Texas' rapidly expanding data-center industry could threaten decades of progress in reducing air pollution, according to new research examining the enormous amounts of electricity
‘Part of the solution’: National Academies grant allows Rice to build the next generation of STEM leaders in environmental justice
Summary
Rice University's EcoStudio and R-STEM program received a $500,000 grant from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to expand its environmental justice education for Houston high school students. The new Houston Environmental Action Learning (HEAL) initiative will engage 120 students and 24 teachers over two years through campus-based programs and community projects. Students will address pressing issues like pollution, hazardous waste, and water quality while learning advocacy and research skills. Teachers will be trained in environmental justice pedagogy to integrate these themes into classrooms. The program emphasizes collaboration across STEM, arts, and humanities to inspire equitable solutions to environmental challenges, with a focus on underserved schools.
A new study from the Houston Advanced Research Center is warning that the rapid growth of data centers could erase much of Texas’ air-quality progress over the past two decades...
Hurricane Isaias has strengthened to a Category 3 hurricane as it approaches Florida and the northern Gulf Coast, bringing threats of devastating winds, life-threatening storm...
The Supreme Court is opening its 2026 term with a major climate case that could determine whether local governments can hold fossil fuel companies financially responsible...
At a UN General Assembly meeting, world leaders from vulnerable nations issued urgent calls for coordinated global action against climate change, highlighting severe threats...
Underserved communities are again asking federal courts to restore $3 billion in environmental justice grants that the Trump administration canceled, arguing that delays...
Local opposition to AI data centers is adopting the same organizing tactics, legal strategies, and community-level pushback over rising utility costs and water usage...
Two federal court rulings dealt major setbacks to the Trump administration by determining that the Environmental Protection Agency unlawfully terminated billions of dollars...
his press release highlights a global report examining how nations are translating "Just Transition" commitments into concrete laws, environmental rule of law policies...
A federal judge ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to resume distributing $2.8 billion in environmental and climate justice grants designed to address health...
June 26, 2026
Energy Justice
Energy Justice
Driven by the sudden demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure, Texas is facing an influx of at least 248 planned data center projects, primarily targeting rural...
Federal grant cuts are significantly impacting environmental justice and public health efforts in Houston, with tens of millions of dollars eliminated from local programs...
Representative Christian Menefee is working to elevate environmental justice as a key priority within the Democratic Party, emphasizing the need to address pollution and climate..
America’s rapidly expanding data center industry is carrying a steep hidden environmental and public health cost, estimated at nearly $25 billion annually...
A recent Newsweek analysis highlights how accelerating sea level rise, driven in part by the potential collapse of Antarctica’s Thwaites “doomsday” glacier, could reshape U.S...