The bill would invest billions into issues acutely impacting Texas, including climate change and health care, and is the result of months of intraparty fighting between moderates and progressives.
Climate Change in Texas
As Texans confront rising temperatures, declining water supplies, increasingly severe weather events, sea level rise and more, follow The Texas Tribune’s coverage as we investigate what climate change means for the state’s residents, how cities and communities are adapting, and the politics and policies that will accelerate — or block — climate solutions.
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Climate Change in Texas
An oil company is seeking property tax breaks to finance its plans to remove carbon dioxide from Texas skies
Occidental’s tax break applications include new details about its carbon removal plans, which some experts see as important to countering climate change. Some environmentalists say the technology is unproven, expensive and only marginally useful at best.
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Climate Change in Texas
Texas Democrats in Congress balance climate concerns and fossil fuel constituencies as they consider landmark bill
The handful of Texas Democrats who have a penchant for defending the state’s oil and gas industry includes members of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee and representatives from some of the top oil producing, refining and transporting regions of the state.
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Climate Change in Texas
EPA says it is looking for “super-emitters” of methane gas in Texas’ Permian Basin
The federal environment agency says it will continue flyovers of the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico until Aug. 15 using infrared cameras to survey oil and gas operations.
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Climate Change in Texas
“A perfect storm”: Drought, extreme heat and two faulty wells threaten a North Texas town’s water supply
“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.
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Climate Change in Texas
U.S. Senate approves bill containing Texas’ “Ike Dike” coastal protection project
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.
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Homeless in Texas
Homeless Texans left with few places to cool off during record heat
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.
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Climate Change in Texas
Smog levels in Texas surge during heat wave, bringing worst summer air quality in a decade
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.
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Climate Change in Texas
U.S. Supreme Court ruling limits EPA’s authority in regulating greenhouse gases
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.
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Climate Change in Texas
West Texas farmers and ranchers fear the worst as drought, heat near 2011 records
2011 was the driest year on record for Texas, causing an estimated cost of $7.62 billion in crop and livestock losses. A dry and hot June has many sounding alarm bells about 2022.