In a unanimous vote this morning, the Railroad Commission of Texas elected a new chairman, commissioner Barry Smitherman. He’s been a member of the commission, which regulates oil and gas drilling in the state, since July 2011, when he was first appointed by Governor Rick Perry. Smitherman will run for re-election to the commission this year. Smitherman […]
To get to Spicewood Beach from Austin, you first drive through the Hill Country. You’ll pass a parcel of land scorched by wildfire and drive over a Pedernales River that has been reduced to a trickle, with docks awkwardly resting on the dry riverbed. When you get to the rusty barbecue smoker with the Confederate […]
It’s round two in the ongoing battle between a northeast Texas farmer and the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline. Today a district court judge dissolved a restraining order filed by farmer Julia Trigg Crawford against the TransCanada corporation, which wants to build the Keystone XL pipeline across her property. After Crawford declined to sign […]
We do a lot of reporting on the ongoing (but hopefully abating) Texas drought around here, with a weekly update on drought conditions in the state. Yesterday’s update showed that drought conditions continue to improve in Texas, with Dallas/Fort-Worth drought-free, and parts of Houston are now out of drought as well. Austin is in the lightest stage […]
In the face of rising gas prices and outspoken criticism from the oil and gas industry, President Obama outlined major campaign proposals for energy and drilling today at a speech at the University of Miami. “It is great to be back in sunny Florida,” the President said. “I still don’t know how you all make it […]
Plans to revise Texas’ electoral boundaries will affect more than just the House of Representatives’ Republican-Democrat breakdown. But could it affect Texas’ renewable energy policies? That was the question posed to State Rep. Mark Strama by Stratus Energy’s Mark Bruce at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Law’s Wind, Solar and Storage conference […]
Yes, someone actually took the time to calculate Santa’s impact on the atmosphere. While we all know he brings plenty of cheer, a new infographic by the environmentally-friendly shopping website Ethical Ocean shows his operation has a carbon footprint much bigger than a lump of coal. The group estimates that Santa’s sleigh trip alone involves over […]
In a move the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is calling “historic,” new rules were approved today that mandate reduced emissions of mercury and other pollutants from U.S. coal power plants. In a statement released today, the agency says that these are the first national standards that “will slash emissions of these dangerous pollutants by relying […]
A request for a tax refund by the Valero Energy Corporation, one of the world’s largest oil refiners, has been rejected by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), the Associated Press reports. Valero asked for the money under a state law that says companies don’t have to pay taxes on equipment that reduces on-site pollution. […]
The British oil company, BP, is shutting down its solar power operation BP Solar, Bloomberg reported today. BP is the second-largest oil company in Europe. The company said it was closing down its solar division after 40 years because it has become unprofitable. BP Solar’s end will affect about 100 employees, the company said in […]
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