texas posts, articles, and infographics

Texans Say No to the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline

April 3, 2012 by Rocky Kistner
with 265 views

With news that President Obama will fast track the building of the southern leg of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, Texans in its path say their health and property rights are endangered by a torrent of corrosive tar sands oil from Canada. From landowners in the northern parts of the state to residents in the... [read more]

Texans to Future Tar Sands Refineries: Do They Care?

March 18, 2012 by Rocky Kistner
with 477 views

Gloria Trevino doesn’t need a Washington politician to tell her that a daily gusher of Canadian tar sands crude won’t do her air in south Houston any favors. Surrounded by massive petrochemical plants, she and her neighbors in this industrial community already breathe some of the dirtiest air in the country. Her small one-... [read more]

Texans Fight to Protect Their Land from the Keystone XL Pipeline

March 11, 2012 by Rocky Kistner
with 374 views

Down in Texas there’s an old saying; “You can put your boots in the oven but it don’t make them biscuits.” That’s an expression Washington politicians and their Keystone XL tar sands pipeline allies should take to heart. Texas landowners say they are fed up with the exaggerated claims and false arguments that Big Oil boosters are... [read more]

Carbon Capture Takes Center Stage In 2012

February 2, 2012 by Nino Marchetti
with 272 views

For two reasons, 2012 will be a milestone for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies, marking the beginning of its practical utilization.In December, the next step of the ongoing international climate change talks will be hosted by Qatar, which, with Saudi Arabia, has long pushed to have CCS included among approved... [read more]

Finding the Polluters: A Step Toward Accountability on Global Warming

January 17, 2012 by Peter Lehner
with 209 views

A new EPA web tool documents global warming pollution from about 6,700 facilities across the United States, filling a critical gap in the public's right to know about pollution. Polluters have been required to report on toxic chemical emissions for years, but in 2010, for the first time, big industrial polluters were asked to provide... [read more]

A Year of Weather Extremes?

January 16, 2012 by David Hone
with 474 views

Through 2010 and 2011 in particular, weather extremes seemed to dominate the headlines. Extreme drought, rainfall, flood and wind all played a role in making the period one of the most expensive in terms of damage to infrastructure. In some locations there was also significant loss of life. [read more]

Why I’m (Still) An Optimist

January 2, 2012 by Marc Gunther
with 440 views

Happy New Year! And good riddance to 2011, a year during which we made little or no progress on some of the issues that I care most about: climate change, the long-term federal debt, social mobility (aka the American dream), and our dysfunctional Congress. Yet I remain an optimist. Texas drought 2011 I could write many words about our... [read more]

All Is Not Quiet on the Nuclear Front

November 4, 2011 by Dan Yurman
with 391 views

NY Times OP ED asks if nuclear power has a future? An interesting question is posed by a guest opinion piece published in the New York Times on October 10. Stephanie Cooke, a respected nuclear industry analyst and book author, asks whether there is a future for nuclear energy in the post-Fukushima era. Ms. Cooke, who is an editor at... [read more]

Nielsen-Gammon vs the New Normal

September 14, 2011 by Michael Tobis
with 346 views

John Nielsen-Gammon, our Texas State climatologist came up with this scary image that most of you have seen, and that everyone in Texas ought to take a good long look at. I was one of the first to reproduce it, but I've seen in lots of places since, and with good reason. [read more]

Rick Perry, Lyin’ and Denyin’

September 2, 2011 by Marc Gunther
with 708 views

How can Texas governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry talk so irresponsibly about global warming–and get away with it? Have we really reached a point where, in order to appeal to the hard core of the Republican Party, candidates have to ignore the fact that the earth is getting warmer, and that human activities are... [read more]

Record-Setting Power Consumption In Texas -- ERCOT Narrowly Avoids Rolling Blackouts

August 14, 2011 by Michael Giberson
with 856 views

Image via Wikipedia

Much in the news in Texas these past few weeks have been new peak power records and several grid emergency conditions which saw the ERCOT power system narrowly avoid rolling blackout a time or two. Tom Fowler of the Houston Chronicle‘s Fuel Fix blog has been tracking the story closely, see selected links below. Rebecca Smith provided a... [read more]

Heat, Public Health, And Air Conditioning

July 19, 2011 by Charles Barton
with 582 views

In the face of spreading heat waves, more and more people will need air conditioning, not as a matter of comfort, but for health related reasons. Efficiency will not supply the electricity for an air conditioned world. [read more]

How Many Congressmen Does It Take To Screw Up a Light Bulb?

July 12, 2011 by David Doniger
with 467 views

Taking Care of the Medium Screw Base The BULB Act – for “Better Use of Light Bulbs” – is the latest bright idea from Rep. Joe Barton, the Texas Republican who last year apologized to BP during the Gulf oil spill and more recently questioned whether there is any “medical negative” from mercury or other dangerous air pollutants. This is a... [read more]

T. Boone Terrorism: Droughts Pit Natural Gas Industry Against Texans

July 1, 2011 by Jonathan Smith
with 516 views

Speaking of less water, Travis Waldron has a fine observation on irresponsible action by fossil fuel companies, specifically drillers using Billions of Gallons of Potable Water for fracking. Where? In Drought-Stricken Texas, of course. [read more]

Texas Offshore Wind Energy Project Poised to be 'First in the Water'

June 9, 2011 by Jesse Jenkins
with 3,008 views

Texan wind energy developer poised to construct first U.S. offshore wind turbine, even as policy uncertainty and tricky project financing harries competing projectsWith some five gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy projects in the works, the long-promised dawn of offshore wind in America could be at hand. And although the most... [read more]