large Political Report
- DosCentavos.net
- DreamHost Blog
- Easter Lemming Liberal News
- Eschaton
- Eye on Williamson
- Ezra Klein
- FalkenBlog
- FiveThirtyEight
- Forrest For the Trees
- Frothing at the Mouth
- Greg’s Opinion
- Grits for Breakfast
- H-Town Chow Down
- Hair Balls
- Half Empty
- Hey Elise
- Home in the Heights
- Hopefully So
- Houston Calling
- Houston Politics
- Houston Strategies
- Houston’s Clear Thinkers
- Houstonist
- Houtopia
- Idiotprogrammer
- In The Pink Texas
- INSOLVENT REPUBLIC OF BLOGISTAN
- Insomniactive
- Intermodality
- Isiah Carey
- Jeff Balke
- Juanita Jean
- Julie Pippert: Using My Words
- Kevin Drum
- Kuff’s World
- Latinos For Texas Blog
- Laurie Kendrick
- Letters from Texas
- Lewisville Texan
- Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center
- Linkmeister
- Local Texans
- Lone Star Times
- Lost… and Gone Forever
- m e a n r a c h e l
- M1EK’s Bake-Sale of Bile
- Marc’s Miscellany
- Mark Evanier
- Matthew Yglesias
- McBlogger
- Mean Green Cougar Red
- MeMo
- Mike McGuff
- Miya Shay
- MOMocrats
- musings
- My Houston Family Lawyer
- MyDD
- Nail-Tinted Glasses
- neoHOUSTON
- Newsrack Blog
- nonsequiteuse
- North Texas Liberal
- Oliver Willis
- On the Move
- Ones and Zeros East
- Owls
- Page Break
- Pandagon
- Peter Sagal
- Poli-Tex
- PoliTex
- Political Animal
- Postcards
- Prof13
- Purple Texas
- racymind
- Ramblings of an HHSC Employee amidst chaos
- Rantings from 35,000 feet
- rc3.org
- Rep. Mike Villarreal
- Rhetoric & Rhythm
- Richmondrail.org
- Rick Perry vs The World
- Saint Arnold Brewhouse Blog
- Same Blog, Different Day
- SciGuy
- Sisyphus Shrugged
- slacktivist
- Slightly Rough
- Snarkout
- South Texas Chisme
- Suburban Guerrilla
- Swamplot
- Swing State Project
- Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire
- Talking Points Memo
- TalkLeft
- TAPPED
- TBogg
- TechBlog
- Texans Against Hunger
- TexansChick
- Texas Freedom Network
- Texas Liberal
- Texas Musings
- Texas on the Potomac
- Texas Politics
- Texas Vox
- Texas Watchdog
- the bill clerk
- The Bloggess
- THE BRAZOSPORT NEWS
- The Caucus Blog
- The Comics Curmudgeon
- The Contrarian
- The Dark Star Gazette
- The Futility Infielder
- The Great God Pan Is Dead
- The Heights Life
- The Lunch Tray
- The Poor Man Institute
- The Sanctuary
- The Sideshow
- The Texas Blue
- The Texas Tribune
- The Thicket at State Legislatures
- There… Already
- They are Building a Wal-Mart on My Street
- This Blog Is Full Of Crap
- Thomason Tracts
- Three Wise Men
- TRAIL BLAZERS
- TruthHugger
- Tubular
- Tx Capitol Report
- Uncertain Principles
- Unqualified Offerings
- Vigilant, the Common Cause Texas Blog
- Wait, Wait, Don't Blog Me!
- Walker Report
- Wampum
- What She Really Thinks
- What Would Jack Do?
- Whitless Humorings
- WP Support Forum
- Zippidy Doo Da
Utilities
Categories
Archives
Polling Texas 2016
Beatty, Jun 22: Trump 37, Clinton 30
UT/TTP, Jun 27: Trump 41, Clinton 33
KTVT/Dixie, Aug 11: Trump 46, Clinton 35
PPP, Aug 16: Trump 44, Clinton 38
WaPo-SurveyMonkey, Sep 6: Clinton 46, Trump 45
ECPS, Sep 14: Trump 42, Clinton 36
Texas Lyceum, Sep 15: Trump 39, Clinton 32
YouGov, Oct 3: Trump 50,1, Clinton 41.5
KTVT/Dixie, Oct 5: Trump 45, Clinton 38
WFAA/SurveyUSA, Oct 14: Trump 47, Clinton 43
UH Hobby Center, Oct 17: Trump 41, Clinton 38
WaPo/SurveyMonkey, Oct 17: Trump 48, Clinton 46
CBS/YouGov, Oct 23: Trump 46, Clinton 43
Crosswind/Statesman, Oct 27: Trump 45, Clinton 38
UT/TT, Oct 27: Trump 45, Clinton 42
KTVT/Dixie Strategies, Nov 2: Trump 52, Clinton 39
NBC/WSJ/Marist, Nov 3: Trump 49, Clinton 40
ECPS, Nov 3: Trump 49, Clinton 34
YouGov, Nov 5: Trump 50,3, Clinton 42.4
Polling Texas 2014
UT/TT, Nov 2013: Abbott 40, Davis 35, Glass 5
PPP, Nov 2013: Abbott 50, Davis 35
UT/TT, Feb 2014: Abbott 47, Davis 36
ECPS, Mar 2014: Abbott 49, Davis 42
Rasmussen, Mar 2014: Abbott 53, Davis 41
PPP, Apr 2014: Abbott 51, Davis 37
UT/TT, June 2014:Abbott 44, Davis 32
YouGov, July 2014: Abbott 50, Davis 34
Rasmussen, Aug 2014: Abbott 48, Davis 40
YouGov, Sep 2014: Abbott 56, Davis 38
Lyceum, Oct 2014: Abbott 49, Davis 40
Rasmussen, Oct 2014: Abbott 51, Davis 40
KHOU, Oct 2014: Abbott 47, Davis 32
UT/TT, Oct 2014: Abbott 54, Davis 38
YouGov, Oct 2014: Abbott 57, Davis 37
Polling Texas 2012
PPP April 26: Romney 50, Obama 43
UT/TT May 22: Romney 46, Obama 38 (RV) - Romney 55, Obama 35 (LV)
WPAOR Sep 13: Romney 55, Obama 40
YouGov Sep 24: Romney 52, Obama 41
Lyceum Oct 2: Romney 58, Obama 39
YouGov Oct 17: Romney 55, Obama 41
UT/TT Oct 29: Romney 55, Obama 39
Baselice Oct 30: Romney 54, Obama 38
YouGov Nov 3: Romney 57, Obama 38
My Linkage
Recent Comments
- J on A brief list of things I’ll be watching for today
- Flypusher on A brief list of things I’ll be watching for today
- Jeff N. on A brief list of things I’ll be watching for today
- Meme on No observers allowed here
- Mainstream on No observers allowed here
- Joel on No observers allowed here
- Mainstream on No observers allowed here
- Andrew Lynch on Final November 2024 early voting: Definitely short
- meme on Houston re-ups its membership in H-GAC
- Flypusher on Weekend link dump for November 3
- C.L. on Houston re-ups its membership in H-GAC
- J on Final November 2024 early voting: Definitely short
- Meme on Houston re-ups its membership in H-GAC
- Jeff N. on John Devine continues to be an ethical quagmire
- Mainstream on Is this the year Tarrant County finally goes blue?
-
Recent Posts
- Today is Election Day
- A brief list of things I’ll be watching for today
- The billboards of Fayette County
- No observers allowed here
- Loving County defunds its police
- On cryptomining and power plants
- Weekend link dump for November 3
- Final November 2024 early voting: Definitely short
- Houston re-ups its membership in H-GAC
- John Devine continues to be an ethical quagmire
- Nevaeh Crain
- Paxton takes his fight against the State Fair gun ban back to district court
- Compost those pumpkins
- November 2024 early voting Day Eleven: One more day
- Is this the year Tarrant County finally goes blue?
Tags
- Annise Parker
- Attorney General
- blog roundup
- budget
- Commissioners Court
- Congress
- coronavirus
- Dan Patrick
- Democratic primary
- Donald Trump
- Election 2010
- Election 2012
- Election 2014
- Election 2015
- Election 2016
- Election 2018
- Election 2020
- Election 2022
- Governor
- Greg Abbott
- Harris County
- HISD
- Houston
- Houston City Council
- interviews
- judicial races
- Ken Paxton
- lawsuit
- linkdump
- Mayor
- polls
- President
- redistricting
- Rick Perry
- runoff
- schools
- SCOTUS
- Senate
- Supreme Court
- Sylvester Turner
- Texas
- The Lege
- TPA
- turnout
- videos
Blogroll
- ‘stina is a shiny special one
- 2 On The Beat
- A Perfectly Cromulent Blog
- AintNoBadDude
- alicublog
- Amygdala
- ArchPundit
- AS THE COURT TURNS
- Asian American Action Fund
- Austin Contrarian
- B and B
- Bald Heretic
- Baseball Musings
- Bay Area Houston
- BEYONDbones
- Big Pink Cookie
- Blog con Queso
- bloggin’ all things brownsville
- Blue Bloggin'
- BlueBloggin
- Booman Tribune
- Boots on the Bayou
- Boyd’s Blog
- Brains and Eggs
- Burkablog
- Burnt Orange Report
- BY THE BAYOU
- calle viena
- Campos Communications
- Capitol Annex
- Christine Quinones
- ConFrijoles
- Coyote Mercury
- Daily Kos
- DARE to LIVE in Farmers Branch
- David Ortez
- debutaunt.com
- Defending People
- Dig Deeper Texas
- Digby
- Dog Canyon
- Don Large Political Report
- DosCentavos.net
- DreamHost Blog
- Easter Lemming Liberal News
- Eschaton
- Eye on Williamson
- Ezra Klein
- FalkenBlog
- FiveThirtyEight
- Forrest For the Trees
- Frothing at the Mouth
- Greg’s Opinion
- Grits for Breakfast
- H-Town Chow Down
- Hair Balls
- Half Empty
- Hey Elise
- Home in the Heights
- Hopefully So
- Houston Calling
- Houston Politics
- Houston Strategies
- Houston’s Clear Thinkers
- Houstonist
- Houtopia
- Idiotprogrammer
- In The Pink Texas
- INSOLVENT REPUBLIC OF BLOGISTAN
- Insomniactive
- Intermodality
- Isiah Carey
- Jeff Balke
- Juanita Jean
- Julie Pippert: Using My Words
- Kevin Drum
- Kuff’s World
- Latinos For Texas Blog
- Laurie Kendrick
- Letters from Texas
- Lewisville Texan
- Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center
- Linkmeister
- Local Texans
- Lone Star Times
- Lost… and Gone Forever
- m e a n r a c h e l
- M1EK’s Bake-Sale of Bile
- Marc’s Miscellany
- Mark Evanier
- Matthew Yglesias
- McBlogger
- Mean Green Cougar Red
- MeMo
- Mike McGuff
- Miya Shay
- MOMocrats
- musings
- My Houston Family Lawyer
- MyDD
- Nail-Tinted Glasses
- neoHOUSTON
- Newsrack Blog
- nonsequiteuse
- North Texas Liberal
- Oliver Willis
- On the Move
- Ones and Zeros East
- Owls
- Page Break
- Pandagon
- Peter Sagal
- Poli-Tex
- PoliTex
- Political Animal
- Postcards
- Prof13
- Purple Texas
- racymind
- Ramblings of an HHSC Employee amidst chaos
- Rantings from 35,000 feet
- rc3.org
- Rep. Mike Villarreal
- Rhetoric & Rhythm
- Richmondrail.org
- Rick Perry vs The World
- Saint Arnold Brewhouse Blog
- Same Blog, Different Day
- SciGuy
- Sisyphus Shrugged
- slacktivist
- Slightly Rough
- Snarkout
- South Texas Chisme
- Suburban Guerrilla
- Swamplot
- Swing State Project
- Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire
- Talking Points Memo
- TalkLeft
- TAPPED
- TBogg
- TechBlog
- Texans Against Hunger
- TexansChick
- Texas Freedom Network
- Texas Liberal
- Texas Musings
- Texas on the Potomac
- Texas Politics
- Texas Vox
- Texas Watchdog
- the bill clerk
- The Bloggess
- THE BRAZOSPORT NEWS
- The Caucus Blog
- The Comics Curmudgeon
- The Contrarian
- The Dark Star Gazette
- The Futility Infielder
- The Great God Pan Is Dead
- The Heights Life
- The Lunch Tray
- The Poor Man Institute
- The Sanctuary
- The Sideshow
- The Texas Blue
- The Texas Tribune
- The Thicket at State Legislatures
- There… Already
- They are Building a Wal-Mart on My Street
- This Blog Is Full Of Crap
- Thomason Tracts
- Three Wise Men
- TRAIL BLAZERS
- TruthHugger
- Tubular
- Tx Capitol Report
- Uncertain Principles
- Unqualified Offerings
- Vigilant, the Common Cause Texas Blog
- Wait, Wait, Don't Blog Me!
- Walker Report
- Wampum
- What She Really Thinks
- What Would Jack Do?
- Whitless Humorings
- WP Support Forum
- Zippidy Doo Da
Utilities
Tag Archives: pollution
Harris County sues TCEQ over concrete plant permit
A good fight to pick. Harris County sued the Texas Commission on Environment Quality on Wednesday for approving a permit for a concrete crushing plant located near Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital in Houston’s Kashmere Gardens. The lawsuit – filed in … Continue reading
On the source of Houston’s greenhouse gas emissions
This story is a lot more complex and nuanced than the headline would lead you to believe. It may come as no surprise to anyone who has spent time on Houston’s roads at rush hour that just over half of all the … Continue reading
EPA asked to investigate TCEQ’s water permitting process
Need to keep an eye on this. The Environmental Protection Agency says an informal investigation is underway after more than two dozen environmental advocacy groups submitted a petition against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The petition alleges that state … Continue reading
ERCOT makes it through, with an assist from the feds
In case you were wondering. A day after ERCOT asked the U.S. Department of Energy for an emergency order allowing its generators to bypass emissions standards to stave off potential outages, Texas’ electric grid met demand with ease on Saturday. … Continue reading
Grassroots pollution monitoring
Great story about a problem that deserves mush more attention from the state. One by one, the residents filtered into the small community center and found seats in the rows of plastic chairs. Some were teenagers wearing yellow-and-black Galena Park … Continue reading
We don’t love trash
Especially not in the bayous. On a recent Saturday morning, around 20 volunteers gathered to clean up trash along the Houston Ship Channel. Armed with pickers and trash bags, they started tackling a small “trash beach” across the channel from … Continue reading
Still rough times for oysters
Continuing from earlier in the year. Tuesday marks the start of Texas’ commercial and recreational oyster season, but the bulk of the state’s oyster reefs are already closed for harvesting. This follows last year’s season during which the majority of … Continue reading
Texas will get a lot from the Inflation Reduction Act
Thanks, Biden! Texas’s clean energy sector is expected to be one of the largest beneficiaries of the climate and health care legislation President Joe Biden has signed into law, according to estimates released by the White House Wednesday. Over the next … Continue reading
EPA to investigate TCEQ over concrete plant permits
Well, this ought to be interesting. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is the subject of an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency following complaints that the state agency violated civil rights laws in its permitting of concrete batch plants. … Continue reading
TxDOT sued over its enviromental impact assessments
Very interesting. After college, Michael Moritz got a job in Houston analyzing fatal car crashes. Moritz, a 27-year-old native of San Antonio, stood on Interstate Highway 45, one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in the country, and documented … Continue reading
Who gets to judge Volkswagen?
Fascinating little legal cul-de-sac here. German car manufacturers Volkswagen and Audi — facing a lawsuit from Texas that could cost the companies millions stemming from the emissions cheating scheme uncovered in 2015 — argue that Gov. Greg Abbott could unfairly … Continue reading
Rough times for oysters
It’s bad for oyster fishers, too. But if there just aren’t enough oysters to support harvesting them, well… Currently, 25 of the state’s 27 harvesting areas are already closed. The season normally runs from Nov. 1 through April 30, but … Continue reading
Our still-smoggy skies
We’re being called on the carpet for them. The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday sought to list the Houston and Dallas metro areas as “severe” violators of 2008 federal ozone pollution standards, kicking off a process that will likely impose … Continue reading
“The Dead Sea of West Texas”
Not a vacation spot. About twenty-five miles north of Fort Stockton sits what looks, at first blush, like an oasis amid the West Texas desert. When I recently visited what might be Texas’s newest sizable body of water, its color … Continue reading
Rolling coal
From last week. A teen who struck six cyclists while allegedly blanketing them in black smoke along a Waller County road faces six felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. “One for each of the people he almost … Continue reading
Harris County approves its budget
Good priorities. Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday unanimously approved a $3.3 billion general fund budget that includes new investments in pollution control, public health and attorneys for indigent criminal defendants. The $64 million in new spending represents a 2 … Continue reading
A parting gift of pollution
Gee, thanks. Texas may soon get authority over the disposal of ash from coal-fired power plants, a change that could insulate coal companies from tougher rules expected under a Biden administration. A proposal introduced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency … Continue reading
Nothing but gray skies ahead
You want a small sign that things are returning to “normal”, here you go. Houston’s air pollution is returning to normal levels, following a period of cleaner skies during the stay-at-home orders put in place to slow the spread the … Continue reading
County files lawsuit over Watson Grinding explosion
As well they should. Harris County and state officials entered the fray Thursday, bringing civil charges against Watson Grinding and Manufacturing in the explosion that left two dead and damaged 450 structures last week in west Houston. The county has … Continue reading
Who sues first?
It matters whether Harris County or the state of Texas is first to the courthouse against an industrial polluter. As chemical plant explosions and fires have disrupted lives and raised air-quality concerns in the Houston area this year, the state … Continue reading
The state of the county 2019
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo has a lot of accomplishments to tout. Harris County in the past year has made significant progress on flood control, criminal justice and improving public health, County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in her first State … Continue reading
Commissioners Court gets more aggressive on environmental enforcement
Good. Commissioners Court on Tuesday voted to hire 61 employees across three departments in a bid to significantly boost Harris County’s ability to respond to environmental emergencies after finding numerous shortcomings in its efforts to manage three chemical fires near … Continue reading
Injunction ordered in Skull Creek lawsuit
Hope this helps. Three months after the waters of Skull Creek first turned black, a Travis County state district judge issued a temporary injunction Tuesday against Inland Environmental and Remediation and David Polston, its president, requiring the company to stop … Continue reading
What’s going on in Skull Creek?
Here’s a story from a couple of weeks ago that you may have missed. I know I missed it until it was pointed out to me. For more than two months, the waters of Skull Creek have flowed black, its … Continue reading
Another view of pollution enforcement
The state has its role, but it’s not all on them. Almost two months before a massive chemical fire erupted in Deer Park, sending a dark plume of smoke over much of Harris County, Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia asked … Continue reading
County brings charges related to ITC fire
Bring it on. Responding to what it called “criminal levels” of contamination, the Harris County District Attorney’s office said Monday that it has charged Intercontinental Terminals Company with five misdemeanor counts of water pollution arising from a March plant fire … Continue reading
Prosecuting polluters
It really shouldn’t have to come to this, but here we are. The Harris County District Attorney’s office is calling for a tripling of the number of prosecutors dedicated to environmental crimes in the wake of a series of chemical … Continue reading
Using floodplain rules to force environmental safety compliance
A county’s gotta do what a county’s gotta do. Harris County officials are using flood control regulations passed after Hurricane Harvey to delay the reopening of two chemical companies where fires erupted in recent weeks, killing one worker and sending … Continue reading
Explode, rinse, repeat
Here we go again. A massive explosion at a chemical plant in northeast Harris County on Tuesday killed one person and sent two others to the hospital in critical condition, sparking a blaze that sent yet another plume of dark … Continue reading
Harris County sues ITC over Deer Park fire
Go get ’em. Harris County has sued Intercontinental Terminals Co. for failing to prevent a massive chemical fire that burned for more than 60 hours last week and spewed an unknown volume of hazardous chemicals into the air and nearby … Continue reading
State sues over Deer Park fire
Too big to ignore. Late Friday, the state of Texas sued Intercontinental Terminals — the Houston-based company whose petrochemical storage facility in the suburb of Deer Park caught fire last weekend and burned for days, sending a dramatic plume of … Continue reading
What’s wrong with the I-45 expansion plan?
Urban planner Jeff Speck, in a recent lecture in Houston, lays out the following problems with the planned I-45 expansion: The brief list of negatives include: I-45 will wreck your bayou parks. I-45 will destroy wildlife habitat. I-45 will make … Continue reading
The recycling recession
Not good. A joint report by the trade groups American Chemistry Council and Association of Plastic Recyclers estimated that plastic bottle recycling decreased 3.6 percent last year, dipping to 2.8 billion pounds in 2017. The decrease is partially due to … Continue reading
Distributing the VW settlement money
Good for some, less good for others. Texas cities will soon get millions of dollars to help clean up air quality, but Houston officials say the plan for distributing all that money isn’t fair. The money is coming from a … Continue reading