News Releases

AUSTIN – As the Trump administration considers weakening federal air quality and global warming emissions standards, air pollution remains a threat to public health. According to a new report by Environment Texas Research & Policy Center, over 23 million people who make up the 20 main metropolitan and micropolitan urban areas in Texas experienced at least 5 days of degraded air quality in 2016, increasing the risk of premature death, asthma attacks and other adverse health impacts. Included in the 23 million are over 6.7 million people in the Houston metro area who experienced 85 days degraded air quality, over 2.4 million people in San Antonio Metro area who experienced 36 days of degraded air quality, and over 2 million people in the Austin metro area who experienced 46 days of degraded air quality in 2016.

AUSTIN - Plastic pollution is killing our wildlife. That’s why Environment Texas is announcing a new campaign to ban harmful, single-use plastic food containers. Polystyrene, commonly known as styrofoam, is one of the worst and most common types of plastic. According to the EPA, Americans throw out 70 million polystyrene foam cups every day, and that doesn’t include bowls and takeout containers. Tons of our discarded plastic ends up in the environment -- on our lands and in our waterways. More than 8 million tons end up in our oceans every year, the equivalent of five plastic bags for every foot of coastline.