air pollution

a flame bursts from a smokestack at an oil and gas processing plant, called a flare. Emissions were way up in June as gas companies flared to avoid explosions.

Pipeline Operators Release or Flare Tons of Gas During June Heatwave

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.

by Dylan Baddour

Keep Reading

Big Leaks, Little Regulation

by Sheila Serna

Industrial Facilities Released Millions of Pounds of Illegal Pollution During the Winter Storm

by Amal Ahmed

Who’s Going to Take Responsibility for Air Pollution in Texas?

by Allyn West

In this March 18, 2019 file photo, a plume of smoke rises from a petrochemical fire at the Intercontinental Terminals Company in Deer Park, Texas. It's been four months since the explosion and fire at a Houston-area petrochemical storage site and experts are still working to dispose of millions of gallons of waste and contaminated water. The Houston Chronicle reports Intercontinental Terminals Company must comply with a 31-page management plan that details how waste is sampled and identified, stored and finally disposed of. More than 21 million gallons of water mixed with product and firefighting foam were collected from the tank farm and Houston Ship Channel following the March 17 accident that triggered air quality warnings. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

Editorial: Air Pollution Was Already Killing Us. Then Came the Coronavirus. Why Won’t the EPA Act?

By refusing to strengthen particulate matter standards, the EPA is putting more people at risk.

by Allyn West

Global carbon emissions. Embargoed to 0001 Wednesday December 04 File photo dated 10/01/07 of a coal fired power plant. Global carbon emissions have risen again this year - but more slowly than in the past two years, researchers have said. Issue date: Wednesday December 4, 2019. Emissions from burning fossil fuels are projected to be up 0.6% in 2019, to reach almost 37 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, scientists from the University of East Anglia (UEA), University of Exeter and the Global Carbon Project said. See PA story ENVIRONMENT Carbon. Photo credit should read: John Giles/PA Wire URN:48771031 (Press Association via AP Images)

With Coal Plants Offline, the Air in Central and East Texas Has Cleared

After three plants shut down in late 2017, legal air pollution in Texas fell by 150,000 tons.

by Christopher Collins

Report: As TCEQ Sits Idle, Polluters Double Illegal Air Pollution in 2018

Unauthorized emission incidents resulted in 135 million pounds of illegal air pollution, according to a new report by Environment Texas.

by Christopher Collins

This photo taken in 2015, shows a flare-up at an oil processing plant outside Cuero, Texas in 2015. Researchers from the University of Southern California and San Francisco State University are using satellites to see how much flaring occurs in the region, in addition to data provided by the oil and gas industry. The researchers have counted 43,887 distinct oil and gas flares in the region from 2012 to 2016.

The Environmental Protection Agency Wants to Repeal its Methane Emissions Limits

Texas, the nation’s largest oil and gas producer, doesn’t otherwise regulate the potent greenhouse gas.

by Amal Ahmed

Report: Oil and Gas Producers May Be Pushing the Permian Basin Past Federal Air Quality Limits

Sulfur dioxide levels in the vast West Texas region may be hitting dangerous levels. Meanwhile, the state is hardly bothering to monitor the pollutant.

by Christopher Collins

The ExxonMobil refinery in Baytown. Officials in the Virgin Islands are currently looking into whether the oil giant misled its shareholders, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a court brief hoping to stop the investigation.

The EPA Told Texas to Crack Down on Dangerous Air Emissions in 2015. The State Never Did, and Now It Won’t Have to.

Trump’s EPA rescinded a rule that would have forced Texas to close a loophole exploited by industrial polluters in 97 percent of illegal emission events.

by Christopher Collins

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.

by Naveena Sadasivam

How Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court Appointment Would Affect Texans’ Air, Water and Land

The controversial Supreme Court nominee has a track record of siding with industry interests over environmental protections.

by Naveena Sadasivam

Report: Oil and Gas Production Is Making People Sick in Rural Texas

“The price of living near oil and gas shouldn't be giving up your health.”

by Christopher Collins

air pollution

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