The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.
Galveston is still recovering from Hurricane Ike in 2008. Dilapidated homes and empty lots dot the streets. Nearly six years after the storm, though, lawmakers continue to grapple with preparation for the next big one. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/06/17/Ike-House-TWIA.jpg)
A proposal by the federal government would place stricter limits on emissions from petrochemical and other industrial plants. An EPA hearing this week in the Houston area reflected the heated debate over balancing economic growth with air quality concerns. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Oil-Refinery.jpg)
A committee of Texas lawmakers met Tuesday to discuss possible legislation aimed at preventing another disaster like last year’s explosion in West — with some still skeptical of imposing regulations on fertilizer storage facilities. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/04/18/West-TX-1.jpg)
SpaceX on Monday chose to place its first commercial launch complex on Boca Chica beach near Brownsville. The announcement solidified Texas' leading position in the country's space program even as it transitions to one with greater opportunities for private companies. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/421591e1149f0abdff499e79c4b87d71/BD%20Inc%20Space%20X%20602%202012)
A new report raises fresh doubts about a key witness instrumental in securing the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham. This new evidence forces again the question as to whether Texas executed an innocent man. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/08/04/CTWCollage_copy.jpg)
At a public hearing near Houston this week, the federal Environmental Protection Agency will hear from residents who live near refineries and from the industry in hopes of determining how much more needs to be done to curb toxic emissions. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Refinery.jpg)
Algal blooms like the one that caused a water crisis in Ohio's fourth-largest city this weekend are possible in Texas. But no state requires treatment plants to test their water for the toxins, which can be lethal. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/08/04/CyanobacteriaLamiot2009_07_26_TTCROP3.jpg)
Landowners and pipeline companies are closely scrutinizing proposed rules aimed at clearing up confusion over a status that gives pipeline companies the right to claim private property using eminent domain. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/07/30/TexTrib-PIPELINES-003.jpg)
Ted Cruz has become the latest D.C.-based practitioner of the Pottery Barn rule: He broke the border bill, and now, possibly more than any other single person, he owns it. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/06/06/CruzFriRPT311CMS.jpg)
In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: A Robert Redford-narrated documentary on a pulse flow out West, tracking water thieves at Lake Travis and an interview with Jim Blackburn of Blackburn Carter PC. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/08/Tribwater.jpg)
Drought-stricken Wichita Falls is trying a bold experiment to address one of Texas' most vexing water problems. It consists of four guys, a motorboat and thousands of pounds of a white powder that suppresses evaporation. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/07/29/WaterAdditives.jpg)
Top officials at the Texas National Guard and the Department of Public Safety on Tuesday told a select House committee looking at the costs of the ongoing border operation that they did not request Guard troops. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/07/21/Nichols1.jpg)
While an aversion to climate science persists in much of conservative, Republican-led Texas, Austin is looking to prepare for what scientists say are the inevitable consequences of climate change. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/07/25/TXT-Substation-CCR009.jpg)
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bob Ray Sanders is pushing back against one major tenet of the conventional wisdom surrounding the race for governor: Wendy Davis needs to maintain a healthy separation between her and President Obama. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/07/12/TXTDavisCanvas-CCR002.jpg)
A North Texas town's effort to ban hydraulic fracturing may prompt an unprecedented showdown between two powerful rights: a city's authority to shape development and mineral owners' right to tap their resources. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/07/24/FrackingDenton00002.jpg)
Can those National Guard troops being sent to the border arrest people? The latest word is they can. And the reason why is that Rick Perry sent them, and not the federal government. Full Story
Several public drinking water systems in Texas have quality issues that have not been adequately addressed, the Environmental Protection Agency told the state in recent correspondence obtained by the Tribune. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/07/22/WaterPurifier.jpg)
Story lines continue to spin out from Gov. Rick Perry's Monday announcement that he was activating up to 1,000 National Guard troops to back up existing DPS border operations. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/07/21/McCraw1DPScms.jpg)
Compared with other states, Texas performs far fewer comprehensive inspections of polluting facilities, according to a database run by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. But Texas officials call the database misleading. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Houston-flue-gas-scrubber01.jpg)
Several thwarted legislative proposals to overhaul the Texas Railroad Commission — the state's curiously named oil and gas regulator — have resurfaced in the race for an open seat on the commission. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/07/21/SteveBrown_RyanSitton.jpg)