Texas Prelude: Unchecked Growth Around Big Bend Sparks Debate Over Water
"No one knows how much water sits beneath the desert of Terlingua. Residents worry their wells will run dry, as developers and local officials cheer the tourism boom."
"No one knows how much water sits beneath the desert of Terlingua. Residents worry their wells will run dry, as developers and local officials cheer the tourism boom."
"Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, one of the largest rural cooperative utilities in the U.S., is bringing the energy transition home to its massive western service territory. It’s acquiring its first large-scale solar power plants as it prepares to shift away from its current dependence on coal power."
"Dozens of Donald Trump’s supporters have been requiring medical help at his rallies in the scorching US south-west but it seems lost on him that his plans to reverse climate policies and “drill, baby, drill” for fossil fuels will only worsen extreme weather, campaigners say."
"When it comes to climate and the 2024 elections, Arizona just might represent the perfect storm of dramatic consequences: It’s one of the states most severely impacted by climate change, a strong majority of voters share climate concerns, climate issues dominate political debate in the state, it’s a battleground state that could help decide the presidential race, and its Legislature is so narrowly divided that it could easily flip from Republican to Democratic control."
"The first heat wave of the season has arrived earlier than usual across much of the U.S. Southwest, with dangerously hot conditions that produced triple-digit temperatures on Tuesday. Forecasters say temperatures are likely to top 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) in some areas by Thursday."
"More than 5 million Texans, or one in six people in the state, live or work in an area susceptible to flooding, according to a draft of the state’s first-ever flood plan."
"The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced the acquisition Thursday of about 3,700 acres (1,497 hectares) of land adjacent to the Río Grande del Norte National Monument in northern New Mexico near the Colorado border."
"With another hot summer looming, Mexico is behind on its water deliveries to the United States, leading to water cutbacks in South Texas. A little-known federal agency has hit a roadblock in its efforts to get Mexico to comply."
Plans for two new U.S. facilities that will use hydrogen instead of coal to make steel hold the promise of decarbonizing this essential but dirty industry. But don’t expect overnight change. Reporter Maria Gallucci looks at the complexities of making the switch, from ditching the blast furnace to reducing pollution all along the supply chain.
"The Navajo Nation Council has signed off on a proposed settlement that would ensure water rights for its tribe and two others in the drought-stricken Southwest -- a deal that could become the most expensive enacted by Congress."