Texas

Energy and Environment Reporting for Texas

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Where politics, government and energy intersect.

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Federal Cuts Mean Fewer Resources This Wildfire Season

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 […]

What’s Happening This Week at the Texas Legislature

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. […]

Knowing Your Neighbor When Deadly Chemicals Are Next Door

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 […]

Smaller Water Bills Flow Through the House, But Big Funding Misses Out

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 […]

Pipeline Bills Moving This Session, But Maybe Not the Ones You Were Thinking

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 […]

Water Bills Flood the House

Update: As of Thursday morning none of the bills mentioned in this article had been brought to the floor with the exception of HB2133 and HB1509. Wednesday, the legislative calendar is inundated with bills that would effect how the state handles its water issues. In total, six water bills are up for a second reading […]

Texas House Approves Bill Ending Comptroller’s Endangered Species Duties

Update: HB 3509 passed out of the state House Thursday, the final day for bills to be voted out. Earlier: The Texas House could vote today on a bill that would strip the Texas Comptroller’s office of its endangered species monitoring duties and send the job over to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Advocates […]

Texas Groundwater Levels Suffer Sharp Drop, Study Finds

Photo Illustration by Sean Gallup/Getty Images From the Texas Tribune:  Groundwater levels in Texas’ major aquifers dropped considerably between 2010 and 2011, as the state’s drought intensified, according to a report published recently by the Texas Water Development Board. The report showed significant declines in the Ogallala Aquifer, which underlies much of the Panhandle. The water board […]

More Than Their Fair Share? Texas County Questions Frack Water Disposal Wells

Some people who live in Pearsall, the South Texas town where country star George Strait grew up, said they learned they had a disposal well nearby when they heard a big boom. “Then I saw the billows of smoke coming out,” said Henry Martinez, Pearsall’s police chief. He’s talking about the afternoon in January 2012 […]

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