Environment
Six Texas Oil Refineries Are Among the Nation’s Worst Benzene Polluters, Data Shows
Benzene was detected at the facilities’ fencelines, and nearby communities could be exposed to the cancer-causing pollutant.
The 367-mile Texas Gulf Coast now holds an unenviable honor: It is home to six of the nation’s most prolific polluters of benzene, an invisible, deadly gas th...Read More
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.
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 regulator...Read More
Bald Eagle Numbers on Lake Buchanan Hit a Record Low
The midwinter survey of bald eagles at Lake Buchanan found the lowest number ever recorded, and illegal duck hunting could be a factor.
Charles Tischler had no trouble spotting the white-throated caracara and red-tailed hawks wheeling through the sky above Lake Buchanan on Sunday. But those aren...Read More
As Fossil Fuel Industry Invests Billions in New Texas Facilities, it Could Unleash a Huge Emissions Bomb
A new report finds that a pipeline of new and proposed oil and gas projects—many of them in Texas—could produce half a billion tons of additional greenhouse gas emissions a year.
A hulking new $10 billion ethane cracker near Corpus Christi set for completion by 2022. A trio of approved liquified natural gas export terminals near Brownsvi...Read More
Trump Has Kneecapped Another Environmental Safeguard. Could That Spur Expanded Uranium Mining in South Texas?
The president seeks to weaken a 50-year-old federal law requiring regulators to weigh environmental risks before approving major projects.
Donald Trump fulfilled his vow to slash “intrusive” environmental regulations in favor of monied energy conglomerates. Shortly after taking office, he annou...Read More
Five Times the Effects of Climate Change Loomed Over Texas in 2019
From sweltering droughts to a toxic algae bloom spreading in Texas waterways, the Observer takes a look back at the direct and indirect impacts of the climate crisis in Texas.
In 2019, the climate crisis captured the nation’s attention in a notable and urgent way. Perhaps it was a reaction to the Trump administration rolling back nu...Read More
The EPA Faces Lawsuit Over Slaughterhouse Pollution in Waterways
The Environmental Integrity Project and other advocates are suing the EPA for failing to update wastewater pollution standards for meat processing facilities for 15 years straight.
The Trump administration has taken another hard jab at protections for the nation’s rivers and lakes—and a broad coalition of advocates is swinging right ba...Read More
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.
The oil and gas industry in Texas is largely responsible for doubling the amount of illegal air pollution in the state last year, according to a report released...Read More
Bald Eagle Numbers at Lake Buchanan Are Declining. No One’s Exactly Sure Why.
From 2015 to 2019, an average of four birds per year came to Lake Buchanan—less than half of the 10.4 average for the five years before that. Could the noise from hunters be to blame?
Tim Mohan is intimately familiar with Lake Buchanan, the northernmost of the six Highland Lakes that squiggle through the Hill Country toward Austin. The outdoo...Read More