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Features

TCN’s original, in-depth reporting and analysis

Q&A: Refugees International, climate displacement program manager

Alice Thomas talked with TCN contributing editor Greg Harman about climate-driven migration. “The impact of climate change will largely be a function of underlying vulnerability of the population it affects,” she said.

Features CLIMATE MIGRANTS 2 September 16, 2015

Texas cities make climate-action strides, bypassing state leaders

Texas is known for state officials and members of Congress who oppose climate action. But a different story is unfolding locally. TCN’s new Cities+Climate series will examine how cities are engaging with climate issues.

Features CITIES+CLIMATE August 18, 2015

Comply or not? Texas officials now must decide about emission rules

Will Texas officials, critical of the Obama administration’s new Clean Power Plan to overhaul the nation’s electric system, refuse to implement it? The state did that before with other emission regulations, only to back down.

Features August 3, 2015

Will Pope Francis inspire climate activism among Texas Catholics?

Will the pope’s recent encyclical find a receptive audience among Texans, especially climate-conscious Latinos, with its morality-based call to climate action to help the poor of the developing world? Greg Harman reports.

Features July 6, 2015

Ban on fracking bans would do much more to cut local authority, critics say

The impending demise of Denton’s brief ban on fracking is a potent example of the oil and gas industry’s continuing primacy in the state and reminder that those who challenge it risk forceful political blowback.

Features May 18, 2015

In the post-election climate tussle, polls are giving Obama an edge

November’s mid-term election, in which voters handed Republicans big majorities in both houses of Congress, set the stage for a multifaceted battle over climate change that’s just getting started.

Features ELECTION ANALYSIS: CONGRESS January 30, 2015

Denton voters’ decision to ban fracking: Harbinger or isolated event?

The ballot measure’s outcome in the North Texas city was closely watched – in Texas and beyond – for its possible influence in other local fights over the drilling method and significance for the broader climate issue.

Features ELECTION ANALYSIS: LOCAL VOTES November 12, 2014

Bill McKibben: Activist, author, People’s Climate March organizer

The People’s Climate March in September was billed as “the largest climate march in history.” An estimated 400,000 marched in New York, plus tens of thousands in more than 2,800 events in 166 countries.

Features TCN INTERVIEW September 22, 2014

Supreme Court gives EPA another victory in Texas’ bid to thwart CO2 rules

The federal agency got "almost everything it wanted,” Justice Antonin Scalia said of a 7-2 ruling that upheld a key part of the Obama administration's regulations to cut industrial emissions of climate-altering pollution.

Features June 24, 2014

Environmentalists, property-rights advocates joining forces for Legislature

Longtime, mostly urban, environmental advocates traded policy ideas recently with property-rights activists from rural areas. Will the fledgling alliance have staying power? San Antonio writer Greg Harman reports.

Features April 30, 2014

Texas and the IPCC’s report on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability

The report "highlights how climate change is expected to interact with, and in many cases exacerbate, problems we already struggle with today in Texas," Texas Tech scientist Katharine Hayhoe told TCN.

Features April 12, 2014

Scientists’ sweeping new climate report: What does it mean for Texas?

A U.N.-sponsored panel, comprising researchers from 39 countries, said scientists are now 95 percent certain that humans are the main cause of global warming. TCN asked Texas climate experts for their reactions to the report.

Features October 12, 2013

Stefan Wray: Organizer of an Austin symposium on adapting to climate change

The aim of the conference, planned in response to a class assignment at UT's LBJ School, was to identify "collaborative solutions" to help make the Austin region more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

Features TCN INTERVIEW October 4, 2013

Chris Sonnier: Program manager of Austin’s SXSW Eco conference

South by Southwest (often, just SXSW) famously showcases music, film and digital technologies each March. SXSW Eco, scheduled Oct. 7-9 this year, has a broader aim – helping to achieve "a sustainable and prosperous future."

Features TCN Interview September 3, 2013

Stranded costs: Can the socioeconomic solar divide be bridged?

As another threat to rooftop solar power is blocked in San Antonio, a nationwide question looms: What will become of utility claims that programs encouraging residential solar hurt the poor? Greg Harman examines the issues for TCN.

Features July 3, 2013

Jim Blackburn: Environmental attorney, advocate, author, professor

The Houstonian discussed a voluntary, market-based initiative that would conserve natural areas near the coast to buffer storm surges and offset greenhouse emissions. A Rice University conference addressed the concept.

Features TCN Interview June 17, 2013

A water generation gap portends confrontation between Texas’ past, future

Austin-based journalist Ari Phillips, reporting on his recent travels in Central Texas, examines the Hill Country's famed springs as a microcosm of complex water issues facing all of the state and most of the Western U.S.

Features May 15, 2013

New polls: Most accept scientific view that Earth’s climate is changing

There was some ambiguity in the combined picture that emerged from the surveys regarding public opinion on the seriousness of the threats that climate change poses and what should be done about it.

Features April 17, 2013

A tale told in maps and charts: Texas in the National Climate Assessment

Don't have time to go through the new, 1,146-page National Climate Assessment to get an idea of what it says about Texas? TCN did it for you, locating and selecting a representative sample of pertinent graphics.

Features February 10, 2013

Sandy + election results = re-energized talk of action against climate change

Environmentalists worked to defeat candidates dubbed "climate-change deniers," including a Texan. National polls show more concern about climate change. And a "carbon tax" is being discussed, with Exxon-Mobil among the backers.

Features November 24, 2012

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