Naveena Sadasivam
A Battle is Brewing Over a Trump EPA Official’s Confidential Emails
Texas Relaxed Environmental Enforcement During the Pandemic, State Data Show
Even as the agency reduced enforcement, it continued processing permits that allow businesses to pollute up to certain limits at about the same rate that it did last year.
This story was originally published by Grist. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is one of the largest and most influential environmental protection agencies in the country. With an annual budget of $400 million, it polices about 400,000 polluting … Read More
Is a Dam Failing in Your Neighborhood?
How to use this map: You can sort dams by their condition — satisfactory, fair or poor — and whether they’re regulated by using the menu to the left of the map. Make sure you select criteria for both condition … Read More
Dammed to Fail
An Observer investigation finds that unregulated dams across Texas are increasingly failing — putting people and property in jeopardy.
An Observer investigation finds that unregulated dams across Texas are increasingly failing — putting people and property in jeopardy. by Naveena Sadasivam April 1, 2019 Maria Campos wasn’t going to wait till the dam behind her house burst and … Read More
A New Study Shows that the Oil and Gas Industry is Wasting a Shocking Quantity of Natural Gas in Texas
Frackers are burning millions of dollars worth of natural gas — releasing hazardous chemicals and greenhouse gases into the air, worsening climate change and creating health risks.
A new study by researchers at the University of Southern California and San Francisco State University found that oil and gas operators in South Texas burned almost 160 billion cubic feet of natural gas — enough to power 2.5 million … Read More
El Paso School Consolidation Exposes More Kids to Lead and Other Hazards, Parents Say
Parents in a low-income neighborhood claim the school district is putting their children at risk by sending them to a campus where researchers found lead levels posing a “moderate to high risk” in 2016.
Hilda Villegas’ daughters Bernice and Katherine are grown now, but she still shudders when she thinks about their years at Frederick Douglass Elementary School in El Paso. The school is located next to railroad tracks and a metal recycling facility, … Read More
Millions of Plastic Pellets in Lavaca Bay? Formosa Says it’s Just ‘Trace Amounts’
After decades of polluting the air and water in Point Comfort, Formosa is now being confronted about its release of millions of plastic pellets.
Once a week, Diane Wilson launches her kayak on Cox Creek, a brackish stream near Point Comfort that feeds Cox and Lavaca bays, and paddles for four to five hours looking for white, grain-size plastic bits called nurdles. Used in … Read More
Environmentalists Fear Conservative Group’s Push to End Corporate Subsidies is Really Just a Hit on Renewables
“TPPF only talks about tax breaks for renewables without touching the vastly greater subsidies that support coal and other fossil fuels.”
In the last few months, the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF) has ramped up its war on wind. To kick off the 86th Texas Legislature, the Austin-based conservative think tank published four reports on the scourge of renewables and how … Read More
The Strange, Record-Setting Weather Extremes Texans Faced in 2018
Scientists predict temperatures, seasonal extremes and flooding will continue to intensify if carbon emissions aren’t immediately reduced.
In 2018, natural disasters touched nearly every part of the country. Hurricanes Michael and Florence hit the East Coast, killing at least 89 people and causing more than $21 billion in damage. Wildfires engulfed large parts of California, driving thousands … Read More
As Speaker of the House, Will Dennis Bonnen be a Menace to the Environment?
Despite his earlier reputation as a hatchet man for environmental regulation bills, activists are cautiously optimistic that they can find common ground with Bonnen as speaker.
As chair of the Texas House Committee on Environmental Regulation from 2003 to 2008, Representative Dennis Bonnen was labeled a “tyrant,” a “Clean Air Villain” and consistently rated among the worst lawmakers in the Legislature by environmental activists. The Gulf … Read More