Background
Where politics, government and energy intersect.
Where politics, government and energy intersect.
The Department of Interior announced some new rules today for the drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” on federal lands. The rules require companies drilling in those areas to disclose what chemicals are used in the process, but the chemicals aren’t disclosed until the well has already been fracked. There are also two […]
StateImpact Texas will be invading a special session of KUT Radio Austin’s Views and Brews this Monday at the Cactus Cafe. It’s a regular panel hosted by KUT where we discuss the issues and art of our time, over beer (hence the “Brews” with the “Views”). Our very own Mose Buchele will lead a discussion […]
Houston oil and gas attorney Roland Sledge (R) is running for an open seat on the Railroad Commission of Texas. (Which, despite its name, has nothing to do with railroads. It’s the state regulator of the oil and gas industry.) Roland Sledge also doesn’t believe in peeing on an electric fence. It’s true. Sledge has […]
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved funds to help battle two large wildfires in West Texas that have been burning for more than a week. The request for the funds came from the state. The approval means FEMA funds can pay 75 percent of eligible state and local costs for fighting the wildfires. The […]
Texas is still at risk of rolling blackouts. But the likelihood has diminished as conservation has ramped up and more energy companies have brought “mothballed” power plants back online.
Andrew Zimmern is best known for eating things like bats, spiders and even rotten fish. He’s the host of Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel, where he travels the world to eat exotic dishes. But Zimmern is also a thinker and something of a food activist. I sat down with him at the Austin Food […]
Days after a video surfaced of him making controversial remarks about enforcement, the regional administrator for the EPA has resigned.
Video has surfaced of a 2010 speech where a Texas EPA official seems to have contracted a bit of foot-in-mouth disease.
The pronghorn of far West Texas are disappearing, and no one is exactly sure why.
The first case of mad cow disease in the U.S. since 2006 was found in California this week. While the diseased cow didn’t enter the food supply, consumers, ranchers and officials are all watching and waiting to see what happens next. So does Texas have cause to be concerned? The state’s agriculture commissioner, Todd Staples, […]
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