Another Hot, Dry Summer May Push Parts of Texas to the Brink
Some areas are starting the year with low water reserves, and forecasters don’t expect substantial relief from the weather.
Since 1954
Dylan Baddour covers the energy sector and environmental justice in Texas for Inside Climate News.
Some areas are starting the year with low water reserves, and forecasters don’t expect substantial relief from the weather.
Environmental lawyers say the state watchdog agency lets polluters escape regulation through legal loopholes.
A judge reversed a 2022 decision by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality which involved its controversial “one-mile rule” to deny hearing requests.
Judges argued that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality illegally enabled Port Arthur LNG to avoid air pollution control requirements.
The state is proposing to approve a 17-year-old standard that leading scientists and public health officials call inadequate.
Conservationists are frustrated as cities contend with thousands of costly leaks as dry soil contracts, causing underground pipes to rupture.
Heat, drought and booming population growth have stressed the aquifers that supply millions of people.
The state has issued only two new coal mining permits in 10 years to a company with a controversial environmental legacy.
The policy has been denounced in lawsuits and petitions, but the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality denies that it exists.
One company, Targa Resources, vented more than 500,000 pounds of toxins into the air during 17 reported events over a week-long period of extreme heat.