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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

TX Group Makes Earth Day Plea for Cleaner Environment

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Friday, April 22, 2022   

It is Earth Day, and the Texas Campaign for the Environment is backing a movement targeting fossil-fuel exporters across the state.

Texas is the largest energy-producing and consuming state in the nation, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

But the advocacy group Save Texas said the figures do not tell the whole story. It has posted a list of what it calls the "Terrible 12" biggest contributors to pollution and climate change in the state, and they are all in the energy industry.

Jeffrey Jacoby, deputy director for the Texas Campaign for the Environment, said it is no longer fair to assume the state cannot prosper without a fossil-fuel industry.

"It's important for people to know that there are corporations out there, in spite of the mythology that fossil fuels are leading to prosperity and leading to jobs, that are not acting in Texans' best interest," Jacoby asserted.

According to Save Texas, the number of fossil-fuel industry jobs has decreased over the last three decades, and the companies themselves contribute to the high energy use in the state. Most of the fuel processing and pipeline companies on the "Terrible 12" list operate on the Gulf Coast.

Jacoby noted his organization and others are advocating a transition to more sustainable, renewable energy. He pointed to the negative health effects of oil and gas production, particularly on Gulf Coast residents, and accuses the "Terrible 12" of halfhearted conservation efforts.

"They respond by claiming to be environmentally friendly," Jacoby observed. "They claim to care about climate, they claim to care about communities, they claim to be collaborating with Indigenous communities."

He added the growth in U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas, much of it from plants in Texas and Louisiana, is one reason for the current gas price hikes felt by U.S. consumers.

Disclosure: Texas Campaign for the Environment Fund contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Environment, Environmental Justice, and Waste Reduction/Recycling. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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