Texas State Representative Bill Zedler falsely stated that measles, a viral infection, can be cured by antibiotics which exclusively treat bacterial infections.

Officials at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) cancelled a project to assess air pollution in the Houston area following Hurricane Harvey. The cancellation was ordered by the director of NASA’s Earth Science Division after officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality expressed concern that NASA’s project would “overlap with . . . existing efforts” to monitor pollution and would not be “useful.”

Texas State Senator Jason Isaac asserted, contrary to decades of scientific research, that the burning of fossil fuels does not contribute to climate change. He worked with the Texas Natural Gas Foundation to develop new science education guidelines to “get the bias” against fossil fuels out of schools.

Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian published an op-ed arguing that “the science of climate change is far from settled” and that “we don’t know whether man-made greenhouse gases are impacting our climate in a harmful way.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed an amicus brief in Exxon Mobil v. Schneiderman. The brief questions the scientific consensus on climate change and the conclusion that it will be “sufficiently dangerous to require urgent policy responses.”

A bill was introduced in the Texas legislature that would, if enacted, allow the State Board of Education to reject any science textbook or other instructional materials that it deems unsuitable. According to critics, this would allow the board to reject materials that discuss controversial scientific theories (e.g., climate change and evolution), even if they are factually correct.

A bill was introduced in the Texas legislature that describes “climate change, biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, and human closing” as “controversial” theories. The bill would, if enacted, give teachers greater scope to question these and other proven scientific theories.

The Texas State Board of Education voted preliminarily to retain language in its science education standards requiring students to consider “all sides” when discussing evolution. Critics say the requirement encourages the teaching of creationism as an alternative to the theory of evolution.

The Texas Department of State Health Services published a booklet for women considering abortion. The booklet includes several disproven scientific claims, including suggesting that abortions cause breast cancer, which the American Cancer Society has forcefully rejected.