News Releases

News Release | Environment Texas Research & Policy Center

Obama Administration Takes Needed First Step to Protect Our Health and Environment from Fracking Air Pollution

AUSTIN-Today the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized new national standards to curb dangerous air pollution from gas drilling operations. Environment Texas praised the measure as an important first step in addressing the risks associated with hydraulic fracturing. “For communities living in the face of fracking, these new standards are a breath of fresh air,” said Luke Metzger, Director of Environment Texas. “These standards are a needed first step to protect Texans’ health and environment from the dangers of fracking.”

News Release | Environment Texas

Obama Administration to Protect Americans’ Health by Setting Carbon Pollution Standards for New Power Plants

AUSTIN—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today proposed historic new limits on carbon pollution from new power plants. Carbon pollution fuels global warming, which leads to poor air quality that triggers asthma attacks and other respiratory problems. Scientists also predict that global warming will lead to more devastating floods, more deadly heat waves and the spread of infectious diseases. Coal-fired power plants are the largest single source of carbon pollution in the U.S., yet there are currently no federal limits on this pollution from power plants. The proposed Carbon Pollution Standard will correct that for new power plants by limiting emissions to more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide pollution for each megawatt of electricity produced. Texas currently leads the nation in emissions of carbon pollution from power plants.

News Release | Environment Texas Research & Policy Center

14.6 Million Pounds of Toxic Chemicals Dumped into Texas’ Waterways

AUSTIN - Industrial facilities dumped 14.6 million pounds of toxic chemicals into Texas’ waterways, making Texas’ waterways the fourth worst in the nation according to a new report released today by Environment Texas. Wasting Our Waterways: Industrial Toxic Pollution and the Unfulfilled Promise of the Clean Water Act also reports that the Houston Ship Channel, the Brazos River, Cottonwood Branch stream, Corpus Christi Inner Harbor and Tankersley Creek received the highest toxic discharges in Texas. 

News Release | Environment Texas Research and Policy Center

Energy Efficient Buildings Would Reduce Global Warming Pollution, Save Texas Families Over $500 Annually

AUSTIN- Texas families could save $525 every year on their electricity bills by 2030 if the government invests in the energy efficiency of our buildings today, according to a new report by Environment Texas. Saving energy in our buildings would also help Texas’ fight against global warming, reducing global warming pollution from buildings by 30 percent—the equivalent of taking about 30.4 million cars off the road.

News Release | Environment Texas

84 Percent of Texans Live in Areas Hit by Recent Weather Disasters; New Report Says Global Warming to Bring More Extreme Weather

AUSTIN - After a year that saw Texas hit by scorching heat, devastating wildfires, and extreme drought, a new Environment Texas report documents how global warming could lead to certain extreme weather events becoming even more common or more severe in the future.  The report found that, already, 84% of Texans live in counties affected by federally declared weather-related disasters since 2006, including last year’s wildfires. 

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