Whether the Legislature will take action to shore up the state’s water supplies, and what that action will be, are the questions that everyone in the water world is asking. The Speaker of the House appears ready to push.
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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Energy
TribuneFest: Water and the Environment
At the Trib’s Oct. 29 symposium on the future of water at Texas State University, Kate Galbraith talked to former state Sen. Kip Averitt, R-Waco, Myron Hess of the National Wildlife Federation and Bob Huston of the Environmental Flows Science Advisory Committee.
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Energy
TribuneFest: A Conversation with Ritter and Hegar
At the Trib’s Oct. 29 symposium at Texas State University on the future of water, I talked with state Rep. Allan Ritter, R-Nederland, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, and state Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, a member of the Senate Natural Resources Committee.
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Energy
Amid Texas Power Market Changes, Little Talk of Impact on Ratepayers
Ongoing efforts to fix the strained Texas power market will almost certainly have an effect on the monthly power bills for ordinary Texans. But there has been little discussion, or study, of the impact on ratepayers.
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Energy
In Texas, Extreme Weather is the New Normal
Increasingly hot summers and new extreme weather patterns have helped activists raise awareness of climate change. But in Texas, weather that once would have been considered extreme has become commonplace.
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Energy
With Toolkits and Robots, Schools Teach Kids About Water Conservation
Texas schools have gotten creative about water education, sometimes even giving students low-flow shower heads and other water-saving devices to install at home. But funding is a perpetual challenge.
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Energy
State Water Plan Faces Critical Funding Test
The Legislature failed to fund a state water plan in the last session. And with a price tag pegged at $53 billion and lawmakers pledging not to raise taxes, finding the money is sure to prove tricky in 2013.
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Energy
Drilling Regulators Using Old Technology as Industry Booms
Oil and gas drilling continues to buoy the state’s economy, but the Railroad Commission, the agency charged with regulating the industry in Texas, is struggling with what one commissioner called technology “stuck somewhere in the mid-’90s.”
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Energy
Food Blogger’s Tale Gets Scorn Heaped on State Agency
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has been receiving hate mail from around the country thanks to the gastronomic adventures of an Austin-area food blogger. It all started when the man’s unlikely dinner literally went bump in the night.
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Energy
Fracking Boom Still Rattling Some Small Communities
A fracking boom in rural counties south of San Antonio continues to produce an enormous amount of oil for the state. But some of those counties are just now beginning to grapple with the consequences — and downsides — of the boom.