The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to investigate allegations that the state is failing to enforce the Clean Water Act. Environmentalists say the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s system of issuing permits has made it too easy for industries to contaminate rivers, lakes and estuaries.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
Energy
Company that wants to build oilfield dump in East Texas gave $53,750 in campaign donations to regulators
McBride Operating LLC and its owner, Joseph McBride, contributed to the political campaigns of the three commissioners on the Texas Railroad Commission now considering his request.
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Economy
Texans urged to avoid travel in icy weather; power grid is expected to meet demand
School closures and hazardous road conditions are expected throughout a large portion of Texas, according to forecasts. State officials caution Texans about local power outages but expect the grid to stay up.
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Energy
In East Texas, a town fights to keep an oilfield waste dump from opening near wetlands and water wells
The Texas Railroad Commission has rejected the proposal twice over water contamination concerns, but locals are dismayed that the commissioners keep giving the developer more chances to alter its application.
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Environment
Texas environmentalists push the EPA to crack down on methane emissions, saying state agencies have “failed us”
Commenting on the EPA’s proposed new rule to reduce methane leaks nationally, environmentalists said Texas regulators are hesitant to address emissions of the climate super-pollutant.
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Demographics
“Who ever thought I would be chief?” Texas’ Alabama-Coushatta tribe elects first female chief
Millie Thompson Williams was elected the tribe’s first female second chief, a lifetime appointment, last year. For the first time, her accession comes as women make up the majority of the tribe’s council.
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Environment
Environmentalists push for tougher oil and gas restrictions to protect rare whale in Gulf of Mexico
Environmental scientists say Rice’s whale, discovered in 2021, faces extinction unless the federal government sets tougher restrictions on oil and gas activities in the gulf.
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Texas Legislature 2023
A new bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers wants to highlight the state’s fragile water infrastructure
So far there has been an average of six boil-water notices a day across Texas in 2023.
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Energy
EPA moves away from Permian Basin air pollution crackdown
The oil industry pushed hard against the proposal to issue an ozone nonattainment designation, which would have required that companies reduce oilfield emissions.
Posted in
Economy
Farmers face a higher risk of suicide. The Texas Agriculture Department wants $500,000 a year to change that.
The department’s helpline is less than a year old. But advocates hope state lawmakers fully fund it as farmers and ranchers continue to face hard economic times and isolation.