Cleaning up oilfield pollution in arid West Texas is costly and complicated. The bankruptcy process allows companies to move on while the public pays the price.
Texas Railroad Commission
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Energy
How to know the difference between a local power outage and rolling blackouts
Power outages are a possibility during any severe weather event. But a local power outage is different from a larger power grid problem.
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Environment
Texas oil and gas regulators win new power to approve projects that shoot carbon underground
The EPA handed over power to the Railroad Commission after a two-year review. Critics say the commission has been too lax with the industry.
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2026 Texas Elections
Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French announces run for Texas Railroad Commission
French will face commission Chair Jim Wright in the Republican primary. The three-person panel is in charge of the agency that oversees Texas’ oil and gas industry.
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2026 Texas Elections
Democratic Rep. Jon Rosenthal will run for Texas Railroad Commission
The day after the four-term Houston lawmaker launched his statewide bid, his former chief of staff, Odus Evbagharu, announced he was running to succeed his former boss in the Texas House.
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Economy
Texas says it’s strict on oil field emissions. New data shows it’s not.
Texas’ rubber-stamp system allows drillers to release vast amounts of natural gas into the atmosphere.
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2025 Legislative Recap
Texas creating task forces to target Permian Basin oil field thefts
Texas lawmakers passed a suite of bills that officials said are crucial to combat losses in the state’s largest oil field.
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Texas Legislature 2025
Texas oil companies face new deadlines to plug inactive wells
Senate Bill 1150, which is on its way to Gov. Greg Abbott, is a rare example of the Texas Legislature regulating the state’s oil and gas industry.
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Energy
Texas has thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells. Who is responsible for cleaning them up?
Across Texas, abandoned wells are erupting with chemical-infused liquid and some have created massive lakes of contaminated water. Regulators say they need more money to address the problem.
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Running Out: Texas’ Water Crisis
Can Texas clean up fracking water enough to use for farming? One company thinks so.
The Texas Legislature has also invested millions in research to clean the fracking wastewater. Critics say it’s not a viable solution to the state’s water crisis.