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| Houston Environmental Foresight |
The Foresight Committee's first goal was to reach consensus on defining and ranking environmental risks facing the Houston region. The Houston Region Environmental Ranking summarizes the findings of the Foresight Committee.
The Foresight Committee reached consensus (defined as "I may not like it, but I can live with it") on Seeking Environmental Improvement ( 1.47 MB) after extensive discussion and study of reports from the three subpanels. "Risk analysis" served as a starting point for prioritizing these issues based on successful efforts elsewhere in the country at the national, state and local levels. The three science subpanels used defined criteria and methods for analysis as described in Houston Environment 1995 ( 2.65 MB).
The highest ranked areas are those for which the foresight Committee believes the most room for improvement remains. Lower ranked areas are either addressed well by current efforts or are not currently found in the Houston region.
A difficult problem in ranking regional concerns is that environmental risks occur at different levels some are very localized affecting particular areas or populations; some affect much of the population or most of an ecosystem. To help clarify the rankings by the Foresight Committee, the rankings are grouped according to the following categories:
- Regional Concerns - Generally affect people throughout the region
- Community Concerns - Usually affect people in specific groups or communities or are more site specific than regional risks
- Global Concerns - Generally affect people or environmental systems at a more global scale, although there may be strong regional or local interest
- Natural Systems Concerns - Generally focused on concerns affecting ecosystems, economic well-being, or quality of life
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Regional |
Community |
Global |
Natural Systems |
| Highest |
Outdoor Air Pollution |
Indoor Contamination
Parks and Undeveloped Areas |
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Habitat Alteration and Loss |
| High |
Hazardous Material and Waste
Water Pollution
Flooding |
Lead in Homes and Soil
Contaminated and Abandoned Sites |
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| Medium |
Solid Waste |
Community Aesthetics
Food Supply Quality |
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Water Supply
Introduced Species |
| Low |
Drinking Water Quality |
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Global Climate Change |
Biological Management |
| Least |
Radiation |
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Ozone Layer Thinning |
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Additional information about these items can be found in the report Seeking Environmental Improvement ( 1.47 MB).
- This ranking is a consensus of the Foresight Committee.
- Within categories (e.g., Highest), concerns are considered roughly equivelant.
- The 19 concerns were selected by the Foresight Committee to include all environmental risks.
- The ranking reflects impacts to the Houston region and does not include effects elsewhere.
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| Page Updated/Reviewed: 01/02/2007 12:55 PM |
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