Skip to content

The Texas Observer

Since 1954

  • Join
  • Donate
  • Leak
  • Shop
  • Sections
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Support
  • Shop
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Toggle Search Search icon
  • Sections

    • Border and Immigration
    • Civil Rights
    • Criminal Justice
    • Culture
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Housing
    • Labor
    • Loon Star State
    • Politics
    • Public Health
    • Reviews
    • Photo Essays
  • About

    • About the Observer
    • Staff
    • The Texas Democracy Foundation
    • MOLLY National Journalism Prizes
    • Work for the Texas Observer
    • Syndication
  • The Magazine

    • Get the Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
  • Support

    • Donate
    • Become a Member
    • Shop
    • Legacy Giving
  • Search

Socials

  • Find the Texas Observer on Facebook
  • Find the Texas Observer on Twitter
  • Find the Texas Observer on Instagram
  • Find the Texas Observer on Mastodon

rural

One Researcher’s Quest to Quantify the Environmental Cost of Abandoned Oil Wells

Unplugged wells could be quietly leaking millions of pounds of methane in West Texas.

by Christopher Collins and Naveena Sadasivam, Grist

Keep Reading

Waves of Abandonment

by Clayton Aldern, Christopher Collins, and Naveena Sadasivam

‘No Teeth and No Funding’: How Regulators Failed to Police the Oil Industry

by Naveena Sadasivam, Grist

How Flawed Death Investigations Can Leave Texas COVID-19 Deaths Uncounted

by Lise Olsen

last cowboys Jun 06, 2018

‘The Last Cowboys’ is a Wild Ride All the Way Home

Pulitzer Prize winner John Branch takes a fascinating dive into what it's like to make a living by horseback, both on the range and at the rodeo.

by Christopher Collins

Nov 15, 2017

Top 1 Percent of Texas Commodity Farmers Get Quarter of $1.6 Billion in Subsidies

Subsidy program reforms were supposed to save taxpayers billions, but corn and sorghum farmers in Texas are getting more money than they have in a decade.

by Christopher Collins

Save Our Schools rally Aug 25, 2017

Despite ‘Hardship’ Funding, Rural Texas Schools Face Difficult Financial Future

Education advocates don’t think the funding will be enough to avoid staff layoffs and cuts to student services.

by Christopher Collins

Children hanging out

Inside this month's print issue

Lost Children—A Texas Tragedy

A riveting new book about foster care and adoption exposes just how the state lost six kids to out-of-state mothers who murdered them.

Keep Reading

The Magazine

Aug 10, 2017

Introducing the Texas Observer’s Rural Reporting Project

Texas has the biggest rural population in the nation, yet many journalists treat much of the state as flyover country.

by Forrest Wilder

Main room of the Hill Country Community Action Agency's San Saba family-planning clinic Feb 27, 2013

‘Everything Is Gone’: Family-Planning Clinics Disappear From Rural Texas

by Carolyn Jones

  • Find the Texas Observer on Facebook
  • Find the Texas Observer on Twitter
  • Find the Texas Observer on Instagram
  • Find the Texas Observer on Mastodon

Sections

  • Border and Immigration
  • Civil Rights
  • COVID-19
  • Criminal Justice
  • Culture
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Housing
  • Indigenous Affairs
  • Labor
  • Loon Star State
  • Politics
  • Public Health
  • Rural Texas
  • Reviews
  • Photo Essays
  • Poetry

About

  • About the Observer
  • Staff
  • The Molly National Journalism Prize
  • The Texas Democracy Foundation
  • Syndication
  • Work for the Texas Observer

The Magazine

  • Get the Magazine
  • Archives
  • Where to Find the Texas Observer

Contact

  • Contacts List
  • Leak to the Observer
  • Pitch to the Texas Observer

Support

  • Donate
  • Become a Member
  • Legacy Giving

Events

  • RSVP

Shop

  • Observer Merch

SIGN UP FOR TEXAS OBSERVER EMAILS

Get our latest in-depth reporting straight to your inbox.

Sign Up

© 2021 The Texas Observer. All rights reserved. Site made in collaboration with CMYK.

Privacy Policy • Terms and Conditions