Gas is hovering just under $3 per gallon in Austin, far short of the record $4.10 per gallon reached a couple of years ago. But as Matt Largey of KUT News reports, that’s not stopping one group from creatively working to wean people off oil because they fear the world will eventually run out of it.
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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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Ramsey on what a GOP supermajority means, Ramshaw on a crime victim not eligible for crime victims’ compensation, M. Smith on grave matters and state regulation, Hamilton on the college pipeline at San Antonio’s Jefferson High, Hu on a senator’s anticlimactic return, Grissom on the coming closure of juvenile lockups, Aguilar on the return of residents to their drug-war-torn Mexican town, Galbraith on next session’s energy agenda, Philpott on the legal fight over federal health care reform and Stiles on the travel expenses of House members: The best of our best from Dec. 13 to 17, 2010.
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Energy
Atmospheric Politics
Every politician needs a villain. George W. Bush had Saddam Hussein; Barack Obama had George W. Bush. Gov. Rick Perry has the EPA., which has had the audacity to order Texas to do more to clean its air.
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Energy
Energy Boost
Energy is never far from the agenda at the Legislature. This year, Sunset Advisory Commission reviews of oil and gas and electricity regulators will keep the sector in the spotlight, as will renewed clamor for legislation — however unlikely to happen in a tough budget environment — to aid clean energy.
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Energy
Gone With the Wind?
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association offers homeowners along the Texas coast their only coverage against potential hurricanes. But some lawmakers say the pool is paying out too much — and they want to limit what sort of coverage it offers in the future.
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Energy
Want Not, Waste Not
A public hearing in Austin on Thursday will address a proposed rule allowing 36 states to ship their low-level radioactive waste to West Texas. As Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, the rule has raised the eyebrows of environmentalists and the new governor of Vermont.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Inflexible
The legal wrangling between Texas and the federal government over the state’s air-pollution permitting system for big industrial plants is intensifying, as Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed a brief in a federal court yesterday defending the system.
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Energy
John Nielsen-Gammon Audio Interview
An audio interview with John Nielsen-Gammon, Texas’s state climatologist
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Criminal Justice
John Nielsen-Gammon: The TT Interview
The Texas state climatologist on the reasons for rising temperatures, why international science on climate change is fundamentally sound (no matter what state officials say), what he thinks of our fight with the EPA and how long the drought in Central Texas is likely to continue.
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Energy
TribBlog: Parks Department Set to Decide on Devil’s River Purchase
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission is set to vote later this month on a deal to buy a Southwest Texas ranch for $13 million — a change from an earlier, controversial land-swap proposal.