Articles tagged: Environment
Writer Rick Bass Fights for 20 Grizzly Bears
The author’s new collection of essays is a Texas naturalist’s scrapbook of the Lone Star State. It’s also a deep look at the natural world.
Rick Bass wants us to appreciate the beautiful things in nature and do our best not to squander them. The 63-year-old Tex-pat has long been known as a gifted na...Read More
Texas Activists Took Their Fight Against a Natural Gas Project Abroad—And They’re Winning
The Texas Railroad Commission’s about-face on natural gas flaring can be partially linked to pressure from European companies concerned about Texas’ dirty gas.
In February, members of the Texas Railroad Commission finally got the message. The three commissioners of the regulatory body that oversees the state’s oil an...Read More
Nobody Warned Texans About the Public Health Risks of the Winter Storm
Without advance warning about the true scale of power outages and the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning, local officials say they were caught off guard, leaving residents to fend for themselves.
This story was published in partnership with Southerly. Sheletta Brundidge watched from Cottage Grove, Minn., as severe winter weather descended on her hometown...Read More
Who’s Going to Take Responsibility for Air Pollution in Texas?
Legal experts say that environmental laws must be more strongly enforced by the government to protect the health and safety of Texans.
The chemical disaster at the Intercontinental Terminals Company in March 2019 was the beginning of the end of AJ Cole’s time in Houston. After thousands of ga...Read More
The Sunniest City in Texas is Expanding … Natural Gas Production
After New Mexico rejected a proposal for the El Paso power plant, the Biden administration could be El Paso’s last line of defense.
Jeanette Lara is one of a handful of doctors who serves the small, unincorporated community of Chaparral, New Mexico. Every day, when she drops off her 8-month-...Read More
Trump Has Kneecapped Another Environmental Safeguard. Could That Spur Expanded Uranium Mining in South Texas?
The president seeks to weaken a 50-year-old federal law requiring regulators to weigh environmental risks before approving major projects.
Donald Trump fulfilled his vow to slash “intrusive” environmental regulations in favor of monied energy conglomerates. Shortly after taking office, he annou...Read More
The Large Ask
Naomi Klein concedes in her new book that fighting climate change will be expensive and disruptive. She also passionately argues that it remains our most necessary battle.
Look I understand too little too late I realize there are things you say and do You can never take back But what would you be if you didn’t even try You h...Read More
Mosquitoes Are Bad. So Are the Chemicals Some Texas Cities Are Using to Kill Them.
As an impressively wet Texas spring turns into summer, mosquitoes are coming to a neighborhood near you. Cities aim to eradicate the pesky insects, but at what cost?
Mosquitoes suck. And with all the rain that’s inundated Texas this year — many parts of the state have blown past their average rainfall amounts — mosquit...Read More
TCEQ is Finally Doing Something About an East Texas Polluter
After years of inaction, the state environmental agency is poised to force German Pellets to install pollution controls at its Woodville processing plant.
One day in late November, a cloud of white smoke swept through Woodville, a small East Texas town of 2,500 about 55 miles north of Beaumont. It was a moment tha...Read More