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Erin Douglas is the climate reporter for The Texas Tribune. She 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. Based in Austin, Erin is always planning her next road trip.
The Texas coast is a hot spot for “nurdle” pollution, tiny plastic pellets created in the process of producing everyday products. But a plan to require proactive prevention of their release has been scrapped. Full Story
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During the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency exempted a proposed oil export terminal off the Texas coast from air pollution requirements. This week it rejected the permit because of pollution concerns. Full Story
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The initial grant will allow Texas to plug a fraction of the state’s approximately 7,400 documented abandoned oil and gas wells. Full Story
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Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins declared a state of disaster in the region, and Gov. Greg Abbott directed the state’s emergency operations center to be ready to support communities impacted by the flooding. Full Story
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“We’re on the brink. We’re teetering. It’s a balancing act. It’s a 50/50 proposition,” said Gunter City Manager Rick Chaffin. Full Story
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The U.S. Senate voted to authorize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin planning for a massive coastal barrier project in Galveston Bay meant to protect against hurricanes’ storm surge. Funding is not yet secured. Full Story
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Heat-related emergency calls have spiked amid historic heat. Cooling centers are available in major cities but often close in the late afternoon — during the hottest parts of the day. Full Story
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Emissions are reacting with the summer heat to create high levels of smog, hazardous air pollution that damages the lungs. But state officials are pushing back on ozone pollution controls proposed by the EPA, arguing such rules would compromise the electric grid. Full Story
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Because the state is a party in Attorney General Ken Paxton’s cases against the companies, Volkswagen lawyers have argued that allowing the Texas governor to appoint justices to a case for which the state stands to win a substantial amount of money would give “the impression that the State has had undue influence.” Full Story
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The high court said a cap on power plants’ carbon dioxide emissions that forces a transition to other fuels may be a “sensible” solution to the climate crisis, but that Congress did not give the Environmental Protection Agency the broad authority to make such requirements. Texas was one of 17 states that joined in the suit. Full Story
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