Public Utility Commission chair Peter Lake had spearheaded a plan to help the state’s power grid withstand weather disasters, but the plan lacked support in the Texas Legislature.
Erin Douglas
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.
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2023 Session Recap
Climate proposals withered at the Texas Capitol this year
Proposals to improve energy efficiency failed. Bills that sought to limit greenhouse gas emissions in Texas were ignored, and legislation to block cities from taking action on climate change passed.
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2023 Session Recap
Texas lawmakers allocated more than $2 billion to increase the state’s water supply and reduce flooding
Texans across the state are affected by declining water supplies, water infrastructure disruptions and flooding in their communities.
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Texas Legislature 2023
After historic drought, lawmakers agree on billion-dollar plan to expand water supplies, fix infrastructure
Following one of the hottest summers on record, lawmakers have set an ambitious target: By 2033, they want to bump up the state’s water supply by an amount equal to three of the largest reservoirs in the state.
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Ken Paxton Impeachment
God, money and Dairy Queen: How Texas House investigators secured the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton
The long list of accusations were outlined as part of 20 charges of impeachment adopted by the Texas House.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas Republicans want to shield oil and gas from federal climate regulations. Their bill would have little impact, experts say.
The bill would direct Texas agencies to not enforce federal regulations on the oil industry if there’s not a similar state regulation. But it likely wouldn’t apply to most federal environmental rules, experts and lawmakers said.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas lawmakers consider spending $1 billion for flood prevention and Galveston’s “Ike Dike”
The coastal barrier project may get $550 million from the state this year, and another half a billion could be on the table for flood-control projects. But that’s a fraction of the estimated need for flood mitigation.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Bill to give companies low-interest loans to build more gas-fired power plants is approved by House committee
The bill marks the Legislature’s turn toward supporting natural gas-fueled electricity after the deadly winter storm in 2021.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Rural Texas landowners who lost water access due to San Antonio pipeline could soon get relief
Groundwater levels rapidly declined in rural Lee County after San Antonio began pumping the water and moving it 100 miles southwest. A Senate bill would help affected well owners.
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Texas Legislature 2023
House advances bill that could provide billions of dollars for new water projects and fixing aging infrastructure
The bill aims to create a water supply four times the size of Lake Livingston, one of the state’s largest reservoirs. But it may still be a “drop in the bucket” compared to the state’s needs.