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. Full Story
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![Production units are seen in operation at Marathon Petroleum’s Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, U.S., May 15, 2023.]()
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How Texas is playing a major role in the race to develop clean energy technologies
The federal government is pouring billions of dollars into developing clean power sources. In this conversation hosted by The Texas Tribune in Houston, panelists discussed how Texas companies are playing a major role in emerging technologies like hydrogen and geothermal. Full Story
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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. Full Story
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![DALLAS, TX - JANUARY 30, 2024: Jamie Morgan, 35, aquatic biologist at Jacobs Solutions, (left) sets up a gillnet with employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at Fish Trap Lake Park in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. The city of Dallas and local community leaders partnered with the EPA on the Cumulative Impacts Assessment Pilots Project, which focuses on the cumulative impacts from concrete batch plants. CREDIT: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Desiree Rios for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ oil and gas production surges even as federal government clamps down on environmental regulations
Crude oil and natural gas extraction in Texas reached record levels in 2023, according to the industry’s annual report. Full Story
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![A Diamondback Energy engineer walks around the base of a drilling rig Friday, Sept. 15, 2023 in Martin County.]()
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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. Full Story
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![A house in the Hillcrest neighborhood in Corpus on Feb. 7, 2022. Houses in this neighborhood have co-existed with oil refineries like Flint Hills for decades.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Texas could swap land in Boca Chica State Park with SpaceX
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission is scheduled to vote in March on a deal that environmental advocates, the Esto'k Gna Tribal Nation of Texas and local officials oppose. Full Story
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![SpaceX rockets at the launch pad at the Brownsville facility on Oct. 20, 2021. On Oct. 22, Elon Musk said via Twitter the Starship rocket would be ready for an orbital launch by next month.]()
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Another hot, dry summer may push water supplies in parts of Texas to the brink
Some areas are starting the year with low water reserves. Forecasters don’t expect substantial relief from the weather. Full Story
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![Stagnant water is seen at the dry spillway of the Falcon Dam in Starr County on Aug. 18, 2022. Assistant Area Operations Manager at the Falcon dam Jesus Guerra says water has not flowed through the spillway since last year because water levels are below the dam gates.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
Texans asked to conserve energy as demand was expected to put strain on electric grid
Public Utility Commission said conservation would help lower demand during peak times and help avoid emergency conditions. Full Story
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![Reliability Coordinators monitored the state power grid during a tour of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) command center in Taylor in 2012.]()
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“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. Full Story
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![Donald Green's stepson Jerry Barker spreads Green's and Green's dog's ashes, at the backyard of Green's old home in Freeport during a celebration of life, on Dec. 16, 2023.]()
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Last year was the hottest ever recorded in Texas
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data shows that average temperatures in 2023 were 3.5 degrees above the 20th century average. Full Story
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![Austin-Travis County EMS first responders cart Robert Shipp, 75, of Bastrop, to an ambulance during a 102 degree summer day outside Austin Wrench A Part in Del Valle on July 7, 2023. According to the EMS crew and Shipp, he was seen passing out while searching for car parts under the hot sun, and hadn’t eaten any food or drank any water all day.]()
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Texas regulators limit oil and gas disposal wells in bid to reduce earthquakes in West Texas
Injecting saltwater back into the ground “is likely contributing to recent seismic activity,” the Railroad Commission of Texas has said. Full Story
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![A produced water tank sits as part of a tank battery at an injection well site Monday, Jan. 31, 2022 outside of Odessa. The injection facility is located less than two miles from a new suburban development north of Odessa.]()
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Midland settles with company to drill wastewater wells near the city’s drinking water supply
The city initially protested Pilot’s applications to drill the wells close to its water supply. Full Story
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![A water tower at the Midland International Air & Space Port on Jan. 28, 2022.]()
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How Texas polluters classify big facilities as smaller ones to avoid stricter environmental rules and public input
Industrial developers describe large facilities as “minor” polluters to avoid federal permitting requirements, and environmental lawyers say the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality lets it happen. Full Story
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![The GAF roofing shingles factory in West Dallas on Dec. 13. The factory reclassified itself as minor and averted public participation requirements in 2022.]()
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This West Texas town has a lot of money in the bank. Why can't it pick up its trash?
Like local leaders in many other towns in West Texas, the Kermit City Council spent years saving its tax revenue fearing the energy economy would crash. Now it is struggling to keep up with essential services like trash and road repair. Full Story
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![Texas Department of Public Safety contractors pave the intersection of Austin Street and Pine Street Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023 in Kermit. The intersection, according to the mayor of Kermit, David Holbrook, is one of the busiest in town with a large majority of the traffic consisting of 18-wheelers hauling sand for the oilfields.]()
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Vouchers, border security, abortion: The issues you heard about in 2023 will continue to be hotly debated in 2024
After nearly a year’s worth of legislative sessions, several issues are poised to dominate Texas politics this year. Here’s a look at how things ended on several fronts last year — and where they’re headed next. Full Story
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![The Texas Capitol in Austin on Oct. 19, 2021.]()
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Here are the top stories from our data visuals team in 2023
The Texas Tribune’s data visuals team helped contextualize many of the state’s major stories this year. Here’s a look at some of our most memorable work. Full Story
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Texans grapple with numerous challenges, yet many are actively seeking solutions
Across the state, people are looking for ways to make Texas a better place to live as they tackle hunger, rural “brain drain,” health care obstacles and other impediments. Full Story
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![Volunteers prepare fresh vegetables donated by the Dewey Prairie Garden for distribution at the Lord’s Pantry of Leon County in Buffalo, Texas, on June 29, 2023.]()
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Looking back at some of the best Texas Tribune reads of 2023
Our journalists brought life to the experiences of everyday Texans, held powerful institutions accountable and surfaced stories that went beyond the daily news cycles. Full Story
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Worried about safety, a small West Texas town challenges planned cross-border pipeline
Critics are calling on federal regulators to increase their scrutiny and oversight of the proposed pipeline, which would send gas from Texas to the Mexican coast for export to other countries. Full Story
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![The skyline of Van Horn, Texas, where residents are raising concerns about a proposed natural gas pipeline.]()
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How Texans can prepare for extreme weather
Natural disasters — including winter storms, hurricanes, extreme heat, wildfires and droughts — can happen at any time. Preparation is key to staying safe during an emergency. Full Story
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![A police vehicle is partially submerged as Tropical Depression Imelda causes widespread flooding near Beaumont, TX. Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019.Bmt Flooding 8426]()
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