Articles tagged: air pollution

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.

Wed, May 6, 2020 |

Brett Perkison suffers from asthma. It’s mild, but it’s part of his life. A physician who practices in suburban Houston, Perkison said that when he goes for...Read More

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)

by Christopher Collins

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.

Fri, Feb 14, 2020 |

Residents in rural parts of East and Central Texas can breathe a little easier. State data shows that the closure of three coal-burning power plants in late 201...Read More

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.

Thu, Dec 19, 2019 |

The oil and gas industry in Texas is largely responsible for doubling the amount of illegal air pollution in the state last year, according to a report released...Read More

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.

by Amal Ahmed

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.

Fri, Aug 30, 2019 |

When it comes to climate change, what happens in Texas—the nation’s top oil and gas producer—increasingly doesn’t stay in Texas. The Lone Star state acc...Read More

$water well, fracking, oil$

by Christopher Collins

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.

Thu, May 9, 2019 |

In the Permian Basin of West Texas, there’s something in the air. For the oil and gas industry, it must be the smell of money — lots of it. But for the peop...Read More

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.

by Christopher Collins

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.

Tue, May 7, 2019 |

May, 22, 2015, was a red-letter day for Hilton Kelley. The 58-year-old environmental justice activist was on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., 1,300 miles from ...Read More

by Naveena Sadasivam

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.

Fri, Feb 22, 2019 |

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 al...Read More

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.

Fri, Sep 7, 2018 |

Media attention has been riveted on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., this week, from his dodgy answers o...Read More

by Christopher Collins

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.”

Wed, Jul 18, 2018 |

Sue and Jim Franklin’s double-wide mobile home at the foot of the Davis Mountains in far West Texas is usually sealed up tight with the air conditioner blasti...Read More