A more than 200-page report by Texas’ environmental agency found that the majority of pollution emitted by industrial facilities during storms occurs at a time when the state’s air monitors are offline.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
Texas 2022 Elections
Analysis: Crime pays, politically speaking, for Texas AGs
A Texas attorney general is a civil lawyer, mostly concerned with regulatory, tax and administrative law. But to listen to the candidates, you’d think the state’s top lawyer was some kind of cop.
Posted in
Environment
Texas may get a coastal storm barrier, but will it be too late?
The federal infrastructure bill’s passage renewed hopes that Texas would finally get a coastal storm barrier. But Galveston and Houston could still get hit by a hurricane before it is built.
Posted in
Environment
Prescribed burn gone wrong likely sparked wildfire in Bastrop County, officials say
Controlled burns, used to prevent catastrophic wildfires, are typically safe and rarely get out of control. Experts warn that burns gone awry can scare residents and compromise the critical fire management tool.
Posted in
Environment
How a Texas songbird and its endangered status became the center of a fight over the Hill Country
Scientists say a study that estimated far more golden-cheeked warblers in Texas than previously thought has been attacked and taken out of context as the state and federal government battle over the bird’s endangered status.
Posted in
Energy
This was Texas’ warmest December since 1889
Ongoing La Niña conditions have brought warm, dry weather and deepened drought conditions across the state.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
2021 in photos: Texans navigated COVID-19, weathered power outages and witnessed an increase in border crossings
As 2021 comes to a close, here’s a look back at just some of our favorite images captured by Texas Tribune photographers all over the state — and across the nation — to tell the stories of Texans in a challenging year.
Posted in
The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
A Laredo plant that sterilizes medical equipment spews cancer-causing pollution on schoolchildren
Nobody told Yaneli Ortiz’s family that the factory they lived near emitted ethylene oxide. Not when the EPA found it causes cancer. Not when she was diagnosed with leukemia. And not when Texas moved to allow polluters to emit more of the chemical.
Posted in
The Texas Tribune-ProPublica Investigative Unit
Generators can cause deadly carbon monoxide poisoning. But the industry resists rules to make them safer.
Portable generators are among the deadliest consumer products. Two decades after the government identified the danger, and as climate change leads to more power outages, people are left vulnerable by a system that lets the industry regulate itself.
Sponsor Post
Why EPA’s plan to regulate oil and gas methane emissions is good for Texas
Methane, a short-lived but extremely potent greenhouse gas, is having a major news-making moment — and it’s good news for Texas.