By Jeff Turrentine Is it just us? Other countries don’t seem to have a problem getting their high-speed rail systems on track. This superfast, fuel-efficient form of mass transit is wildly popular throughout Asia and the European Union. Japan’s sleek Shinkansen line, the busiest high-speed rail system in the world, carries an estimated 420,000 riders […]
By Justin Mikulka 2018 was the year the oil and gas industry promised that its darling, the shale fracking revolution, would stop focusing on endless production and instead turn a profit for its investors. But as the year winds to a close, it’s clear that hasn’t happened. Instead, the fracking industry has helped set new […]
Results from the U.S. midterm election are mostly in, and, when it comes to what they mean for the environment, they’re a real mixed bag. On the plus side, the Democrats took the House of Representatives, which, as BBC News pointed out, means that President Donald Trump can’t pass any more major legislation without their […]
By Sharon Kelly The petrochemical industry anticipates spending a total of over $200 billion on factories, pipelines, and other infrastructure in the U.S. that will rely on shale gas, the American Chemistry Council announced in September. Construction is already underway at many sites. This building spree would dramatically expand the Gulf Coast’s petrochemical corridor (known […]
This week, the city of Austin, Texas implemented a new rule that prevents restaurants from tossing wasted food straight into the trash. Austin’s Universal Recycling Ordinance, enacted on Monday, requires all food-permitted businesses to divert discarded organic material, including food scraps and soiled paper, from landfills, according to the city government’s press release of the […]
The burning of fossil fuels is the driving force behind climate change, and now the companies responsible want the government to help pay to protect them from the consequences. Texas is seeking at least $12 billion to build a network of seawalls, levees, gates and earthen structures that would protect a stretch of the Gulf […]
Seven people were injured and hospitalized after a series of natural gas pipeline explosions in Midland County, Texas on Wednesday, according to local media. All pipelines in the region have been shut in. Midland sits in the booming oil- and shale-rich Permian Basin, which has multiple pipelines serving the field. The operator of the pipeline […]
The Texas Supreme Court struck down the city of Laredo’s plastic bag ban—a decision that will likely overturn similar bans in about a dozen other cities, including Austin, Fort Stockton and Port Aransas. The court ruled Friday that only the state has the authority to regulate solid waste disposal in Texas. In the 19-page opinion, […]
The Center for Biological Diversity and more than 1,100 Texas residents are demanding that Texas regulators reconsider issuing a wastewater permit to a project that would be the world’s largest plastics plant. The facility, funded by ExxonMobil and the Saudi Arabian government, would discharge more than 13 million gallons a day of toxic wastewater. It […]
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