Texas cities weren’t ready for a massive winter storm in 2021. Has that changed?
Cities have made some preparations in case of another severe winter storm. But keeping the lights and water on is far from guaranteed. Full Story
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![A snowy Austin Skyline as freezing temperatures continue across the state of Texas on Feb. 16, 2021.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for The Texas Tribune -
Texas grid vulnerable to blackouts during severe winter weather, even with new preparations, ERCOT estimates show
The most severe scenario considered by ERCOT for this winter — very high demand for power, extensive fossil fuel outages, and low renewable power production — does not capture the amount of power lost during February. Full Story
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![Snow surrounds an Austin Energy station in Austin on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021.]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune -
“People have already died”: In Houston, residents demand relief from chronic pollution during EPA chief's visit
During a Friday visit, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said his agency is “prepared to act” to force accelerated cleanups in historically polluted Houston neighborhoods. Full Story
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![Donald Compton, Alton Perkins, Brenda Compton and Chris Compton outside of the Compton family home in Fifth Ward on Nov. 18, 2021.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Texans in U.S. House vote along party lines to pass $1.75 trillion social spending package
After months of contentious negotiations, the U.S. House passed the Build Back Better plan. It would establish universal pre-K and provide funding to combat climate change, among other things. Full Story
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![U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during her weekly press conference, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, November 18, 2021. Today President Biden will host the leaders of Mexico and Canada for a North American Leaders Summit, as Congressional Democrats continue to debate the President's Build Back Better Agenda. (Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA)No Use Germany.]()
Credit: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA via Reuters -
Top U.S. environmental regulator to visit Houston neighborhoods where Black and Latino residents bear brunt of pollution
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan on Friday will meet with community leaders and advocates in Houston neighborhoods where pollution has impacted people’s health. Full Story
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![Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 30, 2021.]()
Credit: Sarah Silbiger/Pool via REUTERS -
As world leaders seek to rein in methane, Texas' oil and gas industry pressured to cut emissions
A proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule could require oil and gas producers to monitor and reduce emissions of methane in the field. Full Story
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![A gas flare in the Eagle Ford oil patch south of San Antonio, TX.]()
Credit: Jordan Vonderhaar for the Texas Tribune -
Power companies required to better prepare plants for winter in first phase of rule approved by Texas regulators
The state Public Utility Commission adopted a rule — which experts first recommended a decade ago following a winter storm — requiring power companies to use “best efforts” to ensure plants can operate in the winter. Full Story
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![Construction underway for Alamo I, a 41-megawatt solar farm being built by OCI Solar Power for its customer CPS Energy in San Antonio.]()
Credit: Tamir Kalifa for The Texas Tribune -
Oil industry helped handpick members of Texas advisory group for electric grid reliability, emails show
Oil and gas industry groups provided a list of names to the Railroad Commission for appointment to a council formed in response to the February power crisis. All four of the industry's top choices were selected. Full Story
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![Smoke from a power plant in San Antonio on Aug. 4, 2021.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
Climate change is making Texas hotter, threatening public health, water supply and the state’s infrastructure
A report from the state climatologist finds that the state is experiencing hotter days with less relief from high temperatures at night. Full Story
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
The Karankawa were said to be extinct. Now they’re reviving their culture — and fighting to protect their ancestors’ land.
Historians long thought the Karankawa people had disappeared. But now a group of descendants is fighting to protect a coastal area — where thousands of Karankawa artifacts were found — from an encroaching oil export facility. Full Story
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![Love Sanchez, of the Indigenous People of the Coastal Bend, participates in a prayer ceremony at McGee Beach in Corpus Christi in protest of the expansion of the Moda Ingleside Energy Center on Aug. 28, 2021.]()
Credit: Chris Stokes for The Texas Tribune -
Watch experts in climate, energy and environmental justice discuss extreme weather at The Texas Tribune Festival
The conversation focused on what we’ve learned about extreme weather in Texas and beyond — and what can be done about it. Full Story
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![Sunrise on the Permian Basin northeast of Kermit.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune -
Texas sees limited damage in wake of Tropical Storm Nicholas as storm weakens and takes aim at Louisiana
“I think we fared well,” said one official in Matagorda County, where Nicholas made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane early Tuesday morning. Full Story
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![Waves crashed into the North Packery Channel Jetty ahead of Tropical Storm Nicholas in Corpus Christi on Sept. 13, 2021.]()
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More than 100,000 Texas electricity customers without power after Nicholas. Restoring it to everyone could take days.
Texas was spared from mass destruction once the storm came ashore as a Category 1 hurricane. But it caused enough damage to disrupt electricity for a large swath of the Texas coast, including the Houston and Galveston areas. Full Story
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![Storm surge ahead of Tropical Storm Nicholas in Corpus Christi on Sept. 13, 2021. A storm surge warning is in effect in Corpus Christi for the next couple of days.]()
Credit: Annie Rice/USA TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS -
Texas bans storage of highly radioactive waste, but a West Texas facility may get a license from the feds anyway
The new law may soon be in conflict with federal regulators. A decision from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on one company’s license could come as early as Monday. Full Story
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![The Waste Control Specialists radioactive and hazardous waste storage site in Andrews, Texas, on Jan. 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
State lawmakers again try to ban most dangerous nuclear waste as feds consider allowing it at West Texas site
A failed regular session bill sought to give a financial break to a West Texas nuclear waste disposal company. Now, lawmakers have removed what opponents called a giveaway and are again trying to pass a bill to stop highly radioactive materials from coming to Texas. Full Story
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![The entrance to the Waste Control Specialists site where radioactive and hazardous waste is being stored on Jan. 17, 2021.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
Texas regulators want to prepare the state’s electricity grid for extreme weather. But that’s a moving target in a warming world.
The state plans to use past weather data to craft rules for power plant upgrades. Scientists warn that the accelerating effects of climate change make relying on old data alone insufficient. Full Story
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![Executive director and Vice President of DMA Properties Sergio Amaya clears the walkways outside of the Rebekah Baines Johnson Center in Austin on Feb. 17, 2021.]()
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San Antonio built a pipeline to rural Central Texas to increase its water supply. Now local landowners say their wells are running dry.
A pipeline helped secure water for San Antonio for decades to come — at a potentially high cost to some rural residents who are losing groundwater to the big city. Is it a preview for the rest of the state as climate change brings more water scarcity and cities keep sprawling? Full Story
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![A well on the Scouras’ property in Lee County on July 12, 2021. The Scourases are two of many Lee County residents whose water sources have dried up as a result of Vista Ridge Pipeline Project.]()
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune -
T-Squared: What you can expect at this year’s Texas Tribune Festival
Nearly 150 speakers (including 20 more biggies revealed today) across more than 50 sessions. Four days of virtual programs. Two jampacked days of in-person programs. Everything streamed. Everything on demand. Are you as excited as we are? Full Story
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Texas plan to reduce haze in national parks wouldn’t require any new limits on pollution
Federal agencies that manage national parks said Texas overestimated the cost of new emission regulations and failed to address their concerns in its analysis. Full Story
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![An early morning view along the Rio Grande looking towards Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park.]()
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ERCOT will have to release information about power plant outages quicker — but it may not detail what causes them
The Public Utility Commission said the state's main power grid operator will have three days — instead of 60 — to release some information about power plant outages. But that may not include why the electricity generators were offline. Full Story
Credit: Sophie Park/The Texas Tribune
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