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Environment

Editor’s Letter: Introducing Our May/June 2025 Issue

A note from the editor-in-chief

by Gus Bova

Keep Reading

Corpus Christi Launches Emergency Water Projects as Reservoirs Dwindle and Industrial Demand Grows 

by Dylan Baddour

Texas Uranium Mining Portends Nuclear Revival

by Dylan Baddour

How Texas Diminished a Once-Rigorous Air Pollution Monitoring Team

by Dylan Baddour and Peter Aldhous

A ground level view of the wall at the U.S / Mexico border, standing under the sun in the desert. Oct 06, 2023

Biden Administration Waives 26 Laws to Accelerate Border Wall Construction

On the campaign trail, the president once promised there would “not be another foot” constructed under his watch.

by Sharon Zhang

An aerial view of an oil and gas refinery on the Gulf Coast in Texas City. Smokestacks and storage containers dot the landscape under a partly cloudy sky. Sep 13, 2023

Texas Bets on Undersea Carbon Capture, Despite Concerns

Critics worry about leakage through rock layers, pipeline safety and the lackluster record of the technology onshore.

by Amal Ahmed

A prisoner sits on his bunk in his white prison uniform, looking at the camera. The feet and legs of another prisoner sitting on an upper bunk is also visible. A cooling fan is installed nearby. Sep 13, 2023

‘It Will Take the Breath Out of You’: Prisoners Describe Extreme Nighttime Heat in Texas Units

TDCJ will allocate $85 million to provide more air conditioning. In the meantime, people are sweltering in their beds.

by Michelle Pitcher

A composite image, showing an outdoor music party glowing with lasers and colorful people on the right, and on the left the cover of The Free People's Village by Sim Kern, which shows a punk smashing a police robot with a baseball bat. Sep 12, 2023

The Free People’s Village: Everyday Life in Solarpunk Texas

In a novelist’s alternative Texas, Al Gore became president and the War on Climate Change began. What could go wrong?

by Texas Observer Staff

A dark-colored SUV plows into a massive puddle of water, spewing from broken pipes at the sidewalk near an urban Texas apartment building in Houston, one of many severe water leaks requiring repairs during the heatwave. Sep 07, 2023

Record Summer Heat Causes Costly Damage to State Water Infrastructure

Conservationists are frustrated as cities contend with thousands of costly leaks as dry soil contracts, causing underground pipes to rupture.

by Dylan Baddour

A lonely figure stands in a dry spring bed, usually full of gushing fresh water. There are drought-struck trees all around the "well" of Jacob's Well. Aug 28, 2023

As Springs Dry Up, a Warning of Future Water Shortages

Heat, drought and booming population growth have stressed the aquifers that supply millions of people.

by Dylan Baddour

x Jul 17, 2023

From Phoenix to Austin, Weeks of ‘Brutal’ Heat Stagger the Southwest

More than a third of the country faced some kind of heat advisory over the weekend.

by Jake Bittle, Grist

Seemingly endless rows of solar panels on a scrubby grass ground. Jul 12, 2023

Texas Wastes Renewable Energy During June Heatwave

Solar and wind input is setting records, but the state’s inefficient grid is unable to handle the full load it could deliver in the ongoing heat wave.

by Keaton Peters

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. Jun 30, 2023

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

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