Texas’ biggest single solution to providing enough water for its soaring population in the coming decades is using more surface water, including about two dozen new large reservoirs. But climate change has made damming rivers a riskier bet.
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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Climate Change in Texas
EPA will center climate change response in Texas on sea level rise, floods, drought and severe storms
The federal agency plans to increase efforts to help states adapt to the effects of climate change most damaging to each region.
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Climate Change in Texas
Texas will build more than 50 new electric car charging locations along major highways
The $408 million approved Tuesday by the Federal Highway Administration will help build a network of charging facilities every 50-70 miles along certain major Texas highways.
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The 2022 Texas Tribune Festival
After cancer-causing chemicals were found in Fifth Ward soil, Houston mayor says cleanup plans are inadequate
The city’s health department found dioxins in soil samples along the fence line of a Union Pacific rail yard. Mayor Sylvester Turner said during the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival that plans to clean up the contamination should now include relocating residents.
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Environment
EPA may try to block what could be the first seawater desalination plant built in Texas
Citing water quality concerns, the Environmental Protection Agency may refuse to recognize a permit that Texas approved Thursday for a marine desalination plant at the Port of Corpus Christi.
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Climate Change in Texas
“It’s destroying me”: Storm after storm, climate change increases strain on Texans’ mental health
Tens of thousands of coastal Texas residents have survived repeated extreme weather events including Hurricane Harvey. For many, it has taken an emotional toll, and researchers warn that climate change could be “catastrophic” for our mental health.
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Energy
Texas regulators proposed cracking down on harmful plastic “nurdles” — and then changed their minds
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.
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Energy
EPA reverses course, rejects permit for massive oil exporting project offshore from Corpus Christi
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.
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Energy
Texas will plug 800 abandoned oil and gas wells, funded by $25 million federal infrastructure grant
The initial grant will allow Texas to plug a fraction of the state’s approximately 7,400 documented abandoned oil and gas wells.
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Environment
Flooding hits Dallas-Fort Worth as some areas receive more than 13 inches of rain
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.