Sandstorms reminiscent of the 1930s dustbowl are becoming more common in Navajo country -- and climate change seems to be a culprit.

A rapidly invading plant called Buffelgrass is changing the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona. By causing an increase in fires, it could endanger the iconic saguaro cactus there.

"While America turns away from dirty energy, Texas could soon have 12 new coal-fired power plants. What gives?"

"Exide Technologies' decision last month not to seek state permission to expand production at its Frisco lead smelter doesn't mean public health concerns are over."

"By the end of the month, the federal Environmental Protection Agency will probably declare that Texas' air permitting program lacks adequate public participation and transparency."

"More than 60 years after scientists assembled the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, lethal waste is seeping from mountain burial sites and moving toward aquifers, springs and streams that provide water to 250,000 residents of northern New Mexico."

"CORPUS CHRISTI — Las Brisas Energy Center and several environmental groups take to the courtroom this week to argue the details of the proposed power plant’s air permit."

"The Navajo Generating Station, the huge coal-fired power plant outside Page, supplies a fraction of Arizona's electricity demand, but its role in moving water to the state's largest cities has thrust it into a growing battle over the cost of cleaning up air pollution."

"Thousands of people in the heart of Frisco [Texas] are exposed to toxic lead pollution from a battery recycling plant that wants to expand production." City officials are opposing the expansion.

"The contested air permit for the Sithe Global Desert Rock coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico today was sent back to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for additional analysis."

"Texas' new plan to improve the Houston area's famously dirty air may not meet federal limits for smog."

Greg Harman of the San Antonio Current explores the legacy of uranium mining across South Texas as in-situ mining companies, milling outfits, and waste disposal crews prepare for a rebound in uranium prices. With San Antonio poised to lead one of the first nuclear-power expansions in the country, the writer suggests "the risks involved in uranium mining and processing should be a starting point for any debate about the promise and peril of nuclear power, yet it has received scant attention in San Antonio’s decision whether or not to partner in the expansion of the South Texas Project nuclear complex."

A July 19 fire at Citgo's Corpus Christi refinery released deadly hydrogen fluoride, maimed one worker, and threatened a poor, largely minority community at its fenceline. Now larger questions are being asked -- about how authorities responded to it and whether it could have been prevented.

"Sierra Club and Environment Texas filed an air pollution lawsuit today in federal district court against Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP. The groups claim that Chevron Phillips has repeatedly violated the Clean Air Act at its Cedar Bayou chemical plant in Baytown, Texas."

"As the hot days in Texas get even hotter, it may just be too much for some birds and fish. From the American goldfinch to the gray snapper, some species have been moving north for years, searching for cooler ground. And their quest may someday lead them to migrate out of the state -- forever -- especially if climate change continues to make Texas warmer, as predicted."