The Midday Brief: Nov. 11, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

• "Texas officials said Wednesday that they would refuse to implement a program that regulates the largest industrial sources of greenhouse gas emissions, despite new federal rules that give wide leeway to states to implement the program." — Texas officials refuse to follow new federal greenhouse gas policy, The Dallas Morning News

• "I’m not quite sure whom I’d call the odds-on favorite to capture the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. But I have a pretty good idea of who I’d bet against." — 2012 Contenders to Bet Against, FiveThirtyEight

• "State officials are investigating an assisted living center where three residents were put on feeding tubes a few months after being injected with Dysport, a drug similar to Botox." — Austin living center for disabled investigated, The Associated Press

• "The University of Texas System Board of Regents passed by unanimous vote the request of UTSA president Dr. Ricardo Romo to accept an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference today in Austin." — UT board approves UTSA’s move to WAC, San Antonio Express-News

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "State Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, is throwing his hat in the ring to be the next speaker of the House." — State Rep. Ken Paxton Announces Bid for Speaker

• "In Austin, undocumented students spent the week risking deportation to speak publicly about their support of the DREAM Act. — Undocumented Students Stump for the DREAM Act

• "Human trafficking now exceeds all illegal enterprises except for illicit drug and weapon smuggling in terms of profits derived, which can be as high as $32 billion annually. And Texas has the dubious distinction of sharing a large slice of that pie." — Lawmakers Take Closer Aim at Human Trafficking

• "State senators reduced the amount they spent on administrative expenses by $830,000 this year, or an average of nearly $26,000 per senator, an analysis by The Texas Tribune found." —  Senators Cut Office Spending by Nearly 6 Percent