Freezing weather, wildfire and flood risk forecast across Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott said the state’s power grid “has never been stronger than it is now” and should weather the cold without issues. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference regarding Texas’ emergency response to an unprecedented winter storm gripping Texas on Feb 13, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Large earthquake strikes West Texas, among strongest ever in state
The 5.0 magnitude earthquake is tied for the sixth strongest in state history. Scientists have warned for years that increased fracking in West Texas is causing higher earthquake activity. Full Story
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![A drilling rig in Pecos County on Feb. 4, 2023.]()
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Project 2025 adviser takes the reins at EPA region including Texas
Scott Mason IV, a former deputy energy secretary for Oklahoma and member of the Cherokee nation, is the new administrator for the region that covers Texas and four neighboring states. Full Story
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![An operational pumpjack neighbors a trailer home in Gardendale on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Why oil and gas companies want state oversight for carbon dioxide injection
Environmentalists are worried the state — known for a lax approach to regulation — is not prepared for the added responsibility of regulating certain carbon capture projects. Full Story
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Once the carbon dioxide is captured, the gas is compressed and transported, usually through pipelines, to a storage location, which is later injected into deep underground rock formations where it can be permanently stored.
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Petra Nova CCS Facility at NRG Power Plant in Richmond on May 18, 2018.]()
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Texas regulators grapple with a growing problem: old oil wells leaking polluted water
Two years after lawmakers created a $10 million program to address leaking wells in rural counties, none of the money has been distributed. Full Story
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![Hawk Dunlap stands at the site of Lake Boehmer, a brine lake that has leaked out of an old well in Pecos County.]()
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An East Texas town debates where to place EV charging stations as Trump threatens subsidies
Some residents see the charging stations as an economic boom to the town, while others find it an assault on the oil and gas industry in Texas. Full Story
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![Traffic makes its way throught the intersection of Loop 281 and Gilmer Road in Longview on Friday January 24, 2025.]()
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Corpus Christi pushes new water projects to boost supply
The coastal city also has been trying for years to develop a seawater desalination plant, but its efforts have lagged as big, thirsty industries continue to locate nearby and a five-year drought persists. Full Story
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![Corpus Christi Bay in 2022.]()
Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News -
Texas regulators overhaul oilfield waste rule for the first time in four decades
The new rule modernizes some aspects of commercial oilfield waste disposal and recycling. But rules for burying oilfield waste on private property remain limited. Full Story
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![An aerial view of produced water ponds constructed by Martin Water in Lenorah.]()
Credit: Julian Mancha for The Texas Tribune/Inside Climate News -
Oil companies leaked less methane in West Texas, a new report says. Environmentalists are skeptical.
Methane is a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere and is 80 times the potency of carbon dioxide. Full Story
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![An array of pumpjacks operate outside of Tarzan on Sept. 15, 2023. Tarzan is an unincorporated town north of Midland, about halfway between Andrews and Big Spring. in Martin County.]()
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Texas wildflower big red sage proposed for endangered species protection
Only seven native populations remain in Texas, all in the Edwards Plateau in Central Texas. Full Story
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![Big red sage occurs on bluffs and banks along waterways in the Edwards Plateau of central Texas.]()
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, 22 other states sue to halt planned federal methane fines
The rule fines certain oil and gas facilities that exceed federal limits for methane emissions. Full Story
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![The Rebel Gas Plant vents off natural gas into two flare stacks Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Garden City.]()
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Texas has a big water problem. This state lawmaker hopes he has the solution.
Texas’ population is booming and there is not enough water for everyone. State Sen. Charles Perry hopes to fix that. Full Story
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![State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, on the Senate floor on May 15, 2019.]()
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The air in 12 Texas counties exceeded federal soot rules. Only four may have to comply.
Critics say TCEQ is erroneously using a federal rule to exclude counties that are failing federal soot rules. Full Story
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![A view of charred grassland that was burned by the Smokehouse Creek wildfire, outside the Panhandle town of Canadian on Feb. 28, 2024.]()
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EPA report says “forever chemicals” in sewage-based fertilizer pose cancer risk
Fertilizers that contain treated sewage tainted with toxic PFAS chemicals can be spread on farmland and pose a health risk to people who consume milk, eggs and beef, the agency says. Full Story
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![Bar screens are used to remove large portions of solids and garbage during the wastewater treatment process at SAWS’ Steven M. Clouse Water Recycling Center in San Antonio on Aug. 23, 2024.]()
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Mexican cattle banned from Texas due to screwworm threat
Since cattle imports were cut off in November, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and some ranchers worry about the ban’s economic impact on beef producers and consumers. Full Story
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![Forty to fifty head of cattle down from 5,000 due to restrictions on cattle imports from Mexico at the Vaquero Trading stockyard in Sunland Park, New Mexico on January 8, 2025.]()
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“We have a problem here”: Sen. Charles Perry outlines his plans to save Texas’ water supply
The Lubbock Republican has been working for years to develop a new statewide approach to managing water and hopes voters will devote $1 billion a year to the problem. Full Story
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Will Republican control of Congress lead to updated ag laws? Texas farmers hope so.
The historical bipartisan legislation includes a bevy of policies from crop insurance to food stamps. Full Story
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![Cotton fields near the High Plains town of Ralls, about 30 miles east of Lubbock, on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Like much of Texas, the High Plains and Panhandle are facing drought conditions and extraordinary heat.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune -
A Texas teenager helped his border community win a $13 million grant to improve the environment
Presidio, northwest of Big Bend National Park, will get dedicated green spaces along bike lanes and pedestrian streets, plant thousands of native trees and establish a high-school run air quality monitoring program. Full Story
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![Ramon Rodriguez, Project Homeleaf Founder and Elvira Hermosillo, Big Bend Conservation Alliance Programs Director]()
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Texan uses pollution settlement to help coastal community
Five years after Diane Wilson’s landmark settlement with Formosa Plastics, she’s directing the money toward reviving “the bay and the fishermen.” Full Story
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![Diane Wilson outside her home in Seadrift, Texas, in December 2024.]()
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Here are the biggest stories from our data visuals team in 2024
The Tribune’s data journalists helped visualize everything from voter participation and extreme weather to gaps in the state’s border wall. Here are some of the highlights. Full Story
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![Share art for the zoning regulations story for the affordable housing series.]()
Credit: Carla Astudillo