At a House panel hearing Monday, witnesses largely agreed on the causes and magnitude of climate change, and they told legislators to speed up consideration of how to deal with the results of a warming climate.
water supply
Posted in
Energy
TribLive: Huffman on Water and the Lege
At Monday’s TribLive conversation, Laura Huffman, the Texas state director of The Nature Conservancy, talked about the prospects for meaningful water legislation to emerge from the 83rd session.
Posted in
Politics
Agenda Texas: Bond Rating Battle
On the latest Agenda Texas, from KUT News and the Tribune: Texas lawmakers are poised to spend billions out of the state’s Rainy Day Fund, but some say tapping the fund will lower the state’s bond rating. So what’s the truth?
Posted inState Government
Guest Column: Use the Rainy Day Fund Before We Go Dry
Using the Rainy Day Fund now will help address the state’s water needs and keep general state spending on water down for decades to come.
Posted inState Government
Guest Column: We Don’t Need the Rainy Day Money Yet
It’s proper to use the state’s Rainy Day Fund for a $2 billion water plan, but it isn’t necessary until 2015, and using it now would force lawmakers to bust the constitutional cap on budget growth.
Posted inState Government
Guest Column: Texas Should Leave the Rainy Day Fund Alone
The state’s Rainy Day Fund should be kept as insurance against real financial downturns. If the state needs money for water programs, it should get that money by cutting other programs that are less important.
Posted in
Energy
House to Feds: Pressure Mexico to Release Water
The Texas House on Thursday voted to formally ask the U.S. State Department to apply pressure on the Mexican government to release water owed to Texas under the terms of a treaty signed in 1944.
Posted in
Energy
Senate Sets Up Debate on Rainy Day Fund Spending
The full Texas Senate will consider a plan to spend about half of the projected $11.8 billion balance in the state’s Rainy Day Fund for transportation and water projects, though Democrats plan to push for money for schools as well.
Posted in
Energy
Perry to Obama: Press Mexico for Water
In a letter to President Obama on Tuesday, Gov. Rick Perry urged the federal government to press Mexico to release more water to Texas under the terms of a 1944 treaty.
Posted in
Energy
Getting Serious About a Texas-Size Drought
In a state fabled for its everything-is-bigger mentality, the idea of conserving resources is taking hold. Texas political and business leaders have realized that no water equals no business.
