Federal limits on particulate matter commonly known as soot could mean cleaner, safer air for Texans. But environmental experts worry Texas may snub rules.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
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Texas Legislature 2023
Texas Senate takes first step toward establishing billions for state’s water supply, infrastructure
Voters would have the final say on whether the state sets aside billions of dollars to acquire new water sources and invest in aging infrastructure.
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Energy
Touring North Texas’ Barnett Shale, EPA officials promise to pay more attention to the area
The agency’s regional administrator toured the area with the head of a local nonprofit, who complained that when “severe emissions” from gas wells and tanks make people sick, “there are no real remedies.”
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Texas Legislature 2023
Lawmakers propose energy bill relief for Texans with $4 billion legislation
The allocation is part of a plan to add $12 billion to the current budget. It hasn’t been approved yet by the House.
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Environment
How a fading West Texas town has gone four years without safe drinking water
Some Toyah residents say state regulators at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality were “negligent” and want to know what took so long. The Texas attorney general has filed a lawsuit.
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Environment
Shuttered Fairfield Lake State Park will reopen temporarily starting Tuesday
State officials plan to offer free day access to the property as they consider how to acquire the land before its sale.
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Energy
Landowners fear injection of fracking waste threatens West Texas aquifers
Operators pump a sea of “produced water” underground for disposal. Intensifying tremors raise fears that the deep toxic waste pits could intermingle with water used for farming and drinking.
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Climate Change in Texas
Texas heat-related deaths reached a two-decade high in 2022 amid extreme temperatures
A Texas Tribune analysis of state data found that at least 279 people in Texas were killed by heat last year, and a large portion of those deaths were likely migrants who died after crossing the border.
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Environment
Here comes the haboob: Texas High Plains getting walloped by dust storms
High Plains residents are used to wind and dust, but an ongoing drought and recent tropical-storm-level winds have brought some epic dust storms.
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Environment
A Texas park on leased land near Dallas must close because the state’s landlord is selling the property to a developer
After investing $72 million in improvements at Fairfield Lake State Park over three decades, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is out. The state has 120 days to vacate the property.