The latest energy news from The Texas Tribune.
In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: Researchers test plants' resistance to drought, cities get creative when water is scarce and an interview with Todd Caldwell of the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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Anger boiled over at a town hall meeting Tuesday night as Hays County residents decried a company's plan to pump and sell millions of gallons of groundwater. The heated dispute foreshadows more to come in a growing state that's running out of water. Full Story
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The Tribune's Terri Langford has uncovered a new problem with the no-bid Medicaid fraud software contract awarded to 21CT by the Health and Human Services Commission. Full Story
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A handful of former HHSC employees are suing for wrongful termination in the aftermath of revelations over the awarding of a no-bid Medicaid fraud contract. Full Story
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The decline in oil prices has led to thousands of layoffs in Texas. It has also led to renewed calls from Texans in Congress and other state officials to lift the ban that blocks the export of most U.S. crude oil. Full Story
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The country has been trying to figure out for decades what to do with the high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. The operators of a nuclear waste dump in West Texas have told federal officials they'd be happy to take it. Full Story
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Last year, Tribune readers made it possible for us to spend months telling tales of life in Texas' shale plays. The crowdfunding effort worked so well that we're trying it again, this time for a major project on unsafe drinking water. Full Story
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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz talked presidential politics and foreign policy in a pair of appearances on Sunday morning talk shows. Full Story
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Texans must wait for an answer to a vexing question: How far below the earth’s surface do property lines extend? The Texas Supreme Court evaded the issue Friday, deciding a case that pitted petroleum interests against property rights advocates. Full Story
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A peripatetic seismologist and son of McCamey has been hired to figure out whether oil and gas drilling is causing earthquakes in Texas. No matter what he says, some people will not believe him. Full Story
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Rick Perry had some choice words in an interview Thursday with the Tribune and the Washington Post on what separates him from Ted Cruz. Full Story
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After years of political wrangling, Mexico is poised to open up its state-run energy monopoly to private investment, pumping excitement into Texas. But as crude oil prices fall, will investors walk through that door? Full Story
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House Speaker Joe Straus leaned toward the familiar in filling open spots at the top of the chamber's top-tier committees. Full Story
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The ability of Austin tech firm 21CT to secure a $20 million Medicaid fraud software contract through a no-bid program run by the state's Department of Information Resources drew intense scrutiny from Senate budget writers on Tuesday. Full Story
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In a case that highlights the challenges Texas mineral owners face in ensuring oil and gas operators pay what they promise, the Texas Supreme Court has revived the claim of a man who alleges he was shortchanged on royalties. Full Story
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After months of plummeting oil prices, nightmares about idled drilling rigs have become reality, hitting Texas the hardest. See how many rigs the state has lost in recent months. Full Story
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The state representative at the center of a controversy over treatment of visitors to the Capitol for Texas Muslim Capitol Day last week told the Tribune on Monday that she didn't expect her Facebook post to raise such a ruckus. Full Story
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Texas bars companies from owning or controlling more than 20 percent of the electric generation capacity in the state. A lawmaker wants to eliminate that cap. Full Story
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Two years ago, the drought prompted a rare outbreak of teamwork as lawmakers from both parties and most corners of Texas together crafted a $2 billion fund to provide more water. This session, though, it looks like we're going back to good old-fashioned water rivalries. Full Story
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In a week where the news was driven to a large degree by rallies on the Capitol grounds — from open carry activists to anti-Muslim protesters — it's perhaps fitting that the week closes with another one. Full Story
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