Nearly 500 water utilities across the state tested positive for atrazine — a weed killer — which can lead to harmful health effects, according to a new report. The Environmental Working Group also found that utilities are testing water during times when the herbicide isn’t being used as much — and that they may be lowballing the results.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
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Environment
Reef restoration projects aim to bolster Texas’ record-low oyster population
The Nature Conservancy plans to use settlement money from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to construct new oyster reefs in Galveston and Copano bays.
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Blowout: Inside America's energy gamble
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.
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Environment
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.
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Environment
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.
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Texas Elections 2018
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.
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Texas Elections 2018
We took young Texans’ questions to the candidates. Here’s what they said.
Find out where Texas midterm candidates stand on student debt, DACA, school gun violence and more.
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Environment
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.
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Blowout: Inside America's energy gamble
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.”
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Blowout: Inside America's energy gamble
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.