Category Archives: ENVIRONMENT

#Thinkwing: Mon, 9/18/2017, 9PM @KPFTHouston 90.1FM. TOPICS: FEMA – What you need to know now and in the future. GUEST: PETER HERRICK, Jr. is communications specialist for FEMA [AUDIO/VIDEO]

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SHOW AUDIO: Link is usually posted within about 72 hours of show broadcast. We take callers during this show at 713-526-5738.

Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show  airing live every Monday night from 9-10 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My engineer is Bob Gartner.

Listen live on the radio or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)

Please take a moment to choose THINKWING RADIO from the drop-down list when you donate.Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show  airing live every Monday night from 9-10 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My engineer is Bob Gartner.

TOPICS:  SUPPORT KPFT!  FEMA: What you need to know now and in the future.

(Part 2 of the Flood Control discussion is now tentatively scheduled for September 25th)

GUEST:   PETER HERRICK, Jr. is communications specialist for FEMA in Washington, DC. Mr. Herrick is out front for the agency in times of disaster, serving as an Agency spokesman and the External Affairs Officer on a response team. </spanHe has responded to recent disasters such as the West Virginia chemical spill, Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Irene, and Tropical Storm Lee. He has also worked on high profile topics such as the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station biennial exercise and the 2015 Papal Visit.

For the purposes of this show, I operate on two mottoes:

  • You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts;
    Houston Mayor Annise Parker [L] with Mike, just before the show. (Dec. 14, 2015)

    Houston Mayor Annise Parker [L] with Mike, just before the show. (Dec. 7, 2015)

  • An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy.

SIGNOFF QUOTE[s]:

“Insurance is just another way of saying, ‘We’re all in this together.’” ~ Michael R Honig, 9/17/2017  

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🎊 The EPA’s Decision is a Tremendous Victory for San Jacinto River! 🎊 (TexansTogether.org)

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Texans Together‘s mission is to develop grassroots leaders in Texas and to engage and empower their communities.

 The EPA’s Decision is a Tremendous Victory for San Jacinto River!

On September 28th, there was a huge victory for the Highlands and the San Jacinto River communities when the EPA announced their decision to remove the waste from the San Jacinto River Waste Pits.

The Highlands area community residents have been struggling with toxic waste in the San Jacinto River for a long time. In 2010, Texans Together joined the fight with local residents who created the San Jacinto River Coalition (SJRC). From the start, we knew it was and was going to continue to be a long hard fight and it did not disappoint.

The SJRC’s main goal was to have the waste from the Superfund Site called the San Jacinto River Waste Pits removed from the river. The site was called “a loaded gun” pointed at the “most vulnerable of sites.” The polluting companies wanted to leave the waste in the river under an “Armored Cap.” Their studies showed it would be safer and, of course, cheaper.

Through the outreach efforts of the SJRC, it went from a few individuals in a parking lot educating the community to monthly packed community meetings.  The Environmental Protection Agency, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services, Media Organization, and other Environmental Groups have attended and presented at the meetings.

There were long days with volunteers speaking with seriously ill residents that were skeptical or outright hostile to their efforts. Canvassers told stories of skeptics recounting terrible illnesses that affected them and their neighbors, but denying there was a problem.  It had become normal for the community to see so many cases of illnesses, rare cancers, and diseases. They thought that was “just the way it was” and were hostile to people who might stir up trouble for them.

In 2010, Jackie Young began volunteering with the SJRC. After her and her family’s serious health problems, she began to research what was happening and it brought her to a degree in Environmental Geology and Texans Together.

As a volunteer, she told her story to the community and explained exactly how abnormal things really were.  In 2013, she was hired by Texans Together to lead the coalition.  She brought firsthand knowledge, passion, and a dedication to get justice for her community.

Jackie used her contacts in academia to get an independent study done of the site, and brought in an environmental activist, Lois Gibbs of Love Canal fame, to bring attention to the cause.  Jackie’s work was featured on Fox News, and Al Jazeera America, and in Texas Monthly, Houston Press and the Houston Chronicle.  She testified in front of the Harris County Commissioner’s Court, and the Texas Legislature.  She led the SJRC to work with public officials to petition for health studies, to bring a lawsuit against the companies responsible for the waste, and to remove the waste. The persistent effort of the community with Jackie’s leadership led to the SJRC moving to her new organization, Texas Health and Environmental Alliance (THEA).

For more information about this decisive victory for environmental justice follow this link: http://txhea.org/

Congratulations to the Highlands Community, Jackie Young, and dedicated volunteers in the SJRC. You made change happen!

If you are interested in volunteering or becoming a leader helping your community to become healthier, please contact Texans Together at 713-782-8833 or info@texanstogether.org

If you wish to donate to Texans Together, you can contribute here: (Donate)
Follow Us: @TexansTogether on Twitter or Like us on Facebook/TexansTogether.

Copyright © 2016 Texans Together Education Fund, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:

Texans Together Education Fund
P.O. Box 1296
Houston, TX 77251

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WaPo: “The messy political history of where we pee”, By Ana Swanson June 28, 2016

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Bathrooms: They’re more than just organically messy. They cause different societies no end of legal and social questions.

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By Ana Swanson June 28, 2016
(iStock)

Until recently, few Americans probably thought of peeing as political.

But in the last few years, the issue of which bathrooms transgender people ought to use has become a big political question. The most contested law has been North Carolina’s requirement that people use restrooms in government-run buildings that align with the gender on their birth certificate. But many other cities and states are considering ordinances that would restrict or expand people’s bathroom choices.

To some, this might seem like an odd realm for political discussion. If you look at history, however, you soon see that decisions about public bathrooms – and in particular, the women’s bathroom — have always been linked with controversial ideas about gender, race and class.

Harvey Molotch, a professor of sociology and metropolitan studies at New York University, took me through the contentious history of women’s bathrooms in a recent conversation. Molotch was the co-editor of the 2010 book “Toilet: The Public Restroom and the Politics of Sharing,” an anthology of papers by sociologists, anthropologists, architects, historians and others about the unfamiliar and dramatic history of the public restroom.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. [Click here to read]