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TCN Journal

Reporting, analysis, summary, synthesis

Occupational health physicians respond to climate-change challenges

Dr. William Brett Perkison of UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston discussed new protocols that experts in his field are developing for a warming world. “Houston is a poster child for not having prepared,” he told TCN.

TCN Journal HEALTH+CLIMATE May 1, 2018

Trump administration targets Obama-era rules to limit methane emissions

The efforts to delay or rescind regulations on the potent greenhouse pollutant from oil and gas operations remain embroiled in court fights. Meanwhile, environmentalists plan to launch a methane-sensing satellite.

TCN Journal DC DISPATCHES April 26, 2018

New Gallup Poll finds partisan divide over global warming continues to grow

The polling results are no surprise, says Sheril Kirshenbaum, former director of the UT Energy Poll. They reflect an increasingly polarized political landscape where “we're influenced more by how we feel than facts.”

TCN Journal April 15, 2018

Scientists continue hunt for causes of die-off at marine sanctuary in Gulf

Members of many species perished at the Flower Garden Banks in the “highly localized mortality event” in 2016. The protected area's coral reefs are relatively healthy, but coral is stressed by climate change worldwide.

TCN Journal March 23, 2018

Trump’s plan to expand offshore drilling: Will it fish or cut bait?

Problems began quickly for the proposal. Many coastal states don’t want offshore drilling. Oil prices and lawsuits also tangle the issue. TCN’s Washington correspondent, Joseph A. Davis, unravels and explains it.

TCN Journal March 13, 2018

Scientists: More protection needed just to keep river-flood risks the same

Texans know well the devastation river flooding can bring. A new study says climate change caused by past greenhouse-gas emissions will greatly increase risks from storm-swollen rivers in North America and elsewhere.

TCN Journal February 26, 2018

Trump’s dismissal of climate concerns likely to hit headwind at Davos forum

In advance of the president’s appearance at the annual meeting of global leaders, new reports confirmed Earth’s continuing warming trend and ranked climate and weather hazards among the biggest dangers facing the planet.

TCN Journal January 25, 2018

Rick Perry’s plan to prop up declining coal, nuclear industries proves DOA

Texans were among many praising independent regulators' rejection of the energy secretary's claim that closing coal and nuclear plants imperils “grid reliability.” But coal is scoring other big wins with the administration.

TCN Journal January 11, 2018

Texas’ suburbs outpace central urban areas as greenhouse-gas producers

Long commutes and big homes help push CO2 emissions higher in outlying areas. A few local initiatives in Texas seek to steer new development toward inner cities, but research suggests cutting emissions requires more than that.

TCN Journal CITIES+CLIMATE January 5, 2018

Texan among first recipients of French president’s climate-research grants

Biologist Camille Parmesan praised the “proactive engagement” of Emmanuel Macron's "Make Our Planet Great Again" initiative. He launched the grant program in response to Trump administration cuts in climate research.

TCN Journal December 28, 2017

Getting toastier in Santa Land. (Well, less frigid, as melting speeds up)

Researchers are documenting “unprecedented" disruptions to the Arctic ecosystem due to warming air and shrinking sea ice. A summary and reading guide to new reports about how climate change is transforming the Far North.

TCN Journal December 24, 2017

GOP tax bill leaves most energy subsidies intact – fossil and renewable

Wind, solar, gas and oil production – all important in Texas – have long competed on the battleground of subsidies and tax breaks. None comes out of the tussle over Republicans' tax overhaul with a notable new advantage.

TCN Journal December 20, 2017

Two new studies: Manmade warming made Harvey’s rainfall much worse

Two research efforts – one with involvement by Houston's Rice University – concluded climate change increased the storm's severity. A national opinion poll, meanwhile, found 54 percent of the public already held that view.

TCN Journal December 8, 2017

Conservatives tout carbon tax but draw critics on both left and right

A Rice University forum examined the possibilities of market-based solutions to climate change. But from the left come attacks on the profit motive, from the right disbelief about the underlying science.

TCN Journal December 4, 2017

Coal’s place in Texas’ electricity-generation mix grows ever shakier

The Trump administration insists there’s been a "war on coal" that needs to end. A leading Texas power generator blames something more basic for coal's decline: increasing supplies of cheaper natural gas and renewables.

TCN Journal November 28, 2017

House Science Chair Lamar Smith retires: Whither the attack on climate science?

The Texas congressman is an especially outspoken critic of climate science. But as our Washington correspondent reports, absent Democratic takeover of the House, his panel will likely remain a friendly platform for skeptics.

TCN Journal November 22, 2017

Fast flood-insurance ‘fix’ may elude a broke – and broken – program

Harvey, Irma and Maria just dealt out hundreds of billions in new hurricane devastation as the National Flood Insurance Program is hemorrhaging cash and set to expire. TCN’s Washington correspondent explains the key issues.

TCN Journal September 27, 2017

Harvey’s catastrophic legacy includes pathogens, toxics, festering debris

The astonishing scope of the historic hurricane’s cumulative pollution impact is coming into better focus – sewage-fouled water, toxic industrial releases and piles of potentially contaminated debris from flooded structures.

TCN Journal September 21, 2017

Farewell to a friend: A former TCN editor died amid Harvey’s aftermath

Houstonian Jim Simmon was our deputy editor from 2008 until last year. He apparently drowned at a location where high water lingered for days after the hurricane. We offer an appreciation of a fine man and great journalist.

TCN Journal September 14, 2017

Harvey’s record rainfall: A statistical portrait of what “wettest” meant

“Harvey is head and shoulders above all previous multi-day storms ever recorded in the continental United States,” setting records in 17 rainfall categories, the Texas state climatologist concluded in a detailed analysis.

TCN Journal September 9, 2017

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