“I don’t wish this on anyone”: Two families mourn their losses after a record year for Texas heat deaths
More than 300 Texans died from heat in 2023, the most since the state began tracking such deaths in 1989. Full Story
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Erin Douglas
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Erin Douglas was the climate reporter for The Texas Tribune from 2020 through 2023 where she covered the impacts of climate change, including extreme heat, drought and hurricanes. She reported on the toll flooding takes on mental health, investigated a chemical fire at an industrial facility, and covered the collapse of Texas’ power grid that led to widespread blackouts across the state. Her coverage of the Texas blackouts in 2021 was recognized by the Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. Erin was previously a business and economy reporter at the Houston Chronicle where she covered labor, energy and the environment. She studied journalism and economics at Colorado State University, and her first newsroom job was interning at The Denver Post, her hometown newspaper.
Past Contributions
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![Donald Green's stepson Jerry Barker spreads Green's and Green's dog's ashes, at the backyard of Green's old home in Freeport during a celebration of life, on Dec. 16, 2023.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Texas will have to cut methane emissions from oil fields under new federal climate rule
The Biden Administration announced a crackdown on methane emissions, a major driver of climate change. Major oil and gas companies also signed on to a voluntary net-zero commitment. Full Story
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![A gas flare in the Eagle Ford oil patch south of San Antonio, TX.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Climate change, costly disasters sent Texas homeowner insurance rates skyrocketing this year
Texas rates have increased 22% on average so far in 2023, twice the national rate. More billion-dollar disasters have occurred in Texas this year than any other year on record. Full Story
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![A family watches from their door as people assess damage after a tornado moved through Round Rock on March 21, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Texas board rejects many science textbooks over climate change messaging
The Republican-controlled Texas State Board of Education this week rejected most of the proposed textbooks that include climate science for eighth grade students. Five of 12 were approved. Full Story
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![Students walk between classes at Chapa Middle School in Kyle on August 24, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Another large earthquake shows seismic activity continues to increase in West Texas, experts say
The 5.2 magnitude earthquake is tied for the fourth strongest in Texas history. It occurred in an area where oilfield companies have long been injecting wastewater from fracking underground. Full Story
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![An injection well site just outside of Odessa, on Jan. 31, 2022.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas could spend federal funds meant to cut carbon emissions on highway projects
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act required Texas’ transportation agency to create a carbon reduction strategy to get $641 million federal dollars. Critics say the plan is unlikely to meaningfully cut greenhouse gasses from the state’s massive transportation sector. Full Story
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![Rush hour traffic passes by on Interstate 35 through downtown Austin on the evening of Sept. 7, 2023.]()
Credit: Julius Shieh/The Texas Tribune -
Texas economy slows as summers get hotter, Dallas Fed economists say
The summer heat may have cost the state’s economy $24 billion this year, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas economists, who add that Texas is twice as vulnerable to heat-related economic slowdowns than the rest of the country. Full Story
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![A Metro bus reads “Come in cool off!” as it drives south on Guadalupe Street in Austin on July 22, 2022.]()
Credit: Kylie Cooper/The Texas Tribune -
Biden administration presses forward with border wall plans in Texas, angering allies
Even as the president says the barriers don’t work, his administration says it will waive environmental laws to build them quickly. Full Story
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Oilfield companies helped to craft Texas’ new waste rules for 2 years before the public got to see them
The effort to update the state’s oilfield waste disposal rules was initiated by Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright, one of the state’s top oil and gas regulators who has investments in the industry. Full Story
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![Christi Craddick, Commissioner of the Texas Railroad Commission, Chairman Wayne Christian, and Commissioner Jim Wright listen during an RRC hearing in the William B. Travis Building in Austin on Nov. 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Dimitri Staszewski for The Texas Tribune -
No water, roads or emergency services: How climate change left a rural neighborhood nearly uninhabitable
In Liberty County, one neighborhood has been slowly abandoned as years of flooding and intense rains prompted a spiral of decline. A struggling buyout program shows the complexities and limitations of “managed retreat” from disaster-prone areas. Full Story
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![Fred Boyum stands outside of his home at the entrance of Sam Houston Lake Estates on August 22, 2023. Boyum helps fellow neighbors transport necessities like food and water to their homes when the roads are bad.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune
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