Articles by Dylan Baddour and Berenice Garcia, The Texas Tribune

Court Orders Regulators to Fix Process, Reconsider Gas Export Projects in South Texas

McALLEN — A federal court struck down a regulatory agency’s authorization of two controversial, multi-billion-dollar gas export projects in far South Texas, one of which is already under construction. The ruling orders federal regulators to correct procedural deficiencies before reconsidering …

Study Links Fracking Wastewater Injection to Surface Blowouts in West Texas Oil Wells

Fracking wastewater, injected underground for permanent disposal, traveled 12 miles through geological faults before bursting to the surface through a previously plugged West Texas oil well in 2022, according to a new study from Southern Methodist University. It’s the first …

Texas Ranchers Face Growing Risk as Abandoned Oil Wells Gush Gassy Water

In recent years, Schuyler Wight has noticed a growing number of abandoned oil wells coming back to life, gurgling fluids on the surface of his West Texas ranch. Last week he found the biggest one yet. Gassy water was gushing …

Rise in Texas Crop Insurance Payouts Driven by Drought

The financial costs of drought in Texas have risen rapidly over recent decades, according to a new analysis of federal crop insurance data. The nonprofit Environmental Working Group, a longtime critic of the federal crop insurance program based in Washington, …

Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Air Pollution Permit for Texas LNG Terminal

A federal appeals court on Monday struck down a major air pollution permit issued by Texas’s environmental regulator, arguing that the state allowed improperly high emissions limits for Port Arthur LNG, a gas liquefaction and export terminal currently under construction …