Articles tagged: West Texas
Texas Solar Hits a Turning Point
As the coronavirus pandemic devastates the state’s already flailing oil and gas industry, solar energy production is on a trajectory for record growth.
On Garland Richards’ ranch in West Central Texas, silicon solar panels spread for two square miles in a shimmering blue expanse that resembles a lake. The Hol...Read More
COVID-19 is Surging in Rural Texas, Threatening to Overwhelm Local Hospitals
ICU beds are limited, medical providers are falling sick, and urban hospitals where small facilities transfer critical patients are running out of space.
Just a few weeks ago, officials in Starr County thought their community might make it through the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the few lucky ones. The rural coun...Read More
The Traveling Midwife
In far West Texas, some women have to travel hours to give birth, endangering themselves and their babies. Could midwives help fill in the gap?
The Traveling Midwife In far West Texas, some women have to travel hours to give birth, endangering themselves and their babies. Could midwives help fill in the...Read More
In a New West Texas Novel, Women Kick Ass and Take Names
Set in the 1970s Odessa oil boom, Elizabeth Wetmore’s debut novel, Valentine, is a revelation not for what it explores but for how.
Even though Friday Night Lights has been off the air for years, I’m still needled by one particular scene in an otherwise enjoyable show. In it, ice cream spr...Read More
‘Trans Pecos’ Is a Beautiful Plea to Protect West Texas
This visually striking film captures the innate beauty of far West Texas and the threats posed to it by oil and gas infrastructure.
“To be part of this land,” rancher Pilar Pedersen says early on in Trans Pecos, “it’s just ephemeral. Nobody owns this land.” Living in West Texas’ ...Read More
This West Texas Town is a Reproductive Health Void
Family planning clinics and abortion clinics across Texas have been closing at an alarming rate. Rural hospitals are shuttering their maternity wards. For many Texans, this means traveling hundreds of miles just to access basic reproductive health care services.
Critical Condition: Part 3 Labor Away Family planning clinics and abortion clinics across Texas have been closing at an alarming rate. Rural hospitals are shutt...Read More
A Riveting New History of an Ancient West Texas Canyon
Like a cross-section of the desert, David Keller’s book reveals layers of overlapping history in the spectacular and rugged Pinto Canyon.
“Other than by foot or horseback, there are only two ways to get to Pinto Canyon,” writes David Keller in his latest book, In the Shadow of the Chinatis: A ...Read More
Without Transmission Lines, Renewable Energy Still has a Long Way to Go — Literally
In Superpower, author Russell Gold tells the story of a Houston businessman’s ambitious plan to transform the electric grid.
If you want to understand the future of renewable energy, look to Texas. That’s the argument Russell Gold makes in his new book Superpower: One Man’s Quest ...Read More
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.
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