Within a decade, Texas will lead the nation in sicknesses linked to ozone-forming pollutants from oil and gas activity, according to a new analysis from a pair of environmental groups released Wednesday.In the 2025 “ozone season,” those pollutants will trigger more than 144,000 childhood asthma attacks, nearly 106,000 lost school days and 313 total asthma-related emergency room visits in Texas, the research said. (The study defined ozone season as May 1 through September 30.) The conclusions from Clean Air Task Force and Earthworks — national environmental groups based in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. respectively —added fuel to a debate about how much oil and gas activity contribute to smog troubles that plague some Texas cities. “This is really the first time we know of that anyone has looked at the national health impacts of ozone-smog produced by pollution from the oil and gas industry,” said Lesley Fleischman, a Clean Air Task Force analyst who led the study. “So we think it

Source: Texas Public Radio