The heart and soul of Houston’s economy, the oil and gas industry, has been hit especially hard. According to the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, the state had nearly 361,000 oil and gas jobs in 2019. One company’s visionA Houston company is launching a program it hopes will pump new life, and jobs, into the energy industry and the local economy. Workers on edgeFor oil and gas workers and their families, there is still a lot of uncertainty. The Texas Workforce Commission also lists more than 500 oil and gas industry jobs on its website.

HOUSTON – As Hurricane Laura barreled toward the Gulf Coast a few weeks ago, in and around Houston, plants and refineries scrambled to shut down. During the shutdown and restart process surrounding Hurricane Laura, energy companies reported to TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) that 8 million pounds of emissions were released in Harris, Brazoria, Jefferson and Orange counties. There’s some opinion there but here’s a fact:During that exact same period that refineries shut down for Hurricane Laura, the state of Texas unplugged its air quality monitors in the storm’s path. Our state’s version of the Environmental Protection Agency is the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). See what TCEQ did in response to Hurricane Laura.