Public data from a network of state air monitors around the Houston Ship Channel is hard to interpret and is often inadequate, leaving Latino-majority neighborhoods like Cloverleaf unaware of whether the air they breathe is safe.
Alejandra Martinez
Alejandra Martinez is a Fort Worth-based environmental reporter. She’s covered the impacts of petrochemical facilities on Black and brown communities, including investigating a chemical fire at an industrial complex and how the state's air monitoring system has failed Latino communities. Her work on climate change includes exploring the health effects of extreme heat and how extended droughts affect water resources. Before joining the Tribune in 2022, Alejandra was an accountability reporter at KERA, where she began as a Report for America Corps Member and then covered Dallas City Hall. She also has worked as an associate producer at WLRN in South Florida. A Houston native, Alejandra studied journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and speaks fluent Spanish.
Posted in
Energy
Expuestos y en el olvido: El aire tóxico en una comunidad latina de Texas revela los fallos del sistema estatal de control de calidad del aire
Los datos públicos de una red de monitores de la calidad del aire alrededor del Canal de Navegación de Houston son difíciles de interpretar y a menudo son insuficientes, dejando a vecindarios de mayoría latina, como Cloverleaf, sin saber si el aire que respiran es seguro.
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2024 Texas Elections
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred wins Democratic primary to face Sen. Ted Cruz in November
Allred bested state Sen. Roland Gutierrez in a crowded pool of Democrats.
Posted in
Environment
Texas greenlights negotiations with SpaceX for Boca Chica State Park land exchange
Monday’s vote lets Texas Parks and Wildlife staff begin negotiations to swap 43 acres in the park for 477 acres next to a federal wildlife refuge.
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Panhandle Wildfires
Wildfires ravage cattle country, threatening Texas’ agriculture economy
Texas wildfires have consumed acres of agricultural land, killing thousands of livestock, destroying crops and exacerbating challenges lingering from last year’s drought.
Posted in
Panhandle Wildfires
Texans in the Panhandle recall towering smoke and darkened skies as wildfires crept near their towns
The fires have left at least two people dead and four injured firefighters. Cattle have been lost and homes and businesses decimated in their wake.
Posted in
Environment
The EPA sets tougher national soot standards. These 10 Texas counties already exceed them.
Some environmental experts are skeptical that Texas can meet the new rules on particulate matter, which can cause serious respiratory problems.
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Environment
In Dallas, EPA casts a net for answers on how pollution from concrete batch plants affects people’s health
EPA scientists went fishing to begin a study of how pollution from a group of concrete batch plants impacts human health.
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Graphics and data reporting
Texas companies reported releasing 1 million pounds of excess pollution during recent cold snap
Called “upset” events, companies are required to tell the state when they emit pollution above what their permits allow.
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Environment
“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.
