AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Natural disasters in Texas on the scale of Hurricane Harvey’s deadly destruction last year will become more frequent because of a changing…
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Natural disasters in Texas on the scale of Hurricane Harvey’s deadly destruction last year will become more frequent because of a changing climate, warned a new report Thursday ordered by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in a state where skepticism about climate change runs deep.
But the report makes no mention of global warming, and in urging steps Texas should take to blunt the impact from intensifying hurricanes and flooding, there are no recommendations to curb greenhouse gases in a state that leads the U. S. in carbon emissions. The phrase “climate change” also does not appear in the 200-page report, except in footnotes that reference scientific papers.
The report was not commissioned as an assessment of climate change in Texas. Instead, it is the findings of a rebuilding task force Abbott created after Hurricane Harvey devastated the Texas coast, killing more than 100 people and causing an estimated $125 billion in damage. The Category 4 hurricane dumped more than 50 inches of rain on Houston, leaving the nation’s fourth-largest city underwater.
