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Energy and Environment Reporting for Texas

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Poll: Americans Say Regulate Fracking More, Climate Change is Here

The latest University of Texas at Austin Energy Poll finds that a plurality of Americans oppose exporting natural gas; a majority say climate change is occurring; and in general are more concerned about the prices of gasoline and electricity than they are about carbon emissions. The semi-annual poll, conducted online, asks a representative group of 2,000 […]

Carbon From Power Plants Down as Coal Continues to Decline

Graph by EIA Carbon emissisions from power generation are down in the U.S., to their lowest levels in nearly twenty years, and Texas is partly to thank. A new analysis from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that “energy-related” carbon emissions have been declining every year (with the exception of 2010) since 2007. That’s […]

Outlook Calls for Texas Drought to Continue Into Summer

Thunderstorms soaked swaths of Texas yesterday and could bring more today, but Texas’ longterm weather forecast is saturated with unsettling news. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook summary of Texas weather is a grim reminder that Texas needs far more than a few strong storms. Here are some of the more interesting findings from the study: […]

A Different Kind of Climate War: Global Warming and National Security

By now you’ve probably heard about the potential for global climate change to impact the environment, the economy, even the range of vampire bats. But what about national security? That’s exactly what retired Navy Vice Admiral Lee Gunn has been talking about in Texas this week. Gunn served in the U.S. Navy for thirty-five years. […]

Retired NASA Scientists Enter Climate Change Fray

A group of retirees from NASA who once put a man on the moon and call their group The Right Climate Stuff “shouldn’t be taken seriously” according to an article in The Guardian, a British newspaper. One of the most vocal of the bunch, Harold Doiron, was taunted at a debate held at the National Press […]

As Drought Continues, A&M Asks to Permanently Fund Climatologist

As record drought and heat in Texas have garnered more and more attention over the last few years, so did Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, State Climatologist. Nielsen-Gammon says his position is part researcher, part adviser. “Basically, the job is to make sure the state makes the best use of weather and climate information,” he tells StateImpact Texas. […]

What You Can Do About Climate Change

For those watching and waiting for President Obama to take action on climate change, last night’s State of the Union address may have been an encouraging start. “If Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will,” the president said. “I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, […]

New World, New Problems: A Conversation With Al Gore on ‘The Future’

We’re sitting on the edge of a massive global transformation, where robots, globalization, consumption and pollution will all intersect to create a world that’s unlike anything humanity has every known, Former Vice President Al Gore argues in his new book, the aptly-titled ‘The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change.’ We spoke with the former Vice President […]

Obama Vows to Tackle Climate Change in Inaugural Speech

Citing “the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms” President Barack Obama put tackling climate change on a list of goals for his second presidential term today. In an inaugural speech that served to set an agenda for the next four years, the president said that failure to respond to […]

Record Hot Year Could Just Be the Middle of a Record Drought

As you’ve probably heard by now, the numbers are in: 2012 was the warmest year in recorded history for Texas (technically tied with 1921, due to rounding) and the country as a whole. New data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) show that 2012 was a full 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit above average, and […]

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