Elizabeth Trovall

Houston

Houston-based reporter for @Marketplace covering energy & immigration / Formerly: @HoustonChron @HoustonPubMedia / Tips + ideas: [email protected]

Featured in: Favicon

marketplace.org Favicon

aol.com

npr.org

chron.com

statesman.com Favicon

wbur.org

houstonchronicle.com Favicon

theworld.org Favicon

govtech.com Favicon

mysanantonio.com + 105 more

Articles

Federal funding cuts have Texas food banks worried about hungry children | Houston Public Media

1 week ago | houstonpublicmedia.org | Elizabeth Trovall

This story originally aired on "Marketplace" on June 17. Listen to the Marketplace Morning Report each weekday at 6 a.m., 7 a.m. and 8 a.m.on News 88.7.The food pantry at West Houston Assistance Ministries doesn't look much different than a small grocery store. People walk down aisles and fill their carts with fruit, veggies, meats, dairy. "They feel like they’re in a supermarket atmosphere, getting the product," said Verita Duncan, who runs the food pantry.
Federal funding cuts has Texas food banks worried about hungry children

1 week ago | marketplace.org | Elizabeth Trovall

The food pantry at West Houston Assistance Ministries doesn’t look much different than a small grocery store. People walk down aisles and fill their carts with fruit, veggies, meats, dairy. “They feel like they're in a supermarket atmosphere, getting the product,” said Verita Duncan, who runs the food pantry, “It's a lot more dignity.”The food pantry has been doing more with less since their partner, the Houston Food Bank, lost some federal funding. “Their stuff is cut.
In an unpredictable economy, should we turn to hard or soft data for answers?

3 weeks ago | marketplace.org | Elizabeth Trovall

Reports from the 12 Federal Reserve Banks will add color to the economic picture when the Beige Book drops on Wednesday. It’s a revered source of anecdotal economic data — but it’s also come under a bit of scrutiny by the Dallas Fed. Their recent analysis shows that since the pandemic, the anecdotal data reflected in the Beige Book has painted a more muted picture of economic growth than the hard data, and this got us thinking.
Texas bill aims to prevent more orphan wells that spew methane and brine

4 weeks ago | tpr.org | Elizabeth Trovall

The U.S. is now the world’s largest producer of crude oil, and a lot of that is coming from wells in West Texas. But there's a problem: Thousands of wells are no longer being used and some are quietly spewing brine and releasing millions of metric tons of methane. Across the country, billions have been spent plugging up old wells. And often, governments are forced to pick up the tab.
Texas bill aims to prevent more orphan wells

4 weeks ago | marketplace.org | Elizabeth Trovall

The U.S. is now the world’s largest producer of crude oil, and a lot of that is coming from wells in West Texas. But there's a problem: Thousands of wells are no longer being used and some are quietly spewing brine and releasing millions of metric tons of methane. Across the country, billions have been spent plugging up old wells. And often, governments are forced to pick up the tab.
Houston’s affordable real estate attracts first-time home buyers. The catch? Climate costs. | Houston Public Media

4 weeks ago | houstonpublicmedia.org | Elizabeth Trovall

This story originally aired on "Marketplace" on May 22. Listen to Marketplace each weekday at 6:30 p.m.on News 88.7. When Amy Zachmeyer, 41, bought her midcentury, 2-bedroom Houston home for $185,000, it was a fixer upper — but she still felt good about the investment. "It has been really important to me to own a home," she said. Her parents rented and moved around growing up. She spent most of middle and high school without her own room.
Houston’s affordable real estate attracts first-time home buyers. The catch? Climate costs.

1 month ago | marketplace.org | Elizabeth Trovall

When Amy Zachmeyer, 41, bought her midcentury, 2-bedroom Houston home for $185,000, it was a fixer upper — but she still felt good about the investment. “It has been really important to me to own a home,” she said. Her parents rented and moved around growing up. She spent most of middle and high school without her own room. The Houston property was Zachmeyer’s first home, which she and her husband bought from her landlord in 2021.
Consumers have been finding plenty of reasons to be pessimistic about the future economy

1 month ago | marketplace.org | Elizabeth Trovall

A vibe check for this economy, courtesy the Conference Board’s U.S. Consumer Confidence survey, comes out this week. The last time it came out, in April, consumers’ short-term outlook hadn’t been so pessimistic since late 2011. Which is weird, given the strength of economic indicators right now. For now, we’re not in a recession. But the vibes? The vibes are off. We all learned the word vibecession back in 2022, in the relatively strong Biden-era economy.
Will we have enough natural gas turbines to power AI data centers?

1 month ago | marketplace.org | Elizabeth Trovall

U.S. electricity consumption is on the rise, in part due to new data centers gobbling up electrons. How to meet rising demand is the million dollar question with billion dollar solutions, like building new natural gas power plants. Natural gas power is relatively cheap, cleaner than coal and it can generate power all day and all night, unlike wind and solar. But it’s got a supply chain problem.
Hands-on learning preps Gen Z for "gold-collar" chemical plant jobs

1 month ago | marketplace.org | Elizabeth Trovall

Roughly the size of a Dollar Tree, the glycol unit at San Jacinto College looks like a shrunken-down chemical plant. It’s where college students like 25-year-old Cole Downs can learn the ins and outs of how a petrochemical plant operates in a safe, life-like environment. “I'm very hands-on. I learn better when I can do what it is while I'm reading it in the book, which is why I've loved the PTEC [process technology] program,” Downs said.