Where politics, government and energy intersect.
Last week the EPA and City of Corpus Christi hosted an environmental summit on pollution and refinery row, a ten-mile stretch of oil refineries at the city’s edge. Surrounded by these refineries are several “fence line” communities, where over a thousand residents live. Families in these neighborhoods say the refineries are making them sick, and […]
Oil and gas exploration are hot topics in Texas these days, but on the other side of continent, a debate is still brewing on whether or not to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Historian Douglas Brinkley of Rice University in Houston has written a book about the Alaskan wilderness, and went […]
Earlier this month, StateImpact Texas, NPR and the Center for Public Integrity reported on a secret EPA ‘watch list’ that shows repeated violations of environmental laws in the country by industry. The list showed that even though many facilities throughout the country were violating the law, the EPA and state agencies weren’t enforcing those laws […]
New rules with a big impact for many Texans came up at a meeting of the Railroad Commission of Texas today. They would require oil and gas companies to disclose what chemicals they use when “fracking.” Residents near some drilling sites in Fort Worth are concerned about the fracking fluids possibly contaminating their water supply. […]
Austin’s Mayor Lee Leffingwell announced his bid for re-election yesterday, and while the announcement isn’t exactly surprising, one of his new campaign promises is: an Austin powered without any coal. “Starting immediately, I’m going to begin a dialogue with the community, with Austin Energy, with the LCRA, and with state officials, about how to make […]
Environmental groups that have opposed the Keystone XL pipeline won something of a victory yesterday, when the Obama administration announced that it would delay a decision on the project. But that announcement raised more questions than it answered. Will the pipeline’s delay ultimately kill the project altogether? Will other sections of the pipeline (like the […]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted its first greenhouse gas emission permit to a Texas facility since the Federal Agency took over the permitting program from the state. The Lower Colorado River Authority’s Thomas C. Ferguson Power Plant in Llano County is the first Texas site to be awarded a permit to emit under […]
Reuters is reporting that the rumors we’ve been hearing about this week — a delay on a decision for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline — may be true. The Obama administration may announce that they’ll explore a different route for the pipeline, “delaying a final approval beyond the 2012 U.S. election.” More from Reuters: The decision […]
Texas Governor Rick Perry’s memory lapse at the GOP debate last night ( the now infamous moment when he couldn’t remember the third Federal Agency he would dismantle if he were president) was especially surprising considering the nature of his candidacy. As we’ve reported in the past Perry has built his economic and jobs policies, […]
With refining comes flaring, when chemicals are burned off into the sky. And residents in the small community of Dona Park say it’s making them sick.
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives.
Learn More »