Where politics, government and energy intersect.
This story was co-reported by Andrew Weber for KUT News. It’s easy to understand why Rick Knall would be nervous with outside businesses taking water from his neck of the woods. Knall is a property owner in Bastrop County who relies on his well. “Our well has been a godsend it has been pumping strong [...]
At the Texas legislature, some things don’t stay dead for long. As time runs out for lawmakers to move dollars towards funding water, roads and education, it appears that for water, at least, an agreement may be in the works.
A name change and several ethics reforms on the table this legislative session for the Railroad Commission of Texas, which oversees oil and gas drilling in the state, have died. The Texas Energy Report was the first with the news, tweeting this afternoon: “RAILROAD COMMISSION SUNSET DEAD FOR THIS SESSION.” After a lengthy review of [...]
There’s a new push at the State Capital to pull $2 Billion dollars from Texas’ Rainy Day Fund and put it towards water projects. After a recent move in the House died on the floor in dramatic fashion two weeks ago, there were real questions on whether the water plan would get funded this legislative [...]
It’s been a good month or two for the luxury electric car manufacturer Tesla: the company just posted its first profitable quarter; it’s stock is soaring and Consumer Reports just rated the Tesla S the best car it’s ever tested. But one item on the company’s wishlist increasingly looks like it won’t be coming true: [...]
First, the good news for Texas. Most of the state is not expected to be at an “above average” risk for wildfires this summer, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The reason for that might depress you: in parts of the state with less vegetation, like West Texas, years of drought and fire mean [...]
In the gauntlet that is the Texas Legislature, the bills that have made it this far are looking at the final few obstacles in the way of becoming law. StateImpact Texas has compiled a short list of bills pertaining to water, the environment and energy that could be heard by House and Senate this week. [...]
The fertilizer explosion last month that killed 14 people — mostly firefighters — in the town of West is an example of the danger of using or storing large quantities of chemicals close to communities. Another example came just last week when hydrogen chloride gas used for processing cottonseed leaked and caused the evacuation of [...]
The flow of water legislation continued this week as the House passed several bills that could affect one of Texas’ dearest natural resources. Thursday was the deadline for most bills originating in the House to come to floor for a vote. (The Senate has some more time, however.) StateImpact Texas compiled a short list of [...]
The big questions about the future of pipelines in Texas this legislative session revolve around how companies should be able to use eminent domain to build them. Those questions remain unanswered. But while Texas lawmakers have been unable to agree on reforms to pipeline companies common carrier status, they have voted some other bills out [...]
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