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All of our original coverage since 2008
TCN Journal
Climate-action appeals figured in several key races but failed to give Democrats the edge they needed to prevail over their Republican rivals. Analysis continues over what exactly went wrong.
TCN Journal
Expect a dramatic change in U.S. policy when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take office – they repeatedly commit to fight global warming and respect science. Much can be done by executive action. Legislation is another matter.
Features
Even more climate-related disasters may pile up in the early 2020s, say experts, and several new scientific assessments are being readied for prime time to update the picture of what lies ahead. Science writer Robert Henson reports.
Features
The president’s record and statements, along with statements by administration officials, indicate that the past four years were a vivid prologue to another term: More of the same on climate and energy.
Features
The former vice president’s climate platform is broad and detailed, but will probably require Democrats’ seizing the Senate and keeping control of the House. Then he’ll need to maneuver the tricky dance of legislation.
Features
Democrats are optimistic about upping their strength in the Legislature’s GOP-dominated lower chamber. Winning control isn’t out of the question. Either outcome could mean the best chance for climate-linked bills in years.
Features
Republican Roy has decried “hysteria” about climate-change concerns and declined to accept the scientific consensus about human causation. Democrat Davis says climate change is an existential threat requiring strong action.
Features
The regulatory agency’s traditional friendliness to the oil and gas industry’s venting and flaring of methane is a focus of this year’s election. Methane is both a potent climate disruptor and a health-threatening pollutant.
Features
Siegel, the Democratic candidate in a congressional district stretching from Austin to Houston, is an enthusiastic Green New Deal advocate. Michael McCaul, the eight-term Republican incumbent, is an enthusiastic critic.
Features
The two Senate candidates acknowledge climate change is a threat. GOP incumbent Cornyn calls for research, Democrat Hegar for more renewable energy. Both distance themselves from their parties’ presidential nominees.
TCN Journal
The Supreme Court hopeful evaded senators’ efforts to pin down her views about climate change. But echoing climate-action foes, she called the vast scientific consensus that climate change is real and a threat “contentious.”
TCN Journal
Climate change is a top issue for Democrats and independents, but not Republicans. Even so, surprisingly large numbers of Republicans favor climate-friendly ideas, including rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement.
Features
Carbon pollution isn't just boosting hurricanes, heatwaves and wildfires. It could be increasing hazards like ticks, pollen, mosquitoes and poison ivy. Science writer Melissa Gaskill surveys the situation in Texas.
Features
The likelihood that a tropical cyclone would become a Category 3-5 hurricane grew by 8 percent per decade between 1979 and 2017, according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
TCN Journal
Climate change and related energy issues seemed to be in place to play a historically prominent role in the 2020 campaign. Then came the pandemic, economic turmoil and a renewed debate over racial justice.
TCN Journal
A new study finds precautionary measures that decrease animal-human contact and pathogen spread are a sound return on investment. Pandemics, like climate change, need global solutions, a Rice University co-author says.
Features
Don’t be surprised if Covid-19 spells the end of fixed-route, big-bus systems, to be replaced by autonomous vehicles and more flexible “demand-responsive” operations, transportation experts say.
TCN Journal
First Street Foundation’s study indicates Houston is the U.S. city with the greatest number of properties at flood risk now. A new NOAA report points to the growing threat of high-tide flooding along the Texas Gulf Coast.
TCN Journal
Pockets of higher temperatures in urban areas pose health threats, particularly to marginalized communities. By mapping these areas, experts hope to get a better sense of effective ameliorative strategies.
Features
Stay-at-home orders and lockdowns resulted in sharp drops in C02 emissions that likely won’t continue when the Covid pandemic wanes. But recovery does offer opportunities to remake our economy in climate-friendly ways.
© 2020 Texas Climate News. Written and edited by independent journalists.
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