Celebrity News

Celeb chefs and politicians to convene at Dallas' EarthX eco-conference

Celebuchef Andrew Zimmern will be one of 400+ speakers at EarthX.

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The 2023 rendition of Dallas' annual EarthX conference is here, returning to its original stomping grounds at Dallas' Fair Park, taking place from April 21-23, with a star-studded lineup of speakers.

Dubbed "The World’s Largest Green Gathering," it'll bring in luminaries from around the globe, everyone from governors to a high-profile CNN reporter to a legendary environmental warrior to a TV celebrity chef.

Highlights include two high-powered luncheons, both held at the Women's Museum at Fair Park:

Friday, April 21: Fireside chat between Alex Epstein, the author of Fossil Future and The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, and Dr. John Nielsen-Gammon, professor of meteorology at Texas A&M and Texas State Climatologist, moderated by former Texas Gov. and former Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.
Saturday, April 22: Media personality Van Jones will share insights on America’s path to bridging dialogue on green initiatives. In addition to his role on CNN, Jones was a champion of the Green Jobs Act and served the Obama administration as Special Advisor for Green Jobs.

Both luncheons will be held in conjunction with the EarthxExpo and the Congress of Conferences at Dallas Fair Park. The luncheons will start at 12 pm in the Women’s Building. Registration can be made via Eventive for $100 per person.

Speaker highlights include:

Van Jones - CNN Reporter
Andrew Zimmern, celeb chef who has a new David E Kelley documentary series on sustainability and seafood
Jainey Bavishi, Deputy Administrator of NOAA
Former Texas Governor and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry
Captain Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Mark Kossler, VP of Operations for Ted Turner’s Ranches
Elizabeth Levy, head of ESG for Trillium
Ketan Patel, Force for Good
John Paul DeJoria, founder Paul Mitchell, Patron Spirits
Alex Epstein, author of Fossil Future
Joshua Goldstein, author of Nuclear Now and consultant on Oliver Stone’s new documentary film based on the book
Mike Crum, pro-skateboarding legend and founder of 4DWN
Anna Valer Clark, founder of Cuenca de los Ojos
Giovani Dos Santos, former professional soccer player and environmentalist
Dr. Tracy Fanara, Inspector Planet

These speakers and hundreds more will appear on one of 15 stages throughout the Fair Park conference. Additionally, there will be demonstrations, nearly 1,000 exhibitors, a dozen VR/AR experiences, food, and music.

EarthX convenes the world’s largest environmental expo, conference, film festival, and television network and is a member of IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature. Founded in 2010 as Earth Day Dallas, the Texas nonprofit organization promotes environmental awareness and impact through conscious business, nonpartisan collaboration, and community-driven sustainable solutions.

In 2019, the last year things were still normal/pre-pandemic, the event drew over 177,000 attendees, 2,000 environmental leaders, and 750+ exhibitors. In 2020, the April virtual event drew over 570,000 live-stream views and reached 171 countries.

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Jobs report

Texas ranks among 10 best states to find a job, says new report

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

You have a better chance of landing a job in Texas than in most other states.

If you’re hunting for a job in Texas amid a tough employment market, you stand a better chance of landing it here than you might in other states.

A new ranking by personal finance website WalletHub of the best states for jobs puts Texas at No. 7. The Lone Star State lands at No. 2 in the economic environment category and No. 18 in the job market category.

Massachusetts tops the list, and West Virginia appears at the bottom.

To determine the most attractive states for employment, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 34 key indicators of economic health and job market strength. Ranking factors included employment growth, median annual income, and average commute time.

“Living in one of the best states for jobs can provide stable conditions for the long term, helping you ride out the fluctuations that the economy will experience in the future,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo says.

In September, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Texas led the U.S. in job creation with the addition of 195,600 jobs over the past 12 months.

While Abbott proclaimed Texas is “America’s jobs leader,” the state’s level of job creation has recently slowed. In June, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas noted that the state’s year-to-date job growth rate had dipped to 1.8 percent, and that even slower job growth was expected in the second half of this year.

The August unemployment rate in Texas stood at 4.1 percent, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. Throughout 2025, the monthly rate in Texas has been either four percent or 4.1 percent.

By comparison, the U.S. unemployment rate in August was 4.3 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2025, the monthly rate for the U.S. has ranged from 4 percent to 4.3 percent.

Here’s a rundown of the August unemployment rates in Texas’ four biggest metro areas:

Austin — 3.9 percent
Dallas-Fort Worth — 4.4 percent
San Antonio — 4.4 percent
Houston — 5 percent

Unemployment rates have remained steady this year despite layoffs and hiring freezes driven by economic uncertainty. However, the number of U.S. workers who’ve been without a job for at least 27 weeks has risen by 385,000 this year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in August. That month, long-term unemployed workers accounted for about one-fourth of all unemployed workers.

An August survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed a record-low 44.9 percent of Americans were confident about finding a job if they lost their current one.

This story originally was published on our sister site, InnovationMap.

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