Alejandra Martinez | The Texas Tribune

The Rolling Pines Fire blazes through Bastrop State Park on Jan. 18, 2022. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration Friday for 191 of the state’s 254 counties as the risk of wildfires has soared due to an intense, extended heat wave and a lack of rain.

Gov. Greg Abbott declares wildfire disaster for three-fourths of Texas

At least 8,500 acres of Texas land have burned since Aug. 1. The governor’s disaster declaration includes Dallas, Tarrant and Denton counties.

A concrete truck is washed at a concrete batch plant in Gunter on March 21. The state environmental agency has proposed new rules aimed at reducing pollution from the plants.

Environment & Nature

State environmental agency proposes new rules for concrete plants in Texas

Alejandra Martinez | The Texas Tribune

The TCEQ has proposed changes to concrete batch plant permits including lowering production limits, reducing dust coming from plants and setting minimum distance requirements from nearby communities.

Coots dot Fairfield Lake at sunset while people fish from a boat on Feb. 27. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced the closure of Fairfield Lake State Park last weekend — the second time the park has closed since the land was sold earlier this year.

Environment & Nature

Fairfield Lake State Park closes again as land sale negotiations fail

Alejandra Martinez | The Texas Tribune

The state is now considering seizing the land to save the park after its purchase offer was rejected by a Dallas developer.

Streptanthus bracteatus, commonly known as the bracted twistflower, grows in Central Texas and has been listed as “threatened” by the U.S.

Environment & Nature

A rare Texas wildflower gets protection under the Endangered Species Act

Alejandra Martinez | The Texas Tribune

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declared the bracted twistflower, native to the Edwards Plateau, a threatened species, a month after putting another Texas plant on the endangered list.

Pumpjacks at sunrise in the Permian Basin in West Texas. Republican lawmakers on Thursday accused investment firms from turning state employees and retirees away from investments funded by fossil fuels.

Energy & Environment

GOP lawmakers accuse investment firms of breaking a law that prohibits divesting from oil and gas

Alejandra Martinez | The Texas Tribune

At a senate committee hearing in Marshall, Texas Republican lawmakers accused investment firms of pulling back on fossil fuels, running afoul of a 2021 law that prohibits the state from contracting with or investing in companies that “boycott” oil, natural gas and coal companies.

A concrete plant in Austin. Residents who live near concrete batch plants complain that they contaminate the air with dust. The residents are pressuring the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to reduce pollution from the plants.

Energy & Environment

Texans affected by pollution from concrete plants push state agency to tighten regulations

Alejandra Martinez | The Texas Tribune

As the state’s environmental agency weighs new pollution limits on the plants, several lawmakers have filed bills that would put new restrictions on the facilities, which spew pollutants into mostly low-income neighborhoods.

Brett Cross, whose 10-year-old nephew was killed during the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School, leans on a gate next to the Uvalde CISD administration building on Tuesday. Cross has maintained a vigil on the property, demanding that the district suspend the school officers who were present during the shooting.

Texas News

Uvalde protesters hold vigil, demand that school district suspend officers

Alejandra Martinez | The Texas Tribune

Brett Cross launched the protest Sept. 27, joined by other Uvalde families who say the school district hasn’t held five of its officers accountable for their part in law enforcement’s delayed action during the May 24 shooting.