The Texas Railroad Commission regulates one of the most advanced industries in the world — oil and gas drilling. Yet the commission’s software systems, many of its rules and even its name are from another era. But change is coming.
Kate Galbraith
Kate Galbraith covered energy and environment for the Tribune from 2010 to 2013. Previously she reported on clean energy for The New York Times from 2008 to 2009, serving as the lead writer for the Times' Green blog. She began her career at The Economist in 2000 and spent 2005 to 2007 in Austin as the magazine's Southwest correspondent. A Nieman fellow in journalism at Harvard University from 2007 to 2008, she has an undergraduate degree in English from Harvard and a master's degree from the London School of Economics. She is co-author of “The Great Texas Wind Rush,” a book about how the oil and gas state won the race to wind power.
Posted in
Energy
Report Recommends Changes to Tax Exemption for Fracking
A Legislative Budget Board report on how government can be more effective has recommended that the state reduce its gas tax exemption for hydraulic fracturing.
Posted in
Energy
Study: Amount of Water Used in Fracking Climbs, but Will Soon Plateau
A new University of Texas at Austin study funded by an oil and gas group has found that the amount of water used in fracking has risen sharply in recent years but would level off sometime in the decade starting in 2020.
Posted in
Energy
Ruling on Lesser Prairie Chicken Could Impact Wind, Drilling Industries
In September, the federal government will decide whether to classify a West Texas grouse called the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species. Such a move could have serious repercussions for the wind and drilling industries.
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Energy
Red River Water Rivalry Goes to U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Friday that it will hear a major cross-border water case that pits Tarrant County against Oklahoma. North Texas wants water, but Oklahoma doesn’t want to sell.
Posted in
Energy
Water Conservation Ideas Pour In Ahead of Session
Using less water is the cheapest way to meet Texas’ water needs. So what could Texas lawmakers do to promote water savings? Among the proposals are requiring meters on farmers’ wells and a sales-tax exemption for water-efficient appliances.
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Energy
Year in Review: Energy, the Environment and Transportation
Drought, oil and gas production, fast lanes and toll lanes made headlines in 2012 in the Tribune. Here’s a look back at the year’s biggest stories on energy and the environment and transportation.
Posted in
Energy
Legislature Prepares to Take On Water Projects
If there is a silver lining to the intensifying drought, it is that after years of hand-wringing from water experts, Texas seems poised to get serious about financing water projects. Competing proposals are floating around the statehouse.
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Energy
At Texas Railroad Commission, a Flurry of Rulemaking
A veritable flurry of rule-making is under way at the Texas Railroad Commission, involving everything from how oil and gas wells are drilled to the recycling of fracking water.
Posted in
Energy
For Power Grid, Slower Economic Growth Could Be Beneficial
A report published Monday forecasts that the Texas power grid will be a little shakier next summer than previously projected. Thanks to the anticipation of slower power demand, the grid will be a little less shaky in 2014 and beyond.
