The Bois d’Arc Creek Reservoir was recently approved for its second $500 million loan as the project nears the beginning of construction in North Texas. The dam and accompanying man-made lake will be Texas’ first new major reservoir in almost two decades.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
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Environment
Federal judge rules Trump administration can continue building border wall
U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who President Donald Trump once asserted could not be fair to him because of Curiel’s Mexican heritage, has ruled in favor of the White House in a lawsuit over construction of a border wall.
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In Harvey's Wake
Abbott and FEMA are using Harvey to reinvent disaster response. Some say that makes displaced Texans “guinea pigs.”
In the six months since state and federal officials decided to use the biggest housing recovery in modern history to rewrite the nation’s disaster playbook, neighborly networks and organized charity have buoyed disheartened Texans on the coast.
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University of Texas/Texas Tribune Polls
UT/TT Poll: Texas voters’ view of federal response to Hurricane Harvey slips
Texas voters’ approval toward the federal government’s response to Hurricane Harvey fell since we last checked in October, from 57 percent to 48 percent, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.
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Energy
Audit: Company behind Texas “clean coal” project used federal funds for liquor, limousines and lobbying
The U.S. Department of Energy’s inspector general says that a now-bankrupt company behind a defunct West Texas “clean coal” power plant spent more than $1.3 million in federal stimulus funds on things like spa service, alcohol, first-class travel and limousine services.
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Environment
T-Squared: Parting ways with Folo Media
Though Folo Media is suspending its operations, Texas Tribune reporter Morgan Smith will forge ahead solo, covering poverty and inequity across Texas with a special focus on her home city of San Antonio.
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Environment
National Weather Service, AccuWeather trade blame for false tsunami warning that alarmed Texans
Just weeks after false reports of a nuclear missile terrified Hawaiians, an erroneous tsunami warning was sent to individuals in Texas and along the East Coast.
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Environment
Study: Deadly Wimberley floods rooted in weather patterns, intensified by development
Researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio have found that development along the Blanco River intensified the impact of a 40-foot wall of water that gushed down the waterway on Memorial Day weekend 2015.
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Energy
White House to withdraw controversial nominee to head Council on Environmental Quality
Kathleen Hartnett White, who once headed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, may no longer be in line to serve as a top White House environmental official.
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In Harvey's Wake
In Houston, thousands of Harvey victims still waiting for aid to repair their homes
The Tribune teamed up with PBS NewsHour to tell the story of one Houston family trying to make their flood-damaged home livable again while they wait for federal aid that’s been too slow to arrive.