This week, committees in both chambers heard testimony about bills to encourage recycling of plastic grocery bags. But environmentalists fear that the legislation would prevent local communities from banning plastic bags altogether, as three Texas cities have done.
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
Senate Passes Groundwater Bill
The Texas Senate passed a much-discussed piece of groundwater legislation, voting 28-3 to approve a bill stating that landowners in the state have a “vested ownership interest” in the groundwater beneath their land.
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Energy
In Texas, an Upside to Higher Gas Prices
Oil prices hit $100 per barrel last month for the first time since 2008, and prices have continued to rise. But as Gretch Sanders of KUT News reports, paying more at the pump might not be bad news for Texas.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
M. Smith on the continuing controversy over Beaumont’s school administrators, Tan on the deepening divide over the consequences of the House budget, Hamilton on the latest in the fight over higher ed accountability, Grissom on young inmates in adult prisons, Aguilar on the voter ID end game, Tan and Hasson’s Rainy Day Fund infographic, Ramsey on the coming conflict over school district reserves, M. Smith and Aguilar on Laredo ISD’s missing Social Security numbers, Galbraith on environmental regulators bracing for budget cuts and Ramshaw on greater scrutiny of neonatal intensive care units: The best of our best content from March 21 to 25, 2011.
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Energy
Texas Could Require Disclosure of Drilling Chemicals
A recently introduced bill would make Texas one of only a few states to require natural gas companies to disclose, for a public website, what chemicals they use in the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing.
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Energy
Railroad Commission Clears Gas Driller of Harming Water
In a meeting this morning punctuated by harsh denunciations of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas Railroad Commission voted unanimously to clear a natural gas driller, Range Resources, of charges that it contaminated two water wells in Parker County. The EPA, however, said it stands by its charges against the driller.
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Energy
Environmental Regulators Brace for Budget Cuts
Texas’ environmental regulators, already under fire from green groups for not doing enough to keep air and water pollution in check, are bracing for deep cuts as lawmakers hash out the budget.
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Energy
Texas Task Force to Battle EPA Regulations
Texas is summoning all of its political firepower to do battle against the Environmental Protection Agency. A newly announced task force of state and federal lawmakers will try to prevent the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases and abolishing the state’s flexible permitting system for refineries and other big plants.
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Demographics
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Grissom on threats to re-entry programs for criminals, Hamilton on the tempest over the direction of UT, E. Smith’s interview with Joe Straus, Stiles and Chang’s new lobbying app, M. Smith and Weber on where state officeholders send their children to school, Aaronson on allowing new nuclear power plants, Aguilar on how Hispanic Republicans are handling immigration issues, Ramshaw talks abortion with Planned Parennthood’s Cecile Richards, Tan and Dehn on tapping the Rainy Day Fund and Galbraith on San Antonio and its water: The best of our best content from March 14 to 18, 2011.
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Energy
In San Antonio, an Unusual Focus on Land Conservation
Despite tough economic times, San Antonio is continuing an unusual and aggressive program to protect its aquifer, by using public money to purchase land or easements to prevent development in critical areas.