Everything we know about the 3 people who want to run Starbase, Texas’ next city
All three — running unopposed — have longstanding connections with SpaceX, Elon Musk’s company headquartered in South Texas. Full Story
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![People take photos in front of a Starbase sign at SpaceX Starbase near Brownsville, Texas, on April 16, 2023.]()
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Plans advance for $10 billion Exxon plastics plant on the Texas coast
Officials at a rural school district voted on Tuesday to begin developing a tax break agreement intended to draw Exxon to their stretch of the Gulf Coast north of Corpus Christi. Full Story
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![The Formosa Plastics plant in Point Comfort, in Calhoun Co., on March 20, 2019. Exxon Mobil wants to build a massive plastics plant nearby.]()
Credit: Emree Weaver/The Texas Tribune -
Can Texas clean up fracking water enough to use for farming? One company thinks so.
The Texas Legislature has also invested millions in research to clean the fracking wastewater. Critics say it’s not a viable solution to the state’s water crisis. Full Story
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![Technical Research & Development Manager Adrianne Lopez gives a tour of the Texas Pacific Water Resources’ project site greenhouse on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, outside of Midland.]()
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Texas will share equipment database with local fire departments to help beat wildfires
The legislation, which won unanimous approval in both chambers, was written following the state’s historic Panhandle wildfires last year. Full Story
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![A firefighter with Forest Bend Fire Department extinguishes flames at the site of the Borrega wildfire on March 31, 2022. The wildfire burned through a large part of the King Ranch and surrounding areas in Brooks, Jim Wells and Kleberg counties.]()
Credit: Michael Gonzalez for The Texas Tribune -
The Texas House wants voters to approve billions to save the state’s water supply
The Senate has a similar proposal, but is more prescriptive in how the money should be spent. The two chambers must agree on the final proposal to send to voters. Full Story
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![Jairo Benavides, center, removes soil as the crew works on upgrading pipes and valves at a North Alamo Water Supply Corporation water plant in Donna on Thursday, July 18, 2024. In order to increase the amount of water the plant is able to distribute, pipes were upgraded and replaced, connect to the plant’s existing facility with the newly expanded infrastructure.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
U.S., Mexico agree to new deal that sends water to South Texas
The latest development in a years-long push by South Texas farmers and officials to get Mexico to fulfill a 1944 treaty would still fall short of what is owed. Full Story
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![The Lake Falcon Dam International Crossing, seen from Starr County, on May 15, 2024.]()
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In booming Central Texas, wastewater is polluting rivers and streams
A bill in the Legislature would protect the last 21 pristine watersheds in Texas. But for years, previous attempts have been defeated by powerful homebuilders. Full Story
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![Margo Denke, co-founder of the group Friends of Hondo Canyon, surveys a stretch of Commissioners Creek on her ranch in Bandera County.]()
Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News -
Can Texas lawmakers agree on how to spend billions to save the state's water supply?
The Texas House took its first step toward revising a priority Senate bill last week. The changes were lauded by the state’s water community. Full Story
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![Inside a primary clarifier, resembling petri-dish tanks, heavy solids and grease sink to the bottom and machines skim off particles at the top at the Roberto Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant in El Paso on March 5, 2025.]()
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Bill would stop Texas oil drillers from secretly burying toxic waste on private property
House Bill 4572 would introduce new requirements for pits where drillers bury oil and gas waste. Full Story
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![A home across the street from an entrance to an oilfield waste disposal facility has a sign reading "DON'T DUMP ON NORDHEIM" on Sept. 10, 2023.]()
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East Texans united to stop a water sale to Dallas suburbs — for now
After a deal to pipe water from Lake O’ the Pines to North Texas came to light, residents voiced opposition everywhere they could to block it. Full Story
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![Mary Spearmon holds two of her grandchildren, Malikyi and Alajiah Elliott, at Hurricane Creek Park on the Lake o’ the Pines, where she would come with her late husband and their growing family to fish and enjoy the water, on April 9, 2025. “What about our future generations, our grandchildren and great grandchildren? What are they going to have if they take the lake?”]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Trump officials cut planning grant for Texas high-speed rail between Dallas and Houston
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said if the private sector wants the rail line, it should cover planning costs. Full Story
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![Railroad tracks near a proposed bullet train terminus on the outskirts of downtown Dallas, on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022.]()
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To avoid a water crisis, Texas may bet big on desalination. Here’s how it works in El Paso.
Desalination can create millions of gallons of fresh water a day. But it is expensive and there are many environmental concerns. Full Story
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![An illustration of a glass of water, superimposed over reverse osmosis filters from El Paso's Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant.]()
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Toilet to tap: El Paso is about to embark on a whole new way to save its limited water supply
El Paso’s dry climate — it rains just 9 inches annually — is one of the reasons the city has taken water management so seriously. Full Story
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![Contractors work on expanding the Roberto Bustamante Wastewater Treatment Plant in El Paso on March 5, 2025. By 2028, the utility expects treated wastewater from the plant to be further purified at the new Pure Water Center next door to produce up to 10 million gallons of drinking water.]()
Credit: Justin Hamel for The Texas Tribune -
Texas energy company wins first-of-its-kind permit to suck carbon out of air, store underground
Environmental groups worry direct carbon capture is not the silver bullet to curb climate change many energy companies purport it to be. Full Story
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![A drone view of the Stratos Direct Air Capture Facility (DAC), a joint venture between Occidental Petroleum (OXY) and asset manager BlackRock, is seen in Ector County on July 28, 2024.]()
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The Rio Grande Valley was once covered in forest. One man is trying to bring it back.
The Tamaulipan thornforest once covered 1 million acres on both sides of the border with Mexico. Restoring even a fraction of it could help the region cope with the ravages of a warming world. Full Story
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![Jon Dale, a director at American Forests, hopes to further restore the once sprawling Tamaulipan thornforest in the Rio Grande Valley.]()
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South Texas county leaders will lose some authority over SpaceX launches under new bill
The lawmakers behind the bill promised there would not be an increase in the number of days the beach is closed. Full Story
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![Members of the ENTRE Film Center, a local film center and regional archive, hosted the gathering at Boca Chica to celebrate the beach and motivate people to fight for its preservation, which they view as being in jeopardy since the arrival of Elon Musk's SpaceX. Aug. 8, 2024.]()
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Texas’ Rio Grande Valley didn’t see last week’s historic storms coming
The region is still cleaning up after last week's storms in which at least six people died. Full Story
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![Floodwaters in Primera, Texas, on the morning of March 28, 2025.]()
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Sweeping water bill gets Texas Senate approval
Senate Bill 7, which won unanimous approval, is among legislation that seeks to avert a looming water crisis as the state’s population booms. Full Story
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![An irrigation system on a farm field near the High Plains town of Ralls, about 30 miles east of Lubbock, on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Like much of Texas, the High Plains and Panhandle are facing drought conditions and extraordinary heat.]()
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“Water is the new oil” as Texas cities square off over aquifer pipeline plans
Fast-growing Georgetown plans to pump 89 million gallons a day from the Carrizo Wilcox Aquifer but the project is being fought by Bryan, College Station and Texas A&M University, which depend on the same water. Full Story
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![A water pipeline project by Recharge through Lee County into Williamson County pictured on March 28, 2025.]()
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Store, harvest, fix: How Texas can save its water supply
State lawmakers are poised to devote billions to save the state’s water supply. These are some of the ways the state could spend the money. Full Story
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![Treated water at the Walnut Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant on Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Austin, TX. The treatment plant will undergo a billion dollar expansion starting this summer to meet the increasing demand due to the growth the city has faced. Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune]()
Credit: Sergio Flores for The Texas Tribune