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.
Environment
Politics & Policy
October 16, 2019
No More Nurdles? Formosa’s Agreement to Stop Pumping Plastics Into Lavaca Bay Is Historic
Gulf Coast citizen-activists collected 30 million plastic pellets in order to prove that Formosa was violating the Clean Water Act.
News & Politics
September 18, 2019
Nurdles All the Way Down
How Texans are taking on plastic pollution—one piece at a time.
Politics & Policy
July 16, 2014
The Perry Legacy: Richard Hyde Responds
In the July issue of the magazine, several writers—myself included—assessed the legacy of Governor Perry. One of the stories reviewed eight critical areas Texas Monthly believes the governor is responsible for, and we gave him a letter grade for each. Some readers thought we were too…
Food & Drink
May 27, 2014
How the W Hotel in Austin Ended Up With a Bee Hive on Its Roof
Walter Schumacher’s organization, Central Texas Bee Rescue, is saving bees one hive at a time.
The Daily Post
November 1, 2013
Made in Texas? Denton’s Fight to Prevent the Sriracha Apocalypse
As a California city sues America's most popular Sriracha manufacturer over "foul chili odor," one Texas city councilman offers possible salvation for the cultish condiment. …
The Culture
March 6, 2013
Austin Bag Ban Generates Mixed Bag of Reactions
Here are the pros and cons.
Energy
January 29, 2013
Texas Tenth in the Nation for Green Building
The Lone Star state constructed over 36 million square feet of energy-efficient space last year.
Energy
January 21, 2013
Inside Texas’s New Radioactive Dump
The new dump for low-level radioactive waste in west Texas will help relieve an overburdened site in Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
Politics & Policy
January 21, 2013
The ‘Texas Observer’ v. the Koch Brothers
The magazine's investigative piece about Koch Industries' Flint Hills refinery in Corpus Christi prompted the company to fire back a response to the article. …
Energy
January 21, 2013
Appeals Court Sides With Texas in Fight Over EPA Air Pollution Rule
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down the Environmental Protection Agency's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.
Energy
January 21, 2013
Gulf Coast Portion of Keystone Pipeline Approved
TransCanada announced that construction of the Texas-Oklahoma segment of its pipeline will begin shortly—immediately prompting a backlash from environmentalists and conservative landowners alike.
Business
January 21, 2013
Texas Business Report: Protect the Air, Judge Says
A Texas judge has decreed that the atmosphere and air are a "public trust," just like water.
January 21, 2013
Is Fracking Causing All These Earthquakes?
StateImpact Texas found a substantial connection between hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," and the sudden surge in Texas quakes.
Energy
January 21, 2013
No Endangered Species Listing for Dunes Sagebrush Lizard
The oil industry cheered news Wednesday that the tiny lizard will not be added to the endangered species list.
January 21, 2013
Company Denies Dumping Pig Blood in Trinity
The Columbia Packing Co. denies knowingly releasing pig blood into the Trinity River and responds to allegations it has a secret sewer pipe that bypasses the city's monitoring device. …
Energy
January 21, 2013
Energy-Loving Texas Could Be Ground Zero Against Keystone XL
Landowners who vehemently oppose TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline took to the streets and the courts to protest the project.
Letter from Aransas Pass
July 31, 2012
Crane Man
Former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Tom Stehn didn’t want to get involved in a lawsuit against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. But when a U.S. marshal showed up in his driveway, he realized he had one more chance to help out his beloved, endangered whooping cranes.
Critters
June 29, 2012
Project Tracks Kemp’s Ridleys Across Gulf of Mexico
A number of the critically endangered sea turtles are being monitored by the National Resource Damage Assessment, which is studying how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacted the animal is underway on Padre Island. …
Energy
June 20, 2012
The Case For Saving Old Offshore Oil Rigs
Should nonproducing oil rigs be demolished, or are the habitats marine life have built around them too valuable to compromise? …
Critters
February 27, 2012
Hico Rodeo Star Arrested in Rhino Horn Smuggling Ring
Wade Steffen, a champion steer wrestler, was arrested after TSA officials found $337,000 and photos of rhino horns in his carry-on luggage at the Los Angeles airport.
Energy
December 21, 2011
More EPA Regulations Upset Power Industry Leaders
The EPA announced new mercury emissions rules that please environmentalists, but the timeline and potential price tag worries industry officials.
December 15, 2011
Border Fence Threatens America’s Remaining Ocelots
Biologists are worried that the U.S.-Mexico border fence adversely impacts endangered species and other animals.
Energy
December 5, 2011
Decision Delayed on the Fate of a Tiny Lizard
The feds have postponed their decision on whether to add the dunes sagebrush lizard to the endangered species list until mid-2012.
Feature
February 1, 2008
Susan Hovorka
Here’s a convenient truth for you: All those greenhouse gases polluting the atmosphere—the result of burning and combusting oil and gas and coal—can simply go back where they came from, and the environment, not to mention the world, will be better and cleaner for it. That’s the theory behind the…
Books
June 30, 1999
Back to the Future
Forget the critically panned Instinct, which was “suggested by” his novel Ishmael. Houston’s Daniel Quinn wants you to know what he really thinks about the modern world.