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
Building Resilience Experts Talk Hazards and Insurance
In a recent article on Climate Connections, meteorologist Jeff Masters stated plainly what is at stake for the housing market if we fail to prepare for climate change impacts in the United States:“In the U.S., the most likely major economic disruption from climate...
PUC Announces Finalists for Texas Energy Fund
Yesterday the Public Utility Commission announced the selection of the project proposals which will receive funding from the Texas Energy Fund. The Texas Energy Fund is public money set aside by SB2627 for the Public Utility Commission to issue loans to support...
Lawsuit Calls for Humane Conditions in Overheated Texas Prisons
A lawsuit filed by a cohort of Texas prison-rights advocates against the executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice accuses the department of creating inhumane conditions inside Texas prisons by failing to air condition the facilities. The lawsuit...
Climate Change Drives Change on Maine Coast
I am taking a break this week from talking about the Gulf of Mexico to spend a few minutes talking about my summer family travel to another gulf, the Gulf of Maine. Like the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Maine is experiencing rapid environmental change driven by climate...
Journey to Ghana
Imagine a room filled with the brightest minds in contemporary theology, vibrating with excitement and sharing groundbreaking ideas. This was the atmosphere at Sankofa Conference 2024, held in Legon, Ghana, where Pastors, Professors, Scientists, and Activists alike,...
US Supreme Court Stays Good Neighbor Rule
At the end of June the US Supreme Court issued a stay in a case called Ohio v. EPA that blocks the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing the Good Neighbor Rule, also known as the Cross State Air Pollution Rule. The Good Neighbor Rule addresss transport...
Review: Abrahm Lustgarten’s “On the Move”
The central premise of Abrahm Lustgarten’s book “On the Move” is that the impacts of climate change are already driving human migration within the United States and that that trend will accelerate as the impacts of climate change ramp up. The book opens with an...
An Ounce of Prevention
When I was in grad school, my job was to drive instrument towers to the coast when a hurricane was coming so we could collect high-frequency wind data that we could study to learn about how to make buildings more resilient to wind storms like hurricanes. I drove to a...
TRRC Commissioner Christian Offers Testimony in Senate Natural Resources Committee Hearing
Last week the Senate Natural Resources and Economic Development (SNRED) committee gathered for a hearing on five different interim charges (a complete list of Texas Senate interim charges is available here). Thursday, June 13 the Senate Natural Resources and Economic...
Ep. 348 Ready or Not
We talk weather this week with Dr. Becca Edwards, Texas Impact’s Climate Action Fellow. Originally because we wanted to talk about Hurricane Season, which begins this weekend and runs through November, but seems like most of Texas has…