Southwest (AZ NM OK TX)

"On any hot day in the Phoenix area, the heat builds up in some neighborhoods more than others."

"The last standing member of Texas’s Public Utility Commission handed in his resignation on Tuesday following a report that he assured out-of-state investors who made big profits from last month’s blackouts that he was working to make sure they could keep their money."

"A warming world means an invasive grass is threatening the famous saguaro
Cactuses cover a hillside in Saguaro National Park in Arizona."

"TUCSON — The giant saguaro, an icon of the American West, is beloved in this state. Arms raised in a perpetual “hello there,” the saguaro covers the desert wilderness and thrives in cities. Its silhouette appears in fine art and on restaurant walls; businesses and schools carry its name. Arizona state law protects the plant, and it is revered by the native Tohono O’odham tribe.

"Gov. Kevin Stitt’s commission to sort out Oklahoma’s future is stacked with oil and gas insiders — and has no Indigenous voices."

"The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the agency that regulates the state’s electric, telecommunication, and water and sewer utilities, resigned Monday, according to a resignation letter provided to the Texas Tribune."

"The U.S. Forest Service has withdrawn the final environmental impact statement for a huge copper mine near Superior, temporarily halting a land swap that would have given the mine's owners title to a parcel deemed sacred by many Apaches and other Southwestern tribes."

"Five board members of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas — the entity that manages and operates the electricity grid that covers much of Texas — will resign on Wednesday, according to a notice to the Public Utility Commission. A sixth has withdrawn his application to the board. All six live outside of Texas."

"State officials’ repeated failure to act on deeply researched advice for averting grid catastrophes paralleled Texas’ years-long non-response to experts’ warnings about the dangers of climate change."

"The largest U.S. oil refiners released tons of air pollutants into the skies over Texas this past week, according to figures provided to the state, as refineries and petrochemical plants in the region scrambled to shut production during frigid weather."