The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.
The Texas Railroad Commission approved a permit for a huge oil and gas waste facility outside of tiny Nordheim, ending one of the first organized protests against industry activity in South Texas’ Eagle Ford Shale. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/05/03/TXT-Nordheim-Richmond008.jpg)
Energy Future Holdings, Texas’ largest power company, is going back to the drawing board in its efforts to emerge from one of the largest corporate bankruptcies in American history. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Powerlines_1.jpg)
A Texas state senator is redefining scorched-earth politics, trying to make sure Americans — and Texans — are prepared for electromagnetic pulses from space that could spell the end of civilization. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/04/29/BobHall84TT.jpg)
The Texas Railroad Commission should beef up its oversight of oil and gas drilling, pipeline safety and abandoned wells and change its name to reflect what it actually does, the latest sunset review recommends. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/06/21/RRC-Seal.jpg)
Two days after U.S. Sen. John Cornyn filed legislation seeking to expedite a hurricane protection plan for Texas, U.S. Rep. Randy Weber said he expects to introduce a companion bill in the U.S. House in the coming weeks. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/03/09/SHIPCHANNEL_SEAWALL1176.jpg)
In a victory for a coalition of large industrial facilities, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that the city of Houston illegally subverted state law by passing two ordinances designed to regulate air pollution. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Houston-flue-gas-scrubber01.jpg)
The company operating a low-level nuclear waste dump in West Texas on Thursday applied for a license to begin accepting highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Waste-Canisters.jpg)
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has filed legislation to expedite a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study that will determine how best to protect the Houston region from a devastating hurricane. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/09/20/TribFest_Cornyn0164.jpg)
Sixteen years ago, CPS staffers accused Gary and Melissa Gates of abuse and removed their 13 children from their home. That case fizzled quickly, but the allegations and ensuing legal fight continue to provide fodder for Gates' political opponents. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-NoWayOff-TS001.JPG)
A smorgasbord of big-name Dallasites — including a Hall-of-Fame Dallas Cowboy quarterback — is supporting a Ray L. Hunt-led investment group’s request that Texas regulators reopen proceedings in its bid to buy the state’s largest electric utility. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/ONCOR.jpg)
Hundreds of industrial facilities across Texas are illegally spewing millions of pounds of toxic pollutants into the air each year when they break down or perform maintenance, according to a new report. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/12/04/SmokeStack.jpg)
For more than two decades, federal and state health officials have known that residents of a poor community in the Rio Grande Valley are eating fish laced with unsafe levels of toxic chemicals, but they haven't found a way to stop it. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/04/21/04_13_2016_Donna_Lake_-_dy-9.jpg)
In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: State lawmakers vow to champion a hurricane protection system for the Texas coast, Vista Ridge pipeline opponents win a small victory and an interview with water rights expert Charles Porter. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/08/Tribwater.jpg)
Nearly one month after Texas regulators approved — with major stipulations — Ray L. Hunt’s plan to buy Oncor and reshape it into a real estate investment trust, the Dallas oilman and his investors want a do-over. Full Story
Texas announced in 2013 it was giving Chevron millions of dollars toward building a new office tower and creating 1,752 jobs. More than two years later, the site of the building remains a grassy lot and Chevron has laid off hundreds of workers. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/04/11/2016-04-08_CHEVRONBUILDING_8976.jpg){kind=icon}
With a price tag sure to reach into the billions, building seawalls and floodgates to protect Houston and Galveston from a killer storm will almost certainly require a massive infusion of federal money, state officials agree. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/05/12/Cornyn.jpg)
Has the oil downturn impacted you or someone you know? Share your story with our reporters. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/04/13/Fitzsimmons-roughpatch_lead.jpg)
Cotulla, population 4,000, built 20 hotels during a yearslong oil boom, calling itself the "Hotel Capital" of the Eagle Ford Shale. A plunge in oil prices has prompted questions about whether that was a good idea. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/04/11/IMG_0686.jpg)
SpaceX recently achieved a milestone when it successfully landed an unmanned rocket on a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean. Revisit our interactive project on the plans for commercial space flight in Texas, including SpaceX’s controversial facility in the southernmost part of the state. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/10/21/TT-starstruck-Tsquared-leadart1024x680.jpg)
University of Texas at Austin researchers call it “plausible” that underground injections of oil and gas waste triggered a series of temblors that rattled Timpson residents in 2012. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/05/20/TxTrib-DisposalWell008.jpg)