Amal Ahmed
Texas Has Elected A Climate Change Denier to the Railroad Commission
Newly elected commissioner Jim Wright will be one of three people in charge of regulating the state’s oil and gas industry. He doesn’t believe that flaring contributes to climate change.
Ten years. That’s how long we have to make massive reductions in carbon emissions before some of the worst effects of climate change become irreversible, according to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It will be nearly impossible … Read More
Illegal Air Pollution is Skyrocketing in Texas, But State Regulators are Ignoring Complaints
An environmental watchdog submitted evidence of dozens of violations, but the state’s environmental agency rarely followed up.
It’s no secret that in the Permian Basin, one of the world’s most productive oil and gas fields, pollution is everywhere. Industrial facilities burn off so much excess natural gas that you can see the flares from space. But as … Read More
Millennials and Gen Zers are Breaking Voter Turnout Records in Texas
By the end of early voting, 1 million voters under the age of 30 had cast their ballot. Will they turn Texas blue?
A little more than a month before early voting started in Texas, a group of 20-somethings and teenagers with the Sunrise Movement drove to Congressman Michael McCaul’s home in an Austin suburb. It was 5 a.m., and the climate activists … Read More
Lulu Seikaly Wants to Flip One of Texas’ Most Conservative Suburban Districts
In Collin County, the political newcomer is betting big on Asian American voters—and Republicans who are tired of Trump.
Texas’ Third Congressional District fits neatly within the borders of Collin County. Since the 1960s, the district has been represented by conservative, white men who have served for decades at a time, often running unopposed. Sam Johnson, rated one of … Read More
A Coral Reef Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico Could Triple in Size
The federally protected marine sanctuary has kept three major reefs safe from encroaching offshore oil drilling and commercial fishing.
One hundred miles southeast of Galveston’s muddy shoreline, the Gulf of Mexico becomes a dazzling, vibrant blue. Deep below the surface, salt domes protrude from the seafloor and some of the healthiest coral reefs in the world have formed on … Read More
Marsha Jackson Is Trying to Move Shingle Mountain
The illegal dump is southern Dallas’ most visible environmental justice crisis. It’s far from the only one.
Marsha Jackson Is Trying to Move Shingle Mountain The illegal dump is southern Dallas’ most visible environmental justice crisis. It’s far from the only one. By Amal Ahmed August 25, 2020 On hot, humid days, when the wind blows over … Read More
A New Study Finds a Link Between Flaring and an Increase in Premature Births
In the Eagle Ford Shale, a study found that pregnant, Latina women were more likely than white women to give birth prematurely.
When the fracking boom came to the Eagle Ford Shale, it brought billions of dollars of investment and tax revenue to the rural, sparsely populated swath of South Texas that stretches from the borderlands near Laredo to the northeast toward … Read More
Muslim Activists Say It’s Time to Join Black Lives Matter Calls to Reform Law Enforcement
A Dallas mosque’s decision to partner with law enforcement during a nation-wide reckoning on the role of policing fits into a broader hesitation from Muslim communities to jeopardize relationships with police departments.
Muslim Activists Say It’s Time to Join Black Lives Matter Calls to Reform Law Enforcement A Dallas mosque’s decision to partner with law enforcement during a nationwide reckoning on the role of policing fits into a broader hesitation from Muslim … Read More
In Houston’s Fifth Ward, the Storm Never Stops
Residents in this historically Black community are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 and woefully unprepared to recover from the next hurricane.
Joetta Stevenson is no stranger to disaster. When Hurricane Harvey pummeled southeast Texas with more than 50 inches of rain in 2017, she watched the flood waters in parts of her Houston neighborhood turn intersections into rivers. Stevenson’s home was … Read More