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But this success story has been underscored by a tense struggle over water, which Dow needs to keep production afloat, and which is in short supply in Texas amid the state's debilitating drought and its water users' increasing thirst. When Dow Chemical, one of the largest manufacturers of chemicals and plastics in the world, announced a multibillion-dollar expansion on Texas' Gulf Coast last summer, Gov. Rick Perry had yet another example to add to his list of explosive economic growth on Texas soil.

Texas ranchers have forged an unlikely partnership with environmental activists to protest the 143-mile Trans-Pecos pipeline, which if completed would carry natural gas from West Texas to the Mexican border. "We all agree that the land needs to be regarded a little more highly," said Joel Nelson, manager of the Anchor cattle ranch

the town of Corpus Christi, Texas, may be implementing what it believes will be a solution: offering large-scale industrial companies a $0.25 drought surcharge exemption fee.

Texas Wesleyan University has installed a co-generation system called the Combined Heat and Power Plant that can produce its own energy. Powered by natural gas, the system captures waste heat from the engine and exhaust and converts that to power. The project is projected to save the university $377,000 a year and is part of a $6.2 million energy project.

Walmart entered a 10-year agreement to purchase 58% of the expected output from renewable energy developer Pattern Energy Group's 200 MW wind farm in Texas.

"MillerCoors, the second largest brewer in the US, announced on Wednesday that all of its major breweries have achieved landfill-free operations. The Fort Worth Brewery in Texas was the final of its eight sites to reach the milestone, after the facility engaged a 'Sustainability Employee Council' that focused on changing employee behaviors and making recycling easier and more accessible."

"MillerCoors, the second largest brewer in the US, announced on Wednesday that all of its major breweries have achieved landfill-free operations. The Fort Worth Brewery in Texas was the final of its eight sites to reach the milestone, after the facility engaged a 'Sustainability Employee Council' that focused on changing employee behaviors and making recycling easier and more accessible."

A second Texas city has begun using treated wastewater to boost drinking water supplies as the state struggles with drought. Wichita Falls is now recycling millions of gallons of wastewater, CBS News reports. The toilet-to-tap program ensures the water is purified to meet government drinking standards; the water is then sent to a treatment plan for additional purification.

Hewlett-Packard is the latest in a slew of tech companies to bet big on renewable energy - a long-term play still fraught with short term complications.

Toyota says it will use 100 percent renewable energy at is new North American headquarters in Plano, Texas.

A federal judge ordered Citgo Petroleum to pay more than $2 million for Clean Air Act violations over toxic emissions at its refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, from 1994 to 2003.

CertiChem and its founder, George Bittner, who is also a professor of neurobiology at the University of Texas-Austin, had recently coauthored a paper in the NIH journal Environmental Health Perspectives. It reported that "almost all" commercially available plastics that were tested leached synthetic estrogens-even when they weren't exposed to conditions known to unlock potentially harmful chemicals, such as the heat of a microwave, the steam of a dishwasher, or the sun's ultraviolet rays. According to Bittner's research, some BPA-free products actually released synthetic estrogens that were more potent than BPA.

This week, scientists from The Nature Conservancy and The Dow Chemical Company, with research support from Colorado State University and Duke University, published Finding solutions to water scarcity: Incorporating ecosystem service values into business planning at The Dow Chemical Company's Freeport, Texas facility, which addresses challenges businesses face to accurately estimate the value of water resources and address future scarcity threats. 

Facebook plans to build a billion-dollar data center near Fort Worth, Texas, and will draw the electricity needed to run the facility from a 200-megawatt wind farm being built nearby. 

Fast food restaurant chain Wendy's is reportedly piloting the sale of chicken that does not contain antibiotics "medically important to humans" in select Missouri, Texas, and Florida markets, according to CNBC.

Procter & Gamble has set a goal of obtaining 30% of its global electricity from renewable sources by 2020. One way the company will do that is by acquiring output from a wind farm to be built in Cooke County, Texas, in partnership with EDF Renewable Energy. "Wind not only emits zero greenhouse gas emissions, but also delivers long-term energy price stability," said EDF chief executive Tristan Grimbert. 

TransCanada wants the US to pay it $15 billion to recoup costs and damages related to President Barack Obama's refusal to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline. In addition to planning the claim under the North American Free Trade Agreement, the company sued the US government in federal court in Texas, claiming Obama's November decision exceeded his constitutional authority.

As President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, several governors and mayors of major cities reacted with disappointment and pledges to continue environmental efforts. "Worldwide, cities will lead in achieving climate treaty goals because so much of what's required happens at the local level," said Austin, Texas, Mayor Steve Adler.

This week, the city of Austin, Texas implemented a new rule that prevents restaurants from tossing wasted food straight into the trash.

Representatives from across the apparel industry recently came together at the Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute of Texas Tech University, where Wrangler, Lee, the Walmart Foundation and Indigo Mill Designs unveiled a disruptive new dyeing process for producing denim. In a radical departure from water-based dyeing, IndigoZERO™ uses a foam-based process to reduce water and energy use by more than 90 percent

At the COP23 conference in Bonn, Germany, mayors of 25 major cities from around the globe have signed a commitment to make their cities carbon-neutral by 2050. The list includes US cities Boston; Los Angeles; New York City; Philadelphia; Austin, Texas; and Portland, Ore.