On October 6th, the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced they will be releasing new strategies to aid Texas in resisting the impacts of climate change. Raising temperatures and varying precipitation patterns are rapidly changing Texas, and issues such as water shortages and invasive pests will have an increasingly large impact in the future. Last month, severe flooding was devastating to parts of Texas, which makes these new strategies very necessary and timely. Before this announcement, EPA plans had not been updated since 2014. The areas of focus that will be addressed with these new strategies include drought, flooding, and extreme storms and weather. In doing research for these new strategies, the EPA found that the most glaring and potentially impactful vulnerabilities to climate change include severe droughts, sea level rise, more intense coastal flooding, stronger hurricanes, longer-lasting heat waves, and extreme rainstorms. Although the updates have not been fully released yet, there are some measures that are known: The EPA will be "increasing inspections at industrial facilities along the Gulf Coast that are vulnerable to hurricanes; incorporating climate change adaptation measures into environmental permitting; and increasing enforcement on water systems that fail to comply with federal rules." Further, the EPA will be expanding outreach programs and efforts to more vulnerable communities that live along the Gulf Coast. The stakes are high for Texans who are suffering the impacts of climate change. The EPA has failed to make any updates to the plans for this region in nearly a decade, but this new announcement offers hope for the future of creating resiliency for communities who are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Story first reported by the Texas Tribune: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/10/06/epa-plan-texas-climate-change/