Topics
The Lege This Week: Stimmy for Schools?
The Texas Senate passes its budget bill without addressing billions of dollars in unspent federal relief. Now, public education advocates are demanding that lawmakers open up the spigot for local school districts.
Welcome to the 87th Legislative Session. Since the last session came to a close in June 2019, Texas has been hit by an unrestrained pandemic and a crippling eco...Read More
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
‘Luz at Midnight’ Reimagines Blackouts, Polar Vortexes, and Environmental Justice in San Antonio
A recent novel offers a South Texas story for organizers, scholars, poets, and lovers.
In the not-too-distant future, San Antonio is scrambling to go carbon neutral. They’re turning refineries into apartments and closing coal plants to build mix...Read More
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.
This story is one installment of a larger project by Grist and The Texas Observer. Support comes from the Pulitzer Center. Amy Townsend-Small has been chasing...Read More
Waves of Abandonment
The Permian Basin is ground zero for a billion-dollar surge of zombie oil wells.
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‘No Teeth and No Funding’: How Regulators Failed to Police the Oil Industry
Budget cuts and long term disinvestment in local environmental agencies have hobbled the states’ ability to oversee fracking.
This story is one installment of a larger project by Grist and The Texas Observer. Support comes from the Pulitzer Center. The fracking boom in the Permian Ba...Read More
The Lege This Week: Elections and Abortions and Grid-Reforms, Oh My!
As the Legislature’s pace quickens, lawmakers advance “election integrity” crackdowns, attacks on abortion rights, and reforms in response to the deadly blackouts.
Welcome to the 87th Legislative Session. Since the last session came to a close in June 2019, Texas has been hit by an unrestrained pandemic and a crippling eco...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
How Flawed Death Investigations Can Leave Texas COVID-19 Deaths Uncounted
According to a new study, undercounts of COVID-19 deaths appear worst in rural and suburban areas served by elected justices of the peace.
Rick Hill, a retired high school principal, plays a key role in tracing deaths linked to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As an elected justice of the peace (JP) ...Read More
The Lege This Week: “Another Watershed Moment”
The push for an omnibus reform package named after George Floyd underscores how outrage over his death changed local and state policy debates around policing.
Welcome to the 87th Legislative Session. Since the last session came to a close in June 2019, Texas has been hit by an unrestrained pandemic and a crippling eco...Read More