Cryptocurrency miners line up to come to Texas, and rural counties are welcoming them
Eager to bring new jobs to their towns and boost their tax base, rural Texas counties are courting companies that produce cryptocurrencies. Full Story
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![Employees service a computer that they pulled out of one of the pods at Helios, near Afton, on Sept. 15, 2022.]()
Credit: Trace Thomas for The Texas Tribune -
Texas will build more than 50 new electric car charging locations along major highways
The $408 million approved Tuesday by the Federal Highway Administration will help build a network of charging facilities every 50-70 miles along certain major Texas highways. Full Story
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![A Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV plug in hybrid vehicle is charged at a public charging station in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.]()
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Texas Democrats try to convince voters they aren’t bad for oil and gas
Candidates like Beto O’Rourke and Mike Collier say they want to work toward a cleaner energy future but aren’t looking to eliminate the energy jobs that boost Texas’ economy. Full Story
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![Oil pumpjacks in Andrews County, northeast of Kermit.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune -
Sarah Stogner, former GOP candidate for railroad commissioner, backs Democratic nominee in November’s election
Stogner, who lost in a Republican primary runoff to incumbent Wayne Christian, said she’s endorsing Luke Warford. Full Story
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![Incumbent Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian, far-left, and candidate Sarah Stogner, far-right, speak during a Republican Railroad Commission Forum hosted by the Republican Women of Red River Valley at Celebrate It event hall in Paris, Texas, on Tuesday, April 26, 2022.]()
Credit: Ben Torres for The Texas Tribune -
Ahead of the 2023 session, Texas lawmakers previewed their objectives. Here are five things you need to know.
Texas lawmakers on both sides of the aisle talked schools, abortion and guns in advance of next year’s session in a range of panels at The Texas Tribune Festival. Full Story
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![From left: Tribune political correspondent Patrick Svitek moderates a discussion about the 88th legislative session withHouse Republicans Four Price, Dustin Burrows, Ellen Troxclair and Craig Goldman at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Sept. 23, 2022.]()
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A shut-off switch was supposed to prevent 99% of generator-related deaths. It failed a family of three.
The generator industry has touted automatic shut-off switches as a lifesaving fix for carbon monoxide poisoning. But the voluntary standard falls short of what federal regulators say is necessary to eliminate deaths. Full Story
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![An automatic shut-off switch on a 6,250-watt Briggs & Stratton Storm Responder generator was not enough to prevent the carbon monoxide poisoning of a family of three.]()
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Texas regulators proposed cracking down on harmful plastic “nurdles” — and then changed their minds
The Texas coast is a hot spot for “nurdle” pollution, tiny plastic pellets created in the process of producing everyday products. But a plan to require proactive prevention of their release has been scrapped. Full Story
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![Ronnie Hamrick points out the plastic pellets he collected with a swift scoop of his small net at Point Comfort on March 20, 2019.]()
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Gov. Greg Abbott touts Texas power grid’s readiness heading into fall, election season
The governor shared the favorable forecast — which is normal for the fall months — ahead of a competitive race in which the grid’s performance during last year’s fatal winter storm may factor into Texans’ decisions at the polls. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks about preparations and warnings ahead of a winter storm at a press conference on Feb. 1, 2022.]()
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EPA reverses course, rejects permit for massive oil exporting project offshore from Corpus Christi
During the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency exempted a proposed oil export terminal off the Texas coast from air pollution requirements. This week it rejected the permit because of pollution concerns. Full Story
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![The Corpus Christi Ship Channel.]()
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Texas’ oil and gas industry will produce “massive amount” of toxic wastewater with few reuse options, study finds
Oil and gas companies produce 3.8 billion barrels of wastewater per year in the arid Permian Basin. A state consortium is trying to figure out whether it can be reused. Full Story
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![A drilling rig at sunset operates a couple of hundred yards north of Fasken Elementary School on the north side of Midland, on May 13, 2016.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune -
Texas gas companies face fines up to $1 million for failing to prepare for extreme weather
Critics are skeptical about whether the new rules by the Railroad Commission will prevent another catastrophe like the power grid disaster in February 2021. Full Story
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Texas will plug 800 abandoned oil and gas wells, funded by $25 million federal infrastructure grant
The initial grant will allow Texas to plug a fraction of the state’s approximately 7,400 documented abandoned oil and gas wells. Full Story
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![Brackish water flows from an unplugged abandoned well outside Imperial in Pecos County — one of several in the area likely drilled for oil but later tapped for water.]()
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Texas bans local, state government entities from doing business with firms that “boycott” fossil fuels
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar singled out financial firms under a 2021 state law that prohibits most state entities from contracting with companies that have reduced or cut investments in the oil and gas industry. Full Story
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![Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Glenn Hegar at The Texas Tribune Festival on Sept. 28, 2019.]()
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Pablo Vegas, a utility executive in Ohio, named ERCOT’s new CEO
The state power grid operator has been run by an interim chief since the previous CEO was fired following the deadly 2021 winter storm that crashed much of the grid. Full Story
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![Pablo Vegas.]()
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Texas Dems uniformly vote for Biden’s cornerstone climate and health care legislation
The bill would invest billions into issues acutely impacting Texas, including climate change and health care, and is the result of months of intraparty fighting between moderates and progressives. Full Story
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![From left: U.S. Reps. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin; Lizzie Fletcher, D-Houston; and Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.]()
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“He has total veto power”: Greg Abbott takes control over who will lead Texas’ troubled power grid, sources say
Locked in a potentially tight reelection race and facing criticism over the grid’s 2021 collapse, the governor is exerting unprecedented influence over what the state grid operator shares with the public — and who will be its next CEO. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott speaks about preparations and warnings ahead of a winter storm at a press conference on Feb. 1, 2022.]()
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T-Squared: New roles for Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera and Brandon Formby
Alejandro will serve as education and urban affairs editor, and Brandon as news editor. Full Story
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An oil company is seeking property tax breaks to finance its plans to remove carbon dioxide from Texas skies
Occidental’s tax break applications include new details about its carbon removal plans, which some experts see as important to countering climate change. Some environmentalists say the technology is unproven, expensive and only marginally useful at best. Full Story
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![Equipment used to process carbon dioxide, crude oil and water at an Occidental Petroleum Corp enhanced oil recovery project in Hobbs, New Mexico on May 3, 2017.]()
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Texas Democrats in Congress balance climate concerns and fossil fuel constituencies as they consider landmark bill
The handful of Texas Democrats who have a penchant for defending the state’s oil and gas industry includes members of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee and representatives from some of the top oil producing, refining and transporting regions of the state. Full Story
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EPA says it is looking for “super-emitters” of methane gas in Texas’ Permian Basin
The federal environment agency says it will continue flyovers of the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico until Aug. 15 using infrared cameras to survey oil and gas operations. Full Story
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![Dozens of stacked oil drilling rigs sit in a yard just north of Interstate 20 between Midland and Odessa, March 18, 2016.]()
Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune
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