Big Leaks, Little Regulation
Lax regulation by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality means oil and gas facilities are able to pollute with impunity.
TCEQ
How Texas Lawmakers and Industry Have Weakened Citizens’ Rights to Fight Pollution
At the behest of the industry, legislators have chipped away at the environmental permitting process in Texas, stacking the deck against concerned people protesting industrial projects.
Texas Relaxed Environmental Enforcement During the Pandemic, State Data Show
Even as the agency reduced enforcement, it continued processing permits that allow businesses to pollute up to certain limits at about the same rate that it did last year.
In Southeast Lubbock Neighborhood, Residents are Fed Up With a Feedlot
Kathy Stewart has complained for years about the fecal dust invading Yellowhouse Canyon. But so far, her concerns have mostly been ignored.
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.
Something in the Air
In the Texas Panhandle, which produces a fifth of the U.S. beef supply, communities are being choked by fecal dust from nearby feedlots. The state’s regulatory agency isn’t doing anything about it—and it’s about to get a whole lot worse.
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.
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How BP Oil Spill Fines Could Help Protect the Texas Coast
Other states were harder hit by the spill, but Texas is still receiving millions of dollars that can be used for vital restoration and conservation efforts.
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.
Port of Corpus Christi Pushes Ahead with Oil Terminal Project, Environment Be Damned
As the agency courts tankers that can carry 2.2 million barrels of crude each, activists worry that the plan could spoil the habitats of the aquatic species that thrive here.