Texas Climate & Energy
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Texas is the largest energy-producing and energy-consuming state in the nation. Texas produces more electricity than any other state, generating almost twice as much as Florida, the second-highest electricity-producing state. Thus, Texas has a disproportionate impact on the ability of the U.S. and the global community to mitigate climate change. Texas also can be an energy justice leader, ensuring that energy production doesn’t harm vulnerable communities, and energy is available even to the marginalized.
Light and Life
Using the Public Utility Commission of Texas Sunset Review to Safeguard Texans’ Health and Wellbeing
The upcoming 2022-2023 Sunset review of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, offers a unique opportunity for Texas lawmakers to advance public health in the Lone Star State.
NEWS + LATEST UPDATES
Save Money, Save the Planet
It's hard for some communities to imagine that solar power could even be an option. But with these rebates and possibilities through the Inflation Reduction Act, there might be more opportunity here than they would expect.There's never been a better time for houses of...
Developed nations to world: We will build bigger barns
Near the end of last year’s COP in Dubai, UAE, the African nations together wrote a letter to the COP presidency lamenting the lack of urgent language around transitioning away from fossil fuels in the final version of the Stocktake document. The letter said...
Biden Administration Announces Amazon Climate Finance Initiatives
Two major concerns for what seemed like everybody at this year’s COP were what the US would be willing to pledge towards the new climate finance goal and what the US could reasonably promise with regard to climate action given the upcoming change in presidential...
Ep. 415 COP and Go: Updates from the Global Climate Summit
This week we turn our attention to the other side of the globe as we welcome Texas Impact’s Climate Action Fellow, Rev. Dr. Becca Edwards to the program. Becca recently returned from the 29th UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP), the global…
Mel Caraway: Methane Updates from Texas and Outer Space
There has been a lot of talk about methane recently. And it is happening all over the planet. Last Tuesday, there was a plenary at COP29 on “Methane and Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases.” But that is not what I want to write about today. I want to write about what’s...
FEMA, NOAA Talk Hazard Resilience at COP29
At COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan Friday morning staff from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration talked at the “America is All In” pavilion about one of my favorite topics, hazards and resilience. Victoria...
A Strange Way to Start: COP29 is Underway
We hold our breath, waiting to see whether the incoming Trump Administration will follow through on the promise to once again pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement. There is much speculation that the coming administration will have a devastating impact on the climate.
Regina Banks: Showing up to COP29 as a Black American Woman
Showing up to COP29 as a Black American woman in these highly scrutinized global spaces is a complex experience. I arrive excited to work alongside familiar faces and strong allies, but I also feel the weight of representing a country whose climate commitments are capricious.
Tell TCEQ to Adopt a Strong State Implementation Plan for Methane
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule in December 2023 that would drastically cut methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. That is great news for the climate and for Texans. Now it is time for Texas to help implement the new rule and...
TCEQ Invites Public Comment on Methane Rule Planning
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is in the early stages of work to develop a State Implementation Plan to ensure Texas is in compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Section 111 methane rule, which was finalized in December 2023. They have...