Expuestos y en el olvido: El aire tรณxico en una comunidad latina de Texas revela los fallos del sistema estatal de control de calidad del aire
Los datos pรบblicos de una red de monitores de la calidad del aire alrededor del Canal de Navegaciรณn de Houston son difรญciles de interpretar y a menudo son insuficientes, dejando a vecindarios de mayorรญa latina, como Cloverleaf, sin saber si el aire que respiran es seguro.
Neglected and exposed: Toxic air lingers in a Texas Latino community, revealing failures in stateโs air monitoring system
Public data from a network of state air monitors around the Houston Ship Channel is hard to interpret and is often inadequate, leaving Latino-majority neighborhoods like Cloverleaf unaware of whether the air they breathe is safe.
How Texas polluters classify big facilities as smaller ones to avoid stricter environmental rules and public input
Industrial developers describe large facilities as โminorโ polluters to avoid federal permitting requirements, and environmental lawyers say the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality lets it happen.
This West Texas town has a lot of money in the bank. Why can't it pick up its trash?
Like local leaders in many other towns in West Texas, the Kermit City Council spent years saving its tax revenue fearing the energy economy would crash. Now it is struggling to keep up with essential services like trash and road repair.
Texan Bitcoin miners profit by using less electricity; advocates say all Texans should get the same chance
Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms made headlines over the summer for making millions by selling pre-purchased power back to the grid. The news highlighted how the grid can benefit businesses more than consumers.
Vouchers, border security, abortion: The issues you heard about in 2023 will continue to be hotly debated in 2024
After nearly a yearโs worth of legislative sessions, several issues are poised to dominate Texas politics this year. Hereโs a look at how things ended on several fronts last year โ and where theyโre headed next.
Texas Supreme Court declines to revive billionaireโs defamation lawsuit against Beto OโRourke
Kelcy Warren, a Dallas pipeline billionaire, sued OโRourke in early 2022, saying the Democrat defamed him with critical comments about his companyโs windfall profits after the Texas energy-grid collapse in February 2021.
Federal court overturns Texas agencyโs pollution permit for Gulf Coast natural gas export terminal
Judges overturned a state air pollution permit that was issued last year, arguing that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality illegally enabled Port Arthur LNG to avoid emissions control requirements.
Seeking lower electricity rates, residents in two East Texas towns hope the state will intervene
Livingston and Jasper residents hope a lawsuit will force their municipality-operated utility company to offer lower rates and create more transparency in setting rates. Theyโre among the 5 million Texans living outside the stateโs deregulated market and cannot choose their energy provider.
Oilfield companies helped to craft Texasโ new waste rules for 2 years before the public got to see them
The effort to update the stateโs oilfield waste disposal rules was initiated by Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright, one of the stateโs top oil and gas regulators who has investments in the industry.
Texasโ unemployment rate is among the nationโs worst โ but experts say it signals a growing economy
The state has yet to return to its pre-pandemic unemployment rate of about 3.5%, even as it leads the country in new jobs created. However, state economic experts say the unemployment rate is an indicator of Texasโs rapidly growing population and labor force.
EPAโs inspector general says agency isnโt enforcing benzene pollution rules at refineries in Texas, nationally
A report by the federal environmental agencyโs internal watchdog found that EPA is failing to enforce its own pollution limits for the known carcinogen at many refineries โ including some in Texas.
Texans again asked to conserve power Thursday, the 11th time this summer
A day after declaring emergency conditions for the first time this summer, ERCOT is asking residents to reduce how much power they use between 5 and 9 p.m. Thursday as continued high temperatures push the power grid into tight conditions.
Texasโ environmental agency enables companies to increase oilfield wastewater disposal in rivers
Researchers are still studying the chemical makeup of โproduced waterโ from Permian Basin oil fields. But regulators say theyโre ready to issue permits to discharge the water into rivers and creeks.
For Texans, fighting state-regulated oilfield waste dumps can be a costly, do-it-yourself effort
Some Texans who challenge oil and gas waste sites must spend significant sums and time on investigating what they say the Texas Railroad Commission should examine. Will new regulations for handling waste increase oversight or just maintain the status quo?
The โ1-mile ruleโ: Texasโ unwritten, arbitrary policy protects big polluters from citizen complaints
Itโs not found anywhere in state law or the Texas Commission on Environmental Qualityโs rules, but for years the agency has denied citizens the ability to challenge air pollution permits because they live more than a mile away.
EPA will decide if the state is doing enough to reduce pollution in two East Texas counties
The federal agency has settled a lawsuit the Sierra Club brought over pollution from a coal-burning power plant. The agreement requires the EPA to weigh in on the stateโs plan to improve air quality in Rusk and Panola counties.
Looking to save money? You might qualify for free weatherization updates for your home
We are always looking for ways to save you money. The Texas summer heat means you are probably using more electricity to cool off your home. Viewer Don Conger emailed Investigator Amy Davis and said his utility bills are sky-high. Heโs looking for a company that will do a home energy audit to show him things he can do in his home to conserve electricity.
Fossil fuels got a boost from lawmakers aiming to fix Texasโ grid, while renewable energy escaped stricter regulations
The bills will give owners of natural gas power plants incentives to build more capacity, but they donโt go as far as originally proposed to change how electricity is created and sold in the Texas market.
House approves bill capping what Texas consumers would pay for new tool to boost power plants
Senate Bill 7 would limit how much electricity customers could end up paying if the state opts to use performance credits, which would give the money to power generators in hopes theyโll add more power to the state grid.
Texas Houseโs weekend off means key Senate bills die after missing a legislative deadline
Priority bills that died include a 10-year minimum sentencing for gun-related crimes, a ban on โcritical race theoryโ at public universities and LGBTQ-related legislation. While the bills may be dead, lawmakers have a limited time to attach their ideas to legislation that are still alive.
Addressing Texasโ power grid concerns
On Wednesday, officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, shared a seasonal assessment that shows extreme temperatures over the summer may put the state in an energy crunch. These worries stem from what officials with the Public Utilities Commission of Texas and ERCOT said is Texasโ failure to keep up with population growth in terms of the grid.
Texas utility commission chair raises threat of summer power outages and pushes for more gas-powered electricity
Public Utility Commission Chair Peter Lake said renewable energy could be critical to preventing power outages this summer. Renewable energy supporters said the gridโs reliability doesnโt hinge on wind and solar.
Toxic benzene lingered for weeks after shelter-in-place warnings ended following 2019 Houston-area chemical fire
The Texas Tribune analyzed previously unreported air monitoring data and records from the 2019 ITC chemical disaster near Houston and found that high benzene levels lingered in the air for two weeks after public health measures were lifted. Experts say more shelter-in-place advisories should have been issued.
Solar and wind companies are coming to rural Texas. These residents are trying to keep them out.
In Franklin County, a group of locals are concerned about potential environmental harm from renewable energy facilities and support a bill that would impose more regulations on solar and wind. The industry says itโs being unfairly singled out.
Thousands of pounds of โforever chemicalsโ have been injected into Texas oil and gas wells, study finds
A new report from a public health watchdog found that more than 40,000 pounds of PFAS has been injected into more than 1,000 wells across Texas โ and warned that the chemicals could pose a risk to public health