Each year in the United States, idling trucks and cars burn several billion gallons of fuel, emitting various pollutants without driving a single mile. The Texas Legislature passed legislation in 2005 limiting big trucks to five minutes of idling time, but local governments aren’t obligated to enforce the law, and the debate over exemptions continues to roil.
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
TribBlog: Coal on a Roll
Texas air-pollution regulators today approved a crucial environmental permit for a large and controversial coal plant in Matagorda County.
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Energy
TribBlog: The Hill Country Power Struggle
There are no viable substitutes for the longest segment of a controversial proposed transmission line through the Hill Country, the state grid operator reported today.
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Criminal Justice
It’s Getting Hot in Here
Come January, the Environmental Protection Agency will begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions around the country for the first time — but not if Texas can help it. Attorney General Greg Abbott last week lodged legal challenges in a federal court against EPA actions on multiple fronts, including a reiteration of the state’s long-standing argument against the agency’s scientific foundation for determining the dangers of greenhouse gas pollution.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Ramsey on the fourth University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll (with insights into the statewide races, issues, the budget, and Texans’ view of the national scene), Hamilton and Thevenot in Galveston on the anniversary of Hurricane Ike, Ramshaw on secret hearings that separate children from their guardians, Hu on what former state Rep. Bill Zedler did for doctor-donors who were under investigation, Aguilar on the troubles around Mexico’s bicentennial, Galbraith talks coal and wind with the head of the Sierra Club, E. Smith interviews state Rep. Debbie Riddle about tourism babies and godless liberals, Grissom on why complaints about city jails go unaddressed, Philpott on the debate that will apparently never happen and Stiles continues to put the major-party gubernatorial candidates on the map: The best of our best from September 13 to 17, 2010.
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Energy
Michael Brune Audio Clip
An interview with Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club
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Energy
Michael Brune: The TT Interview
The executive director of the Sierra Club on the perils of coal ash, why wind is a good thing, the priorities of state environmental-quality officials and how Texas oil companies are working to roll back California’s global warming regulation.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: AG’s Latest Environmental Lawsuits
Texas has fired off another volley of legal challenges against federal environmental regulators.
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Energy
TribBlog: Fine Lines
Despite opposition from Hill Country landowners, the Texas Public Utility Commission declined to throw out one of the proposed wind-power transmission lines through Hill Country during an open meeting this morning.
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Energy
Slideshow: Galveston Rebuilds
Two years after Hurricane Ike’s surge washed over Galveston, residents here still struggle to rebuild parts of the island, which has lost about 10,000 people from its pre-flood population of about 50,000.