Rebuilding commission calls Hurricane Harvey a "wakeup call" for Texas
A report by the Commission to Rebuild Texas says there is an urgent need to "future-proof" the Gulf Coast. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/08/29/Houston_evacuees_MS_TT.jpg)
-
![Evacuees flee flooding in a boat with a nearly submerged Houston sign behind them, on Aug, 29, 2017.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Galveston residents weigh in on hurricane levee proposal that some call "a really bad, bad plan"
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Texas General Land Office proposed a massive levee system for the Houston area in late October that would cost as much as $20 billion. It's part of a larger plan to protect the state's coastline from hurricane storm surge. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/735f82104971efecb433cb8ac15cc9b1/Lauri_Mathias_IKE_DIKE_MS_TT.jpg)
![Lauri Mathias speaks during public comments at an Army Corp of Engineers meeting about the Texas Coastal Study, in Galveston on Dec. 12, 2018.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Texas parks department, advocates pushing Congress to reauthorize key conservation fund
The chief of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says the absence of the 54-year-old Land and Water Conservation Fund is a "substantial loss" for state parks and natural areas. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/11/26/LBS-TxTrib-DevilsRiver204.jpg)
![Facing downstream from Dolan Falls on the Devils River. The river is fed by freshwater springs that flow from the limestone cliffs above.
*Editor's Note: An earlier version of this slideshow incorrectly identified a butterfly as a monarch butterfly.]()
Credit: Leslie Boorhem-Stephenson -
Surge of oil and gas flowing to Texas coastline triggers building boom, tensions
For Texas ports, the rise in oil and gas exports is a windfall. For some communities, it’s not so simple. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/edcf2a63f041644294832ead3f9a7b71/Pelican_CROP_TT.jpg)
![A brown pelican perches on a fishing pier, damaged by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, in Port Aransas, Texas, on June 6, 2018. In the background stand three offshore oil rigs.]()
Credit: Kevin Clancy / Newsy -
Amid industrial boom, Corpus Christi officials look to meet growing water demand
As more oil and gas facilities come online in the Coastal Bend, the city and port of Corpus — and a handful of private companies — are planning to build a bevy of seawater desalination plants. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-Desal-016.jpg)
![The inside of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant in El Paso on April 16, 2012.]()
Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The Texas Tribune -
Federal report: Hurricane Harvey was a climate change harbinger
A major scientific report released Friday by the Trump administration says Hurricane Harvey and other recent extreme weather events are a sign of things to come as the earth warms. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2017/08/29/fllod_and_mailboxes_MS_TT.jpg)
![A flooded neighborhood near the Buffalo Bayou and the Barker Reservoir dam on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Report: Toxic herbicide found in many Texans' drinking water
Nearly 500 water utilities across the state tested positive for atrazine — a weed killer — which can lead to harmful health effects, according to a new report. The Environmental Working Group also found that utilities are testing water during times when the herbicide isn't being used as much — and that they may be lowballing the results. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ec60ff04d78bdfa37d3f065320973882/iStock_TAP_WATER_TT.jpg)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto/sonsam -
Reef restoration projects aim to bolster Texas' record-low oyster population
The Nature Conservancy plans to use settlement money from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to construct new oyster reefs in Galveston and Copano bays. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/5adfabffad0e0f5573389b31e1dc1b68/Oyster_Restoration_Project_2_JF_TT.jpg)
![Oyster shells along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. An oyster restoration project is underway in Matagorda Bay.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Nature Conservancy -
Drilling overwhelms agency protecting America’s lands
The Bureau of Land Management is making it easier to produce oil and gas on federal acreage. In southeastern New Mexico, it can’t even keep up with what’s already happening. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ff966909b78e52ddf5fadff23f1c92d1/Carlsbad-33_TT.jpg)
![A pump jack operates at sunrise just off Pecos Highway in Carlsbad, N.M., on May 24, 2018.]()
Credit: Robin Zielinski for the Center for Public Integrity -
They wish there were more jobs, but rural Texans are happy where they are, poll finds
Rural Texans like the places where they live — the environment, the pace, the lifestyle — but they'd like to have access to better jobs, a new poll finds. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/4b84c1c028f058f5388d1902765af1c2/TTE-Rural_leadart-tt-02.png)
![Article thumbnail]()
-
Austin lifts city-wide boil water notice
After seven days of boiling their water, Austin Water customers are once again allowed to consume water directly from the tap. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/73963eaee3023984b1cc09e3b2b784f0/Ulrich_water_treatment_plant_ATX_BD_TT.jpg)
![Austin's Ullrich water treatment plant off of Westlake Drive in west Austin on March 2, 2005.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
Three candidates vie for slot on Texas' oil and gas regulatory agency
Railroad Commission Chairman Christi Craddick — a Republican whose relationship with the industry she regulates has been questioned — is seeking re-election to a second term. She faces challenges from Democrat Roman McAllen and Libertarian Mike Wright. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/28c4ec5834b15172128825ea6e204642/Pumpjacks_mist_JF_TT.jpg)
![Fog in a low lying area where pumpjacks and powerlines populate the range along SW 5000 in Andrews County northeast of Kermit, Texas.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune -
We took young Texans’ questions straight to the candidates. Here’s what they said.
Find out where Texas midterm candidates stand on student debt, DACA, school gun violence and more. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ec4427ac2a6f5099c8b1da4207a18d0d/_95I2281_signX_1_BD.jpg)
![Austin, Texas March 6, 2018: UT student Kathleen Douiken urges people to vote on the West Mall of the UT campus during lunchtime as students line up at the Flawn Academic Center to vote on Primary Day, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich/BDP, Inc. -
After historic Texas flooding, officials will likely open more floodgates on Central Texas dam
After the wettest September in Texas history, multiple Central Texas reservoirs are completely full. That has forced officials to consider releasing a historic amount of water down the Colorado River. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/787c551bf37f240a2e453fe46f3165f0/Marble_Falls_Flooding_3_BD_TT.jpg)
![Record rainfall in Llano and Burnet counties in the Texas Hill Country cause major flooding in Marble Falls on Oct. 16, 2018.]()
Credit: Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune -
How Washington unleashed fossil-fuel exports and sold out on climate
The Trump administration has its predecessor to thank when it comes to “energy dominance.” Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/da161892304f6191a0f431fad2eacd80/perry_moniz_TT.jpg)
![The Trump White House has capitalized on fossil-fuel exports first made possible by the Obama administration. Energy Secretary Rick Perry is shown here on August 2, 2017 welcoming his predecessor, Ernest Moniz, during the unveiling of Moniz’s portrait.]()
Credit: Simon Edelman/U.S. Department of Energy -
As oil and gas exports surge, West Texas becomes the world’s “extraction colony”
An unprecedented drilling boom in the Permian Basin is great for business. But it’s polluting the air, overwhelming communities and threatening the planet. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/93b00190e3efc54847e542eb3c67d9a5/Pumpjacks_at_sunrise_JF_TT.jpg)
![Pumpjacks at sunrise in the Permian Basin in West Texas.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune -
Army Corps set to propose hurricane protection plan for Houston
For years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has studied how best to protect Houston from deadly hurricane storm surge. It will announce which one it thinks is best later this month. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Galveston-IkeDike.png)
![Article thumbnail]()
Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman -
Anti-nuclear waste tour kicks off in Houston
Organizers of the "Protect Texas from Radioactive Waste Tour" plan to travel to five Texas cities over the next week in protest of a proposed plan to store used nuclear materials in West Texas. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Waste-Canisters.jpg)
![Modular concrete canisters containing nuclear waste are shown at the bottom of a storage pit near Andrews, Texas.]()
Credit: David Bowser -
As Hurricane Florence bears down on East Coast, Texas faces flooding from Gulf Coast disturbance
Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 78 counties Friday and instructed several agencies to increase preparedness as heavy rainfall, floods and gusty winds are expected across portions of the Texas coast this weekend. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b3162732e1811aa637bc4773529454b5/NWS201809.jpg)
![A wide swath of Texas could experience flooding from a Gulf Coast disturbance this weekend.]()
Credit: National Weather Service -
Report: Texas' lax cleanup rules for polluted sites endanger human health, environment
A forthcoming report by the Texas Campaign for the Environment Fund says the standards Texas uses to determine how much — and whether — to clean up abandoned industrial facilities and other contaminated sites are 'significantly weaker' than those of neighboring states and the federal government, in part because it tolerates a higher cancer risk. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/10/15/SanJacintoWater-Danger.jpg)
![The San Jacinto River Waste Pits, an EPA Superfund site that is contaminated with dioxins, is located off Interstate 10 east of Houston.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato