Add Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to the growing list of those concerned about Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller’s effort to hike fees for a wide range of licenses, registrations and services the Texas Department of Agriculture provides.
Energy
In-depth reporting on oil, gas, renewable power, and policies shaping the future of energy in Texas from The Texas Tribune.
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Economy
Ag Agency’s Fee Hikes Plant Seeds of Discontent
Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller says he’s prepared to “put on my rawhide underwear and take all the chewings” as the agriculture community protests a wide range of rate hikes at his agency.
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Energy
Denton Power Plan Draws Criticism
Denton’s City Council Tuesday will take up a plan to boost the amount of renewable power to 70 percent by 2019 amid concerns that the plan relies on building two new natural gas power plants to help make up the rest of the city’s energy mix.
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Economy
EPA Head: Texas Should Want Its Own Clean Power Plan
The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggested that Texas leaders should play along with her agency’s sweeping Clean Power Plan, if only to avoid a more rigid carbon-cutting plan imposed by the federal government.
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Energy
Roundup: HERO, Quakes and “In God We Trust”
In the Roundup: A Houston nondiscrimination ordinance goes down, state regulators find no clear link between oilfield activity and some North Texas earthquakes, and a local police department gets the legal go-ahead to keep its “In God We Trust” stickers.
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Economy
Feds Worry Power Giant Will Ditch Mine Cleanup
As Energy Future Holdings continues what it hopes will be the final leg of messy bankruptcy proceedings, a recent dispute with the federal government highlights just how far a mammoth corporate reorganization can reach.
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Economy
New Texas House Committee to Examine Range of EPA Rules
House Speaker Joe Straus announced Thursday that a new House Committee on Federal Environmental Regulation will examine a litany of new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency efforts that have roiled Texas leaders and industry.
Posted inEnergy, Environment
New in Trib+Water: Conservation Is Good for Business
In this week’s edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: An environmentalist argues conservation is good for business, farmers are slow to adapt conservation practices and an interview with Fritz Hanselmann of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University.
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Energy
On Quakes, Regulator Sides with Energy Companies
The Texas Railroad Commission has officially cleared two oilfield companies of responsibility for earthquakes that rattled two North Texas towns — despite research suggesting otherwise.
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Energy
Drilling Not Root of San Antonio Smog, State Says
State environmental officials on Monday continued to downplay the impact of Eagle Ford Shale drilling on San Antonio’s worsening air quality, blaming cars and trucks instead.