The Midday Brief: July 22, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

"Most work was halted at the site of BP’s blown oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, as a newly formed tropical depression threatened to delay for a week or more the effort to seal off the gusher permanently using a relief well." — Storm Threat in Gulf Halts Most Work at Oil Spill Site, The New York Times

"Democrat Barbara Ann Radnofsky, who is challenging Republican Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, has spent the past few months blasting Abbott from every conceivable angle. So it is surprising that campaign records for Abbott's first election for attorney general in 2002 show a $1,000 political contribution from Radnofsky." — Radnofsky defends $1,000 gift to Abbott's '02 campaign for attorney general, The Dallas Morning News

"Two Texas Republicans have joined the calls for a congressional investigation of the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, amid allegations that BP lobbied for the controversial prisoner exchange to facilitate a $900 million drilling deal." — Texans seek House probe of BP role in Lockerbie bomber release, Houston Chronicle

New in The Texas Tribune:

"Texas environmentalists have adopted an avowedly pragmatic strategy for winning tougher control of industrial air pollution through the Sunset Advisory Commission's review process: They’ve teamed with a former commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to craft their recommendations. They’re speaking with a unified voice. And they're pursuing limited changes in existing practices, not ideal goals." — Coalition of Enviros Pragmatically Approaches Sunset

"In their last web video, the Rick Perry campaign compared Bill White's campaign to comedian Jerry Seinfeld's 'show about nothing.' This time, White's getting the Jim Carrey treatment." — Rick Perry Releases New Ad Calling Bill White a Liar