Drilling overwhelms agency protecting America’s lands
The Bureau of Land Management is making it easier to produce oil and gas on federal acreage. In southeastern New Mexico, it can’t even keep up with what’s already happening. Full Story
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![A pump jack operates at sunrise just off Pecos Highway in Carlsbad, N.M., on May 24, 2018.]()
Credit: Robin Zielinski for the Center for Public Integrity -
They wish there were more jobs, but rural Texans are happy where they are, poll finds
Rural Texans like the places where they live — the environment, the pace, the lifestyle — but they'd like to have access to better jobs, a new poll finds. Full Story
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Austin lifts city-wide boil water notice
After seven days of boiling their water, Austin Water customers are once again allowed to consume water directly from the tap. Full Story
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![Austin's Ullrich water treatment plant off of Westlake Drive in west Austin on March 2, 2005.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Three candidates vie for slot on Texas' oil and gas regulatory agency
Railroad Commission Chairman Christi Craddick — a Republican whose relationship with the industry she regulates has been questioned — is seeking re-election to a second term. She faces challenges from Democrat Roman McAllen and Libertarian Mike Wright. Full Story
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![Fog in a low lying area where pumpjacks and powerlines populate the range along SW 5000 in Andrews County northeast of Kermit, Texas.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune -
We took young Texans’ questions straight to the candidates. Here’s what they said.
Find out where Texas midterm candidates stand on student debt, DACA, school gun violence and more. Full Story
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![Austin, Texas March 6, 2018: UT student Kathleen Douiken urges people to vote on the West Mall of the UT campus during lunchtime as students line up at the Flawn Academic Center to vote on Primary Day, 2018.]()
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After historic Texas flooding, officials will likely open more floodgates on Central Texas dam
After the wettest September in Texas history, multiple Central Texas reservoirs are completely full. That has forced officials to consider releasing a historic amount of water down the Colorado River. Full Story
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![Record rainfall in Llano and Burnet counties in the Texas Hill Country cause major flooding in Marble Falls on Oct. 16, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
How Washington unleashed fossil-fuel exports and sold out on climate
The Trump administration has its predecessor to thank when it comes to “energy dominance.” Full Story
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![The Trump White House has capitalized on fossil-fuel exports first made possible by the Obama administration. Energy Secretary Rick Perry is shown here on August 2, 2017 welcoming his predecessor, Ernest Moniz, during the unveiling of Moniz’s portrait.]()
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As oil and gas exports surge, West Texas becomes the world’s “extraction colony”
An unprecedented drilling boom in the Permian Basin is great for business. But it’s polluting the air, overwhelming communities and threatening the planet. Full Story
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![Pumpjacks at sunrise in the Permian Basin in West Texas.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune -
Army Corps set to propose hurricane protection plan for Houston
For years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has studied how best to protect Houston from deadly hurricane storm surge. It will announce which one it thinks is best later this month. Full Story
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Anti-nuclear waste tour kicks off in Houston
Organizers of the "Protect Texas from Radioactive Waste Tour" plan to travel to five Texas cities over the next week in protest of a proposed plan to store used nuclear materials in West Texas. Full Story
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![Modular concrete canisters containing nuclear waste are shown at the bottom of a storage pit near Andrews, Texas.]()
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As Hurricane Florence bears down on East Coast, Texas faces flooding from Gulf Coast disturbance
Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 78 counties Friday and instructed several agencies to increase preparedness as heavy rainfall, floods and gusty winds are expected across portions of the Texas coast this weekend. Full Story
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![A wide swath of Texas could experience flooding from a Gulf Coast disturbance this weekend.]()
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Report: Texas' lax cleanup rules for polluted sites endanger human health, environment
A forthcoming report by the Texas Campaign for the Environment Fund says the standards Texas uses to determine how much — and whether — to clean up abandoned industrial facilities and other contaminated sites are 'significantly weaker' than those of neighboring states and the federal government, in part because it tolerates a higher cancer risk. Full Story
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![The San Jacinto River Waste Pits, an EPA Superfund site that is contaminated with dioxins, is located off Interstate 10 east of Houston.]()
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Report from environmental group warns of bacteria risk at Texas beaches, rivers
The report claims fecal bacteria at Texas beaches, rivers and lakes frequently reached unsafe levels in 2017. Full Story
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![For years, the Legislature has been stockpiling hundreds of millions of dollars meant for Texas’ parks in order to artificially balance the budget. That practice may not end completely with the passage of House Bill 158 — but it’s certainly been scaled down, at least for the next few years. The beach at Galveston Island State Park suffered a lot of damage during Hurricane Ike, and the state estimates it will cost $6.5 million to complete needed beachside redevelopment.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato -
Hurricane Harvey becomes focal point in Houston-area races for Congress
Democrats on the ballot in communities hit hardest by Harvey argue that Republicans in office haven't done enough to prepare Texas for the next major hurricane. Full Story
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![Jeremy Boutor removes personal items on an air mattress from his home in a neighborhood along Eldridge Parkway, flooded by waters released from Addicks Reservoir on Aug. 30, 2017, adding to from Hurricane Harvey.]()
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Harris County voters pass historic $2.5 billion for flood control
Harris County voters overwhelmingly approved a bond measure that would finance an array of flood control projects in the Houston area. Saturday's vote came on the first anniversary of Hurricane Harvey, which brought one of the worst urban floods in U.S. history to the Houston region. Full Story
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No place back home: A year after Harvey, Rockport can't house all its displaced residents
After sustaining a direct hit from the hurricane, this beach town lost roughly 20 percent of its population. Local officials hope they can convince the displaced to return home despite the risks of coastal life in the era of climate change. Full Story
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![The Texas General Land Office awarded $1.5 million to help rebuild the ruined Oak Harbor apartments, one of the town's few affordable housing options.]()
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Trump unveils major rollback of Obama's Clean Power Plan
Texas' Republican leadership cheered the announcement of the so-called Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule, which will give states broad authority in determining how to regulate pollution from coal-fired power plants. Along with coal-friendly West Virginia, Texas led a coalition of about two dozen states that sued over the rule's predecessor, calling it federal overreach. Full Story
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![The Big Brown power plant in Fairfield, Texas]()
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She's tasked with emergency planning at the Port of Corpus Christi. A year after Harvey, her community continues to rebuild.
While Danielle Hale managed the emergency operations center at the Port of Corpus Christi during Hurricane Harvey, her family evacuated their Rockport home. A year later, she and her family continue to help Rockport rebuild, while the port continues to fine-tune its emergency preparedness plans. Full Story
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![Danielle Hale and her son, Conner, 8 help friends rebuild their home damaged by Hurricane Harvey, on August 11, 2018.]()
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"Mother Nature is very resilient": A year after Hurricane Harvey, coastal ecosystems are thriving
Harvey may have ravaged the coast, but the storm is proof of the adaptability of nature, scientists say. Full Story
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![The Nueces River near Corpus Christi and the Gulf of Mexico.]()
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Texas releases plan for how more than $209 million from Volkswagen settlement will be spent
The state sued Volkswagen in 2016 after the German automaker admitted to using software that allowed its vehicles to circumvent emissions limits. Full Story
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![A U.S. flag flutters in the wind above a Volkswagen dealership in Carlsbad, California, U.S. May 2, 2016.]()
Credit: REUTERS/Mike Blake
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