Terrence Henry reports on energy and the environment for StateImpact Texas. His radio, print and television work has appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, NPR, The Texas Tribune, The History Channel and other outlets.
He has previously worked at The Washington Post and The Atlantic. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from Brigham Young University.
At a panel of lawmakers Tuesday evening, legislators offered different takes on how to fix roads damaged by drilling trucks. But they all agreed something needs to be done.
This legislative session lawmakers are considering various ways to manage the oil and gas drilling boom, from reducing tax breaks to encouraging less water use. And at a conversation with several lawmakers hosted by StateImpact Texas Tuesday night, there was bipartisan agreement that something needs to be done on one issue in particular.
Fracking can get a lot of oil and gas out of the ground. But it’s a needy process. Each well can require as much as five million gallons of water to be drilled. That water is often brought to a well site with trucks. A lot of them.
“It has to be hauled in, it has to be hauled out,” State Representative Phil King, R-Weatherford, said at the panel. He represents part of the Barnett Shale region. “To move a full rig unit may take as many as forty truck trips. And on those thin blacktop county roads, it’s tough.”
Road damage from drilling is estimated to have cost counties in South Texas two billion dollars. Democratic State Senator Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, who represents large parts of the Eagle Ford shale in South Texas, thinks a fix for the problem should include some state money. Continue Reading →
A truck with the natural gas industry, one of thousands that pass through the area daily, drives through the countryside to a hydraulic fracturing site on January 18, 2012 in Springville, Pennsylvania.
There’s a land grab going on in America, as the advent of drilling techniques like hydraulic fracturing (aka “fracking”) and horizontal drilling unlock domestic deposits of oil and gas that had earlier had not been economical to drill. New numbers collected by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental group, show the massive amount of land involved.
“At the end of 2011, 70 of the largest oil and gas companies operating in the United States held leases covering at least 141 million net acres of American land—an area approximately the size of California and Florida combined,” the analysis, titled ‘Spreading Like Wildfire,’ says. “This is a minimum number of the acres leased nationwide because we only examined 70 out of hundreds of oil and gas producers in America.”
The report finds that of the 70 companies examined, eight of them were foreign, with leases totaling 8.5 million acres. The largest amount of land belonged to companies like Chesapeake Energy, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. “30 companies held at least 1 million acres,” the report says. Continue Reading →
The rise of drilling techniques like hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," has led to new economic prosperity as well as concern. What's the legislature to do? Join us Tuesday, Feb. 26th on the UT Austin campus for a panel discussion.
What role will state lawmakers have in shaping the current oil and gas drilling boom?
Please join us and a panel of several state lawmakers in Austin tonight, Tuesday, Feb. 26 for some answers. We’ll talk about how the historic increase in drilling has impacted different parts of the state and what role lawmakers could play in regulating the rapid increase in drilling. The panel will feature State Senators Rodney Ellis and Carlos Uresti and State Representatives Phil King and Van Taylor, moderated by Mose Buchele of StateImpact Texas.
We’ll look at issues like economic and environmental impacts, road damage and traffic, water use and property rights. And you’ll have the opportunity to ask your own questions of the lawmakers during an audience Q&A at the end of the panel.
The event takes place tonight in the 2nd floor auditorium of the Belo Center for New Media on the University of Texas at Austin campus, at the corner of Dean Keeton and Guadalupe. (And if you can’t join us in person, stay tuned here — we’ll be posting videos from the panel in the days following the event.)
This event is free and open to the public. Doors at 6 pm, and it begins at 6:30. You can RSVP on Facebook here.
The latest NOAA forecast predicts the drought will "persist or intensify" in much of the state over the next three months.
While conditions have improved since the inferno that was the summer of 2011, much of Texas remains in serious drought. According the latest U.S. Drought Monitor Map, 88 percent of the state is in some level of drought conditions, with over a quarter of Texas in “extreme” or “exceptional” drought.
And the situation isn’t likely to improve in the near future, according to the latest three-month drought outlook released today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). That forecast, pictured above, calls for the drought to “persist or intensify” through the end of May, with drought developing in other parts of the state. Continue Reading →
A new federal analysis shows that oil inventories at Gulf Coast refineries typically decline in December, as companies have to pay their taxes.
Despite a drilling bonanza in Texas and other parts of the country leading to high levels of domestic oil and gas production, gasoline prices have been on the rise lately. Since mid-January, average prices at the pump went up from $3.37 to $3.81. It’s a bit of a head-scratcher: if we’re producing more and more of our own oil, why are we paying more for it?
Common answers to that puzzling question have pointed to more demand in China, conflict in the Middle East and shutdowns at some refineries. And, of course, the reality is that no matter how much oil we produce, it’s traded on a global market that’s out of our control.
And a new federal analysis possibly points out another small, temporary piece of the puzzle: oil refiners on the Gulf Coast that are trying to pay less in taxes.
The company behind what would have been the last new coal power plant in Texas, called White Stallion, is no longer pursuing the project, the company announced Thursday.
The news marks a victory for opponents of coal in Texas, notably the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club, who have worked for years to oppose the White Stallion and other coal power projects in the state. At this point, there are no longer any major new traditional coal power plants planned in Texas. All of the new projects are primarily natural gas and wind power, with some solar.
In a Thursday morning press release and email announcing the coal project would not move forward, Randy Bird, Chief Operating Officer for White Stallion, said that the plant is being suspended because of litigation costs, potential federal regulations and the low prices of natural gas.
At a commission meeting this morning, Pablos said that he had submitted his resignation this morning to Governor Rick Perry. Chair Donna Nelson then moved the commission into a planned closed session, noting to Pablos, “You kinda threw me with that.”
In a statement, Pablos did not offer a reason for his resignation, saying instead that “it has been a privilege and honor to serve the people of the Great State of Texas” and that “ensuring that Texas has a reliable supply of electricity has been a top priority for me.” He also noted that “ensuring universal access to telecommunication services on a state-wide basis has also been an important component of my work at the PUCT.”
Pablos’ resignation could be seen as a setback for advocates hoping to get more solar power on the Texas grid. Continue Reading →
A flare burns in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas.
The drilling process known as “fracking” has opened up huge deposits of oil and gas in Texas and other parts of the country. It’s brought plenty of jobs – and profits – to the state. But it also requires something Texas has in short supply – water. Now the issue has caught the eye of the Texas legislature.
At a joint meeting of the House Natural Resources and Energy Committees Wednesday, a large group of lawmakers got an earful on the subject, with a meeting that lasted hours. Most of the testimony came from folks in the oil and gas industry, like Corey Pomeroy with the Texas Oil and Gas Association, who downplayed how much water fracking needs.
“The oil and gas industry accounts for less than once percent of Texas’ water in the exploration and production of oil and gas,” Pomeroy testified.
But under questioning by lawmakers, Pomeroy acknowledged that in certain locales, that percentage can be higher.
A young boy pushes his bicycle out of the Rio Grande after taking a swim with his family where New Mexico, Texas and Mexico all touch. Texas' conflicts with its neighbors over water have heated up during dry times.
As Texas begins a third year of drought, its conflicts over water with neighbors continue. One high-profile case against Oklahoma is on its way to the Supreme Court, Texas has filed a lawsuit against New Mexico, and is accusing Mexico of not sharing the water it should as well.
Hoping to bring a measure of calm to the water wars is State Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, who filed a bill Tuesday that would create the Southwestern States Water Commission, a state-level group to work with neighbors like Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma to secure water.
“The concept came up as we traveled around the state, about water that’s contiguous,” Larson says. “There’s an abundance of water that’s available that flows into the Gulf of Mexico, and no one’s capturing the economic benefit from it.” Continue Reading →
A parking meter is marked off due to damage caused by beach erosion along route A-1-A impassable to vehicles on November 27, 2012 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Climate scientists predict sea levels in South Florida will rise by 1 foot by 2070, 2 feet by 2115, and 3 feet by 2150.
For those watching and waiting for President Obama to take action on climate change, last night’s State of the Union address may have been an encouraging start. “If Congress won’t act soon to protect future generations, I will,” the president said. “I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy.”
The reaction from some climate scientists who have been studying the issue for decades was overwhelmingly positive. “He made a really good point, that climate change is already affecting our lives today,” Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, Director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University, tells StateImpact Texas. “[By] changing the risks of certain types of severe weather, like heat waves and floods, making storms stronger and sea level rise. So he brought the issue home to where we live, right now, today.”
While Hayhoe cautions that there’s “no one magic silver bullet” to address greenhouse gas emissions and man made climate change, she was encouraged by Obama’s calls for what she labels “sensible transitions:” increased renewable power, natural gas and a “race to the top” for energy efficiency. “The U.S. is one of the most wasteful countries in the world in terms of how we spend our energy,” she says. “It just makes sense to conserve what we’re already using.”
But she and other climate scientists add that aside from local, state and federal government action, there’s plenty individuals can do to turn the tide. Continue Reading →
About StateImpact
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives. Learn More »
