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Energy and Environment Reporting for Texas

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Head Texas Oil and Gas Regulator Questions Climate Change

‘Not Everyone Believes in Global Warming,’ Smitherman Says Over 97 percent of climate change studies agree: the climate is changing, the world is warming and humans are the cause of it. But that does leave 3 percent of climate studies that are skeptical. And that sliver of skepticism is where Barry Smitherman, the head of Texas’ oil […]

Permafrost Melting Faster Than Expected in Antarctica

New Research Shows Melting at Rates Comparable to the Arctic Unlike the Arctic Circle up north, where once-permanent sea ice began melting and miles of permafrost began thawing decades ago, the ground ice in Antarctica’s Garwood Valley was generally considered stable. In this remote polar region near the iceberg-encrusted Ross Sea, temperatures actually became colder […]

Boy Scouts Launch Sustainability Merit Badge

Boy Scouts can earn merit badges in everything from Atomic Energy to Shotgun Shooting. But there has never been a badge for sustaining the planet, until now. On July 15, the Boy Scouts of America introduced the Sustainability merit badge, a new award designed to teach scouts about conservation and natural resource management. The badge […]

Here’s Obama’s New Plan to Deal With Climate Change

In a speech in Washington today, President Barack Obama unveiled a plan to deal with climate change, one that focuses on reducing emissions from the energy sector, building up the nation’s renewable energy and increasing energy efficiency. It also calls for the country to prepare for the impacts of climate change, like rising sea levels, […]

What the World Will Look Like After Three Decades of Warming

The world is warming, sea levels are rising, and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. In Texas, the heat waves of 2011 have been “explicitly attributed” to man’s impact on the climate, according to a 2012 World Bank report, ‘Turn Down the Heat.’ And the extreme drought of that same year — the driest […]

High Wildfire Risk, Longer Fire Season Possible This Year

Major wildfires could occur across the Southwest this year, including in Texas, according to several scientists on a Climate Nexus panel Tuesday. Now that Texas in its third year of drought, the state is likely to experience a longer fire season as a result of dry conditions and rising summer temperatures. High fire risk conditions […]

Report: As Natural Gas Displaces Coal, Carbon Emissions Fall

Increased use of natural gas to generate power in the U.S. is contributing to a decline in greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) out today. While coal still makes up a substantial percentage of the nation’s electricity, particularly when power demands rise in the […]

All Signs Point to Strong Hurricane Season

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the six-month Atlantic hurricane season, and forecasters think it might be a doozy. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts this coming season will produce more than 13 named storms. An average season produces 12, but the amount of hurricanes and major hurricanes is predicted to be above average as […]

This Week in Drought: The Biggest Losers

While the overall percentage of the state suffering from drought did not increase from last week, six percent of Texas, mostly in the Panhandle, sunk deeper into it. The U.S. Drought Monitor maps show  exceptional drought spreading in North and West Texas in the past week, with less severe drought levels decreasing in other parts […]

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