Erin Douglas

A bill to stop cities from banning natural gas as a fuel source for heating homes and other buildings is being advanced as priority storm-response legislation following the February power outages.

Members of the Texas Railroad Commission were quick to blame renewable energy for power outages across the state. All sources of energy struggled to produce power during the storm.

An updated analysis of the Texas power crisis shows lost natural gas power generation was the most significant component of the February outages.

The state’s grid operator indicated that conditions are improving and said that power outages to residents are unlikely.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott wanted the high court to disallow mask mandates in Texas school districts. Justices dismissed their request on a technicality, without issuing a ruling on their legal arguments.

A Capitol Police assessment flagged comments made by the Texas congressperson as a potential danger, Politico reported.

The incumbent avoided a runoff. State Rep. James White had tried to unseat Miller with criticisms centered on controversies under Miller’s leadership.

Residents of this town, which is nicknamed “the Crossroads of America,” grapple with the horror of losing 21 lives.

During the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency exempted a proposed oil export terminal off the Texas coast from air pollution requirements. This week it rejected the permit because of pollution concerns.

The latest figure is 68% higher than an earlier estimate of $34 billion, and it’s unclear when — or whether — Congress will appropriate the money to build the massive system of gates intended to protect the Houston region from storm surge.

In Liberty County, one neighborhood has been slowly abandoned as years of flooding and intense rains prompted a spiral of decline. A struggling buyout program shows the complexities and limitations of “managed retreat” from disaster-prone areas.

The effort to update the state’s oilfield waste disposal rules was initiated by Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright, one of the state’s top oil and gas regulators who has investments in the industry.

The summer heat may have cost the state’s economy $24 billion this year, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas economists, who add that Texas is twice as vulnerable to heat-related economic slowdowns than the rest of the country.

Kevin Vu is an Austin-based reporting fellow. Born in Houston, Kevin attends the University of Texas at Austin, where he studies journalism and has worked as a news reporter and editor for The Daily Texan, the campus paper. Kevin’s work has appeared in the Austin American-Statesman and on NPR’s Next Generation Radio. He previously interned at NewsGuard, which combats misinformation. On his off days, you can catch Kevin cooking and catching up on shows.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act required Texas’ transportation agency to create a carbon reduction strategy to get $641 million federal dollars. Critics say the plan is unlikely to meaningfully cut greenhouse gasses from the state’s ...

The 5.2 magnitude earthquake is tied for the fourth strongest in Texas history. It occurred in an area where oilfield companies have long been injecting wastewater from fracking underground.

The Republican-controlled Texas State Board of Education this week rejected most of the proposed textbooks that include climate science for eighth grade students. Five of 12 were approved.

Texas rates have increased 22% on average so far in 2023, twice the national rate. More billion-dollar disasters have occurred in Texas this year than any other year on record.

The Biden Administration announced a crackdown on methane emissions, a major driver of climate change. Major oil and gas companies also signed on to a voluntary net-zero commitment.

More than 300 Texans died from heat in 2023, the most since the state began tracking such deaths in 1989.