Texas

Energy and Environment Reporting for Texas

Topics

Regulation

View All Topics »

Background

Where politics, government and energy intersect.

Latest Posts

July 8, 2013

Texas Puts Luminant Mining Under Closer Financial Scrutiny

Last fall, a newspaper article caught the eye of staff members at the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates coal mining. “Analysts: TXU-Luminant bankruptcy possible next year,” read a headline in the Dallas Morning News. That caused concern at the Railroad Commission because a related company,  Luminant Mining, is on the hook to cover around $1 […]

June 26, 2013

Stopping a Hurricane’s Storm Surge: Texas Considers What Will Work

Petrochemical companies are spending billions of dollars to expand facilities along the Texas Gulf Coast. Which means when the next hurricane hits, there will be just that much more expensive infrastructure that could be damaged by the massive amount of seawater — or “storm surge” — pushed inland by the hurricane. “There’s more development, more […]

June 25, 2013

When Texas Game Wardens Encounter the Unexpected

‘The Dog Ate My Fishing Limit,’ Tubing at Night and Massive Drug Busts There is no typical shift for Texas’ 532 game wardens, part of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. One day you’re issuing citations for lapsed watercraft registrations, the next you’re seizing nearly two tons of marijuana from boats on Lake Falcon. That’s […]

June 24, 2013

Texas Community Without Water Still Waiting For a Solution

SPICEWOOD, Texas — Many people who retired in Spicewood Beach came here for the water — the boating, fishing, and the summer days they imagined their grandkids would spend swimming in Lake Travis. In this small community less than an hour outside of Austin, the Fourth of July used to mean eating barbecue at picnic tables […]

June 19, 2013

Texas Town Upset With Governor’s Water Veto

From the Texas Tribune: Officials in the North Texas town of Blue Mound and the town’s representative in the state House say they are upset and baffled by Gov. Rick Perry’s veto of a bill that would have made it easier for Blue Mound to gain control of its water system. The town’s water is […]

June 18, 2013

Governor Signs Water Bills, Vetoes Reform for Oil and Gas Regulators

On Friday, Governor Rick Perry signed several water conservation bills intended to address the state’s drought and water supply problem, and also vetoed a major Ethics Commission sunset bill. The sunset bill, Senate Bill 219, would have required members of the Railroad Commission, the state authority charged with regulating the oil and gas industry, to […]

June 14, 2013

After Supreme Court Water Ruling, What’s Next for Texas?

On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a major case pitting the water needs of North Texas against its northern neighbor. At issue was Texas’ ability to access water from the Red River in Oklahoma. The Tarrant Regional Water District serves 11 counties in fast-growing North Texas, including the city of Fort Worth. It […]

June 13, 2013

Why Oil and Gas Lobbyists Were Big Spenders This Session

Oil and gas and energy special interest groups outspent others by a large margin during the regular session of the Texas legislature this year. 19 cents of every dollar spent on lobbying belonged to the energy and natural resources industry, according to a new report by Texans for Public Justice, a state watchdog group. And […]

June 11, 2013

After Rice Farmers Cut Off Last Year, Water Use Cut in Half in Central Texas

In 2012, for the first time in history, most rice farmers on the Lower Colorado River in South Texas were cut off from water for irrigation. According to an emergency drought plan, there wasn’t enough water in the Highland Lakes of Buchanan and Travis to send water downstream. In the months since, those lakes have […]

Vehicle Inspection Fraud Task Forces Running on Empty

Harris County has 1,800 emissions testing stations

In the war on air pollution in Texas’s smoggiest cities, investigators say the state has slashed their funding even as they continue to find illegal vehicle inspection operations thriving in their communities. “Hundreds of thousands of vehicles have fraudulent inspection stickers on them right now,” said Lt. Eddie Hazel who heads an emissions fraud task […]

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 »

Economy
Education