The Midday Brief: July 19, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

"The federal government Monday allowed BP to keep the cap shut tight on its ruptured Gulf of Mexico oil well for another day despite the possibility something is seeping from the sea floor near the well." — Well cap kept shut despite possible seeping nearby, The Associated Press

"The two Texans who chair the Republican campaign committees in their respective houses — Senator John Cornyn and congressman Pete Sessions — appeared on Meet the Press yesterday. … The discussion was proof of the old adage, 'Don’t pay attention to what they said, pay attention to what they didn’t say.'" — Cornyn, Sessions fail to impress on Meet the Press, BurkaBlog

"Rick Perry showed up at the famously intellectual Aspen Institute in full Texas persona -- jeans, a black sports jacket and a black T-shirt reading 'Marshall Law has been declared.'" — Rick Perry in Aspen: boots, guns and Marshall Law, Trail Blazers

"Texas is in the middle of the states in ranking President Obama's job approval, according to a new Galllup report out today." — Texas in the middle on Obama job ratings, Texas Politics

New in The Texas Tribune:

"Rather than building new power plants just to meet peak electricity demand on hot summer afternoons, why not just persuade people and companies to use a little less electricity? This relatively new concept, called 'demand response,' is quickly taking hold in Texas." — Programs That Cut Peak Electric Demand Proliferate

"A few elected officials and municipalities in Texas are asking a federal judge to throw out the state’s open meetings law, which they claim is an infringement on free speech." — Federal Judge Asked to Throw Out Open Meetings Law

"A national program to encourage energy-efficiency and solar in homes is generating interest in Texas cities — even as it has encountered setbacks in Washington." — Can a National Energy-Efficiency Program Work in Texas?