Travel & Outdoors
November 21, 2022
El Paso’s Uphill Fight to Save Its Mountain Range
Unexploded ordnance saved Castner Range from development. Now conservationists want to open it to the public.
Environment
News & Politics
August 12, 2022
Another Extreme Texas Winter? Here’s What the Farmers’ Almanac (Right “About 85% of the Time”) Predicts
The periodical, first published in 1818 and known for its simplistic and broad extended forecasts, says its largest readership is in Texas. We talked with the editor about why that might be—and what’s in store for the state this winter.
Books
July 21, 2022
In an Urgent New Book, “Floodies” Reinvent the Story of Hurricane Harvey
‘More City than Water: A Houston Flood Atlas’ brings together a team of writers, scholars, designers, and eyewitnesses from the front lines of climate change in a grand experiment.
Travel & Outdoors
July 19, 2022
Paradise Lost: Where You Can’t (or Shouldn’t) Swim Right Now in Texas
The drought is taking a toll on our swimming holes, although a few favorites are still in good enough shape to help us handle the record heat.
Business
July 19, 2022
The Climate Crisis Spells Big Business for Carbon Capture
At a recent expo in Houston, innovators claimed they can spare us a global catastrophe—and make billions in the process.
Energy
June 29, 2022
An Oil Well Off Padre Island Leaked for Months Before It Was Plugged
Patching it cost the state $1.6 million. Many others are similarly falling into disrepair, and the agencies charged with their oversight are doing nothing about them.
The Stand Up Desk
June 27, 2022
What Stephen Harrigan’s Late-’80s Reporting Prophesied for Galveston Bay
“Your article may be an epitaph,” the then-president of the Houston Audubon Society told the writer.
Travel & Outdoors
June 21, 2022
Three Great Boomerang Paddle Trips on Texas Streams
How to get the adventure and scenery without having to spend days in your kayak or canoe.
Travel & Outdoors
June 21, 2022
Paddling Down the Rio Grande in the Shadow of a Drought
My dream of navigating through Big Bend’s stunning canyons finally came true. I just had to start a little farther downstream.
Energy
June 15, 2022
The West Texas Rancher Exposing Big Oil’s Buried Secrets
After an abandoned well began spewing toxic, salty water onto her Permian Basin land, Ashley Watt would stop at nothing to determine the cause—and to hold Chevron accountable.
Business
May 20, 2022
Samsung Spills Toxic Water, Wins Texas Environmental Prize
As TCEQ investigates its Austin plant, the company was praised for “protecting our state’s natural resources.”
Texas Country Reporter
May 5, 2022
This West Texas Couple Has Gone Off the Grid—Pioneer Style
On a remote ranch south of Alpine, Bonnie and Dick Cain have carved out their ideal lifestyle, without electricity, refrigeration, or running water.
Business
May 5, 2022
When a Quarry Closes, Can Its Damage Be Undone?
Aggregate mining in Texas yields billions of dollars but leaves behind a pockmarked landscape.
News & Politics
April 22, 2022
Texas Beaches May Be Filthier Than We Realize
A&M researchers say more-robust testing is needed to understand just how much human feces ends up in Gulf waters.
Health
April 21, 2022
How Okra Could Clean Up Our Drinking Water
Researchers at Tarleton State have found an all-natural way to prevent Texans from imbibing quite so many tiny plastic particles.
Politics & Policy
April 11, 2022
The Dead Sea of West Texas Just Got Deadlier
Dangerous gas leaking from an abandoned well has become an issue in the colorful Railroad Commission runoff election.
Travel & Outdoors
April 11, 2022
The Great Springs Project Aims to Build a 100-Mile Hike-and-Bike Trail From Austin to San Antonio
The nonprofit effort will cost hundreds of millions and preserve 50,000 acres over the fragile Edwards Aquifer. Can it be done?
News & Politics
March 24, 2022
Corpus Christi’s Crappy Sewage System Begins Its Cleanup
For years, raw sewage has overwhelmed the city’s aging wastewater infrastructure. It’s spending $725 million to try to stop that.
Business
February 23, 2022
The Texas Wine Industry Is Just Getting Started. Grape Farmers Say the End Is Near.
A toxic herbicide used in cotton fields is devastating vineyards on the High Plains, endangering the state’s $13 billion wine business. Grape farmers have banded together to fight back.
News & Politics
February 18, 2022
Why Have There Been So Many Wildfires in Texas This Year?
Wes Moorehead, an expert at the Texas A&M Forest Service, explains what’s happened in 2022 and what the future might hold for the state.
Travel & Outdoors
February 1, 2022
What Lies Beneath the San Antonio River? A Whole Lot of Weird Stuff
Cleaning crews dredged up creepy dolls, armored catfish, rental scooters, and a staggering quantity of chairs.
Environment
January 20, 2022
The Mystery of the West Texas Geyser Deepens
Turns out the Permian Basin well that's been blowing briny water 100 feet high isn't the well the Railroad Commission thought it was.
Energy
January 12, 2022
A Forgotten Oil Well Births a 100-Foot Geyser in West Texas
The salty water spewing high on a Crane County ranch could be a sign of a “whack-a-mole” future in the Permian Basin.
Business
January 10, 2022
Regenerative Ranching Is Better for the Environment, but Can It Be Profitable?
These Texans think so.
News & Politics
December 8, 2021
The Dead Sea of West Texas
A Pecos County well has leaked noxious salt water for almost two decades. No one is taking responsibility for getting it cleaned up.
Hunting & Fishing
November 9, 2021
Your Red Snapper Filet Might Have Been Caught by Drug Runners
Federal agencies have long struggled to stop illegal fishing and drug smuggling in the Gulf of Mexico. In recent years, it’s only gotten worse.
Critters
October 1, 2021
Goodbye to a Ghost: East Texas’s Ivory-billed Woodpecker Is Now Officially Extinct
So is a little fish that swam along the San Marcos River.
By
Wes Ferguson
![Wes Ferguson's Profile Photo]()
Being Texan
September 29, 2021
I Love Whataburger, I Just Wish Its Cups Were Biodegradable
In 2018, as national chains pledged to ditch their nonbiodegradable polystyrene cups, Whataburger said it would look into alternative materials, too. What happened?
Travel & Outdoors
August 16, 2021
Behind the Fight to Save the Gulf’s Spectacular Coral Reefs
Some of the healthiest coral communities in the world beckon off the Texas coast. Can unlikely allies save this undersea paradise?
Travel & Outdoors
June 1, 2021
Meet a Texas Plant Hunter Who’s Combing Forests and Fields to Save Rare Flowers
Conservationist Adam Black roams the state looking for endangered flora, which he shares with researchers around the world.
Energy
May 20, 2021
Texas’s Oil and Gas Industry Is Defending Its Billions in Subsidies Against a Green Energy Push
The state's energy business has long counted on tax breaks and other largesse. Whether renewables or fossil fuels get more depends on how you do the math.
Business
May 12, 2021
Elon Musk Is Turning Boca Chica Into a Space-Travel Hub. Not Everyone Is Starstruck.
Residents of the South Texas beach town say SpaceX’s billionaire owner is ruining their “little piece of heaven.”
Energy
March 31, 2021
America’s Offshore Wind-Powered Future Begins in a Texas Shipyard
In announcing an ambitious renewable-energy push this week, the Biden administration highlighted a vessel under construction in Brownsville as proof of the economic opportunities of going green.
Travel & Outdoors
March 3, 2021
Inside the Ambitious Plan to Redesign Houston’s Biggest Park
A ten-year, $205 million renovation is transforming Houston’s Memorial Park from a dense and dying thicket into a lush oasis. But is this restoring nature or replacing it?
Politics & Policy
December 17, 2020
2020 Has Been Awful, but It Was a Good Year for State and National Parks
Two major conservation funding victories could create a brighter future for Texas's public lands.
Politics & Policy
September 16, 2020
Build the Ike Dike!
Instead of wasting time on tiresome culture wars, Texas’s political leaders ought to be thinking big. They could start by saving Houston from disaster.
Energy
June 18, 2020
Can a Renewables Boom Put Texans Back to Work?
After the oil bust, wind and solar energy might be the Permian Basin’s best hope.
Critters
May 5, 2020
As the Pandemic Inflames Old Fears, Texas’s ‘Bat Man’ Urges: Don’t Blame Bats
Merlin Tuttle has spent his career dispelling myths about bats. Now he’s defending them once again.
Boomtown
April 30, 2020
Boomtown Follow-up: The One-Two Punch
Christian Wallace talks to some familiar faces from the Boomtown series in an attempt to understand what happened on April 20, 2020—when oil prices went negative for the first time in history.
Boomtown
April 24, 2020
Boomtown Host Christian Wallace on a New Reckoning for Texas Oil
On a special edition of ‘The National Podcast of Texas,’ the West Texas native and former roughneck explains this week’s record-setting price plunge and weighs its long-term impact on the state’s once-thriving energy business.
Being Texan
April 20, 2020
Meet the South Texas Couple Who Kill Feral Hogs As a Public Service
Robert and Vickie Lyle’s lives revolve around hunting and trapping hogs. Wildlife refuge managers count on them to keep the destructive pigs in check.
Health
April 17, 2020
The “Father of Environmental Justice” on Why He Isn’t Surprised by COVID-19 Health Disparities
An interview with Robert Bullard on how the novel coronavirus exacerbates existing environmental health issues.
Hunting & Fishing
April 15, 2020
How a Battle Between Recreational and Commercial Fishermen Spawned a Conservation Movement
The Redfish Wars changed Texas fishing. A fight over flounder could be next.
By
Wes Ferguson
![Wes Ferguson's Profile Photo]()
Hunting & Fishing
April 15, 2020
How Fishing in Texas Got So Good—and Kind of Weird
The state has spent more than a century building up a world-class fishery, with some unintended consequences.
By
Wes Ferguson
![Wes Ferguson's Profile Photo]()
Energy
March 18, 2020
The Most Unexpected Revelation From RuPaul’s Recent NPR Interview? He Might Be Fracking
One energy company allegedly working with the drag star is based in Texas.
Politics & Policy
March 18, 2020
Is Climate Change Denial Thawing in Texas?
Surprising statements by oil industry leaders have grabbed headlines. But the bigger change is underway more quietly, among young Republicans.
Boomtown
January 28, 2020
Boomtown, Episode 8: Wild West Texas
The uneasy alliance between ranchers and the oil industry goes all the way back to the early wildcatting days in West Texas. But today, that relationship is more fraught than ever.
Boomtown
January 14, 2020
Boomtown, Episode 6: A Thin Line
During booms, the Permian Basin sees a rise in prostitution charges. But misperceptions and stereotypes about sex work have led to policies that may actually harm the women involved.
Boomtown
January 7, 2020
Boomtown, Episode 5: Boobtown
We explore a different kind of boom in the Permian Basin. Meet the women working at a lingerie coffee shop, a “breastaurant,” and two area strip clubs.
Boomtown
December 24, 2019
Boomtown, Episode 3: Dust to Dust
A devastating bust transforms the Permian from the promised land into a wasteland.