Dallas, TX
Dallas-Fort Worth must clean up its dirty air
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/GNRFI2YKUNFDXLCLEQAXNZLROE.jpg?ssl=1 "Dallas-Fort Worth must clean up its dirty air")
Ozone levels in North Texas have steadily improved in the last 20 years, yet they’ve still exceeded federal standards. As a result, the Dallas-Fort Worth area today is one of the top 25 most ozone-polluted metro areas in the country.
That’s why an air quality improvement plan being drawn up by the North Central Texas Council of Governments is such an important endeavor.
Funded by a $1 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the plan aims to recommend ways regional governments can work together to reduce the unhealthy levels of ozone and other pollutants in North Texas air. If the plan is aggressive enough, the council could receive a slice of a $4.6 billion pie the EPA plans to dole out nationwide to help implement clean air strategies.
It’s worth recalling why we should all care about any of this. Breathing ozone-polluted air can make good lungs bad and bad ones worse. It can cause a host of respiratory problems, aggravate existing ones and is especially bad for children and the elderly. The risks of these health problems are particularly high on the kind of hot, sunny days common to North Texas.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area meets federal standards for all pollutants regulated by the EPA except ozone. But the council of government wants to “create a roadmap for the region to improve air quality, protect public health, and reduce impacts of extreme weather events” by reducing not just ozone but also a long list of other pollutants.
It expects to have its strategy finalized by March 1 and is holding a series of public hearings seeking feedback on its draft. That document proposes hundreds of emission reducing measures, many of them centered on planes, trains and automobiles.
They include the usual suggestions of reducing the number of old diesel trucks on the road, promoting less idling of cars, and adding local rebates for consumers to switch to electric vehicles, for example.
Some of the strategies are more unusual, such as installing cool roofs on government or commercial buildings by either painting them white or planting vegetation on them. Others are already being tackled by some cities, such as establishing more parks and green spaces and planting trees known for large carbon storage capacity.
Homeowners can help the cause by doing more than switching to LED lightbulbs. They can band together to negotiate lower rates for renewable energy sources, and local governments can develop weatherization assistance programs for residents, the draft suggests. Such programs would help homeowners make their houses more energy efficient by installing better insulation or updating heating and cooling systems.
No one strategy will improve the region’s ozone pollution. But hundreds of them implemented together for a sustained period surely could. We applaud the council of governments for its work in coordinating the local efforts to make our air cleaner and safer, and we hope the EPA sends some of its federal grant money this way.
We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here. If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com
With the official NFL schedule coming this week, the Dallas Cowboys have revealed when, where and against who their Week 1 contest will be.
The Cowboys announced that they will square off against the New York Giants on the road in Week 1, with the game set for Sunday, Sept. 13, at 7:20 p.m. CT. So, it’s prime time for the Cowboys to start the season.
This is the second game we know about for the Cowboys this year. Of course, we know they will be playing on Thanksgiving, also.
The official schedule will drop on May 14, the NFL announced last week. Schedules for all 32 teams will be revealed on ESPN and the NFL Network, but each team will unveil its own schedule on social media, also.
The Cowboys were always likely to play a road game in Week 1 because of an Usher and Chris Brown concert taking place at AT&T Stadium that week.
Dallas will also be impacted by an Ed Sheeran concert in Week 7, so that’s another potential road game. They could also play on Monday or Thursday that week, or have a bye.
Cowboys’ strength of schedule
According to Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis, the Cowboys are not going to have an easy road to make the postseason.
The Cowboys have the fourth-toughest schedule in the NFL going into the 2026 season, with only the Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers having tougher slates.
Dallas’ schedule is also the third-toughest in the NFC, and the most difficult in the NFC East.
Sharp does his strength of schedule rankings based on win totals from Vegas oddsmakers rather than utilizing the previous season’s records because that metric doesn’t factor in offseason changes.
The Cowboys will play home games against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders.
On the road, Dallas will square off against the Giants, Eagles, Commanders, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers.
Of those opponents, seven of them made the postseason in 2025, a list that includes the Jaguars, 49ers, Eagles, Texans, Rams, Seahawks and Packers.
All of those teams should be as good in 2026, and teams like the Colts, Titans, Ravens, Bucs, Giants and Commanders have a very real chance to be improved as well.
It won’t be an easy road for Dallas to get back to the playoffs in 2026, but there’s at least hope following a defensive overhaul.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
Dallas weather: May 10 morning forecast
Today is by far our most active day of the extended forecast. After our Red River Counties got some severe storms overnight, we expect a mostly quiet morning. Isolated storms are expected to start forming just after noon. The severe threat begins mid-afternoon in a more scattered fashion, before a cold front ushers in widespread rain and strong storms this evening.
DALLAS – A powerful cold front sweeping across North and Central Texas on Monday is expected to trigger a wave of severe thunderstorms capable of producing large hail, dangerous winds, and isolated flash flooding.
Severe weather in North Texas
Timeline:
The National Weather Service in Fort Worth warned that while showers and storms will begin developing Monday morning, the risk of severe weather will peak during the afternoon and evening hours as the front advances southward.
We are tracking two distinct phases of the storm system. Initial storms are expected to be “discrete,” or individual cells, which carry a high risk of large hail exceeding 2 inches in diameter. As the evening progresses, these individual storms are forecast to merge into a large cluster or broken line.
Once the storms consolidate, the primary threat will shift toward damaging straight-line winds. Forecasters warned that wind gusts could exceed 70 to 75 mph, speeds capable of downing trees, damaging roofs, and causing power outages.
In addition to the wind and hail threats, the system is expected to dump significant amounts of water. While most areas will see standard rainfall, there is a 10% to 15% chance that some locations could receive up to 4 inches of rain. Isolated flash flooding can happen over these locations.
Live Radar
We are watching how morning activity near the Red River might influence the speed of the cold front. The exact position of that front will be the primary factor in determining where the most intense storms initiate.
Residents are encouraged to monitor local forecasts and have multiple ways to receive weather warnings throughout the evening.
The front is expected to push through the region by Tuesday morning.
7-Day Forecast
The Source: Information in this article is from the National Weather Service and the FOX 4 Weather team.
-
Florida2 minutes agoSouth Florida officers sue Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, claiming details in ‘The Rip’ are too real
-
Georgia8 minutes agoGeorgia Democrats seek answers from Justice Department over Fulton election worker subpoena
-
Hawaii14 minutes agoMan killed while changing tire after crash in South Kohala
-
Idaho20 minutes agoDelicious New Menu Item Expected To Hit Idaho Costcos Soon
-
Illinois26 minutes agoPPP Loan Scandal Busts Joliet Woman Working For Illinois Department Of Corrections: AG Kwame Raoul Reveals
-
Indiana32 minutes agoFernando Mendoza, citing Raiders obligations, misses Indiana’s White House visit
-
Iowa38 minutes agoIowa City police seek help identifying persons of interest in vandalism investigation
-
Kansas44 minutes agoBoeing makes $1 billion investment in Wichita facility