Southwest (AZ NM OK TX)

"Climate Change Is Raising Texas’ Already High Wildfire Risks"

"Climate change is increasing the risk of wildfires in Texas, a danger made real this week as the Smokehouse Creek fire, the largest in state history, burns out of control across the Panhandle region. And that growing fire risk is beginning to affect the insurance market in Texas, raising premiums for homeowners and causing some insurers to withdraw from parts of the state."

Source: NYTimes, 03/04/2024

After Fighting a Landfill Expansion, Houston Residents Await Methane Rules

"When the Hawthorne Park Landfill opened in 1977, it transformed everyday life for residents of Carverdale, a historically Black neighborhood in northwest Houston. Myra Jefferson has seen pests and roaches from the dump multiply over the decades and remembers yellow dust from the rot sticking to everything."

Source: Inside Climate News, 02/29/2024

Wildfire Grows Into One Of Largest In Texas History, Menacing Towns

"A cluster of wildfires scorched the Texas Panhandle on Wednesday, including a blaze that grew into one of the largest in state history, as flames moved with alarming speed and blackened the landscape across a vast stretch of small towns and cattle ranches."

Source: AP, 02/29/2024

TX Railroad Commission Approves Toxic Waste Ponds Next to Baptist Camp

"Texas regulators recently authorized a company to operate ponds to store and recycle millions of gallons of oilfield wastewater laced with toxic chemicals next to a Baptist summer camp in the Permian Basin."

Source: Inside Climate News, 02/27/2024

Dead Livestock And Poisoned Water — Texas Farmers Sue Over PFAS Pollution

"Two Texas farm families have seen their health decline, their pets and livestock sickened and killed, their water poisoned and and their property values wiped out due to high levels of chemical contamination linked to a company marketing treated sewage sludge as a fertilizer and soil conditioner, according to a lawsuit filed by the families."

Source: The New Lede, 02/22/2024

'Gaslit' Project Spotlights Challenges of Teaching Investigative Journalism

Research, collaboration, human-centered storytelling and the ineluctable element of time — all these were among the facets of a complex, award-winning investigative report run by a team of students at Arizona State University on excessive and harmful natural gas flaring. How the project came together, and the lessons learned, in the new EJ Academy from column co-editor and longtime educator Bob Wyss.

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February 28, 2024

Coppell Sustainability Summit

This free event, hosted by the Coppell Eco Club in Coppell, Texas, 6:00-8:30 p.m., is aimed at creating change at a city-wide and political level to become more environmentally-conscious. RSVP now for a fun night of movies, free food and exceptional speakers.

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Giant Baytown Refinery Complex Wants To Expand Amid Community Backlash

"Exxon’s Baytown complex in the Houston-area has the third largest oil refinery in the U.S. and is requesting permit renewal for its olefins plant despite repeated violations to the Clean Air Act."

Source: EHN, 02/15/2024

"Arizona Monument Created By Biden Faces Volley Of Lawsuits"

"Opponents of a sprawling national monument surrounding the Grand Canyon National Park on Monday launched a pair of lawsuits challenging the site, opening another front in a Republican effort to roll back presidential authority to protect federal lands."

Source: E&E News, 02/14/2024

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