The latest energy news from The Texas Tribune.
Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian told House lawmakers on Wednesday that the biggest threat to a burgeoning oil boom is "the acceptance of the politically-correct-driven environmental anti-oil and gas science." Full Story
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Damage from heavy trucks has battered local roads in and around the state's oil fields, and many counties want the state to help pay for repairs and maintenance. Will lawmakers take action? Full Story
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Record enrollment is putting a strain on the already low-performing Ector County Independent School District. In Odessa, school administrators and teachers are parents are asking: Where are we going to put all of these kids? Full Story
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The current energy secretary and former Texas governor's name is being floated as Trump mulls another major shakeup in his cabinet. Full Story
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The Permian Basin in West Texas is the driving force behind what some key energy players say is a coming milestone: The United States passing Russia as the world's top oil producer. Full Story
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A day after the state's main electric grid operator warned that a variety of factors including record high demand could lead to pricier and dicier electric service, experts added a grain of salt to the predictions. Full Story
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The U.S. Department of Energy's inspector general says that a now-bankrupt company behind a defunct West Texas "clean coal" power plant spent more than $1.3 million in federal stimulus funds on things like spa service, alcohol, first-class travel and limousine services. Full Story
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Millions of dollars in promised savings at the Pantex Plant in the Panhandle and another nuclear weapons facility in Tennessee haven’t appeared. But the federal government has still awarded a contractor extra profits. Full Story
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Kathleen Hartnett White, who once headed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, may no longer be in line to serve as a top White House environmental official. Full Story
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No, because the state has no warning system like Hawaii does. Full Story
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Texas broke a new record for winter power usage on Wednesday. Despite one power company's warning out of San Antonio, state officials said there was no threat of rolling outages. Full Story
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Revisit our investigation of how thousands of "rogue releases" — when industrial polluters spew noxious chemicals into the air during malfunctions and other unplanned incidents, exceeding permit limits — occur in Texas each year. Full Story
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The easiest way to judge public officials is the same way you judge the people where you work: Are they doing a good job? Full Story
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Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said in an interview Thursday that increasing fossil fuel use could prevent sexual assault. Full Story
As multiple Texas coal plants wind down operations, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry is pushing a widely decried proposal to subsidize coal and nuclear plants in the name of grid resiliency. Full Story
Many in the Texas solar industry are worried a federal agency might hobble their business in an effort to protect domestic manufacturers of solar panels and cells. Full Story
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Eleven additional plaintiffs and a new defendant have been added to a lawsuit against the company whose manufacturing plant experienced a series of chemical fires as a result of floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey. Full Story
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Craddick's announcement means that every non-judicial statewide official in Texas — all of them Republicans — has plans to seek re-election next year. Full Story
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When first responders were sent to the scene of a chemical fire at a manufacturing plant last week, they were never alerted to the toxic fumes in the air, a new lawsuit alleges. And the plant's parent company could face another lawsuit in the next several weeks. Full Story
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Long lines formed at Texas gas stations Thursday as some prices started to spike — but officials say Hurricane Harvey hasn't led to a shortage of fuel. Full Story
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