Under new state law, Texas will bill electric vehicle drivers an extra $200 a year
The new registration fee is meant to make up for the state’s lost revenue from gasoline taxes that are used to pay for road construction and maintenance. Full Story
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![While waiting for the battery in his Tesla EV to charge, a traveler cleans the windshield on his vehicle at a service station in Childress on Aug. 23, 2022.]()
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State power grid operator calls on Texans to conserve energy late Sunday
ERCOT asked energy customers to reduce their electricity use from 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday, the third conservation request this year and the second in three days as punishing summer heat continues. Full Story
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![A boat traveled along Lake Travis during a drought in the summer of 2011. Drier than normal weather in Texas with no precipitation for several months had caused lakes and rivers to run dry.]()
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State grid operator asks Texans to reduce energy use Thursday afternoon as demand spikes
This is the second voluntary conservation notice issued this summer by ERCOT, which hopes to lower electricity use and avoid tight grid conditions amid an ongoing heat wave. Full Story
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Texas’ environmental agency enables companies to increase oilfield wastewater disposal in rivers
Researchers are still studying the chemical makeup of “produced water” from Permian Basin oil fields. But regulators say they’re ready to issue permits to discharge the water into rivers and creeks. Full Story
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![Fracking's water demand requires the construction of ponds like these, which store millions of gallons of fresh water. Aug. 21, 2013.]()
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Texas counties don’t have the power to ban solar farms, attorney general finds
The opinion comes as communities across the country fight solar and wind development, which play an important role in slowing climate change but use a lot of land. Full Story
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![Jerry Cooper, County Commissioner District 1 of Franklin County, drives past solar panels near Cunningham on April 10, 2023. "I don't like the term 'solar farm', it feels disingenuous to me," said Cooper, "I realize things are changing, but this feels like an awful fast change."]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
For Texans, fighting state-regulated oilfield waste dumps can be a costly, do-it-yourself effort
Some Texans who challenge oil and gas waste sites must spend significant sums and time on investigating what they say the Texas Railroad Commission should examine. Will new regulations for handling waste increase oversight or just maintain the status quo? Full Story
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![Tara Jones, who lives half a mile from the Blackhorn Environmental oil and gas waste facility near Orange Grove, says she spent almost a year learning the state’s regulatory rules and investigating the commercial dumping operation.]()
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Texas sues Shell over Houston-area chemical fire in May
The lawsuit seeks $1 million in damages, claiming the three-day blaze at Shell’s Deer Park facility caused air and water pollution that violated state law. Full Story
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![Deer Park, Texas: An overhead view of an explosion at a Shell USA Inc. facility on May 5, 2023 in Deer Park, Texas.]()
Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune -
T-Squared: The wait is over. Our full program for TribFest23 is here!
We’re bringing people together for talks that will examine education, Texas’ energy future, the 2024 races for U.S. Senate and president, and the state of democracy. Full Story
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![Image promoting The Texas Tribune Festival with a solid yellow background and an illustration of the Texas State Capitol dome opened up with Texas iconography spilling out. Images include western boots and hat, a star, and the Texas flag. With text that reads, "The wait is over. Full program announced!"]()
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The “1-mile rule”: Texas’ unwritten, arbitrary policy protects big polluters from citizen complaints
It’s not found anywhere in state law or the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s rules, but for years the agency has denied citizens the ability to challenge air pollution permits because they live more than a mile away. Full Story
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![Max Midstream’s Seahawk Oil Terminal sits about four miles across Lavaca Bay from a jetty at Port Lavaca, Texas.]()
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As Texas’ heat wave continues, tell us how you’re coping
Texans are seeing record-breaking temperatures this summer. Tell us how the excessive heat is affecting your daily life or plans for the future and what questions we can answer about dealing with it. Full Story
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![A construction worker carries a piece of metal while working through a heatwave in Houston on Friday, July 14, 2023.]()
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EPA will decide if the state is doing enough to reduce pollution in two East Texas counties
The federal agency has settled a lawsuit the Sierra Club brought over pollution from a coal-burning power plant. The agreement requires the EPA to weigh in on the state’s plan to improve air quality in Rusk and Panola counties. Full Story
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![Steam rises from the stacks at the Martin Lake Coal-Fired Power Plant in Tatum on March 30, 2011.]()
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First offshore wind leases off the Texas coast offered for bidding
Some oil companies have expressed interest in bidding to build wind turbines off the Texas coast, which could help reduce emissions that cause climate change but still come at an environmental cost. Full Story
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![The offshore wind park of Saint-Nazaire is pictured off Le Croisic, western France, on September 22, 2022.]()
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West Texas gas operators released tons of excess emissions during June heat wave
When sizzling temperatures in June affected the air pressure in pipelines in West Texas, companies in five counties vented millions of pounds of natural gas and other toxins into the air. Full Story
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![A sign warns passersby of oil and gas pipeline in the area south of San Antonio, TX known as the Eagle Ford Oil Patch.]()
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A Texas energy company will pay $1.3 million over pollution in the Permian Basin, EPA says
The EPA last year announced aerial surveillance of “super-emitters.” At least one other company in New Mexico faced a similar fine. Full Story
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![A natural gas flare operates less than 200 yards away from a family home on March 14, 2022 in Midland.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune -
At a shuttered Texas coal mine, a 1-acre garden is helping feed 2,000 people per month
The garden in the middle of a 35,000-acre former mine is supplying thousands of pounds of fresh produce to families in three counties that have few grocery stores. Full Story
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![From left: Ava Moore, 18; Caleb Rappolee, 17; Pera Taylor, 11; and Salaya Henderson, 11, volunteer gardeners, pick fresh onions at the Dewey Prairie Garden in Donie on June 29, 2023. The Dewey Prairie Garden is a pilot program that practices the final stages of NRG Jewett Mine’s environmental reclamation process that takes on average 12 years from start to finish.]()
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Company confirms it has found new funding to build a massive gas terminal at the Port of Brownsville
Brownsville is the last major deepwater port in Texas that doesn’t have large fossil fuel projects. The 750-acre facility will export Texas natural gas to other countries. Full Story
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![The Boca Chica Wildlife Refuge on the Rio Grande delta, about six miles east of the proposed 750-acre site of the Rio Grande LNG facility.]()
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Texas gets $60 million in federal funds to strengthen power grid against extreme weather
The Texas Division of Emergency Management will decide how to use the money. Full Story
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![The main switchyard at Vistra Corp.’s Midlothian Power Plant on October 15, 2021. This is where the power produced at this plant is transformed into usable energy.]()
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Solar power proves its worth as heat wave grips the state
Texas has seen a boom in solar power in recent years, and experts say that’s helped the state grid weather an intense June heat wave. Full Story
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![Solar panels stand in long rows and cover hundreds of acres in Wharton county on Monday, April 3, 2023.]()
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ERCOT can’t be sued over power grid failures during 2021 winter storm, Texas Supreme Court rules
The all-Republican court narrowly found that the nonprofit corporation operating the state’s electrical grid qualifies for sovereign immunity, which protects government entities from lawsuits. Full Story
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![A variety of power lines in Dallas near Greenville Avenue during a winter storm on Feb. 16, 2021. Thousands of Dallas residents have been without power for multiple days.]()
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TribCast: The rise of renewable energy in Texas
In this week’s episode, energy expert Doug Lewin discusses how wind and solar power are supplying an increasing amount of power in Texas whether state leaders like it or not. Full Story
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![Crews build a solar panel farm outside of El Campo on Monday, April 3, 2023.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune
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