In west Texas, natural gas flares dot the horizon. It’s a sign of how oil drilling is growing faster than pipelines and other infrastructure.
Travis Bubenik/Houston Public Media
A natural gas flare in the Delaware Basin near Orla, Texas.
A couple years ago, Jim and Suzanne Franklin’s quiet country life outside the west Texas town of Balmorhea was a lot different.
“At night, used to, this was so dark,” Jim says, pointing to the skies. “You had the most beautiful view of the Milky Way.”
Now, Suzanne says, the night horizon off their small front porch is lit up by flames at oil and gas sites.
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