Three years after voters approved bonds for fixes at state parks, not all of the money has been spent — despite facilities that haven’t been upgraded since the 1930s and recent hurricane damage that hasn’t been repaired.
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
The Other BP Catastrophe
BP’s problem-plagued Texas City refinery — where a 2005 explosion killed 15 and injured 170 — now faces two civil lawsuits stemming from its release this spring of more than 500,000 pounds of cancer-causing pollutants over 40 days. One suit seeks $10 billion on behalf of 2,000 exposed workers; the other, filed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, seeks more than $1 million in fines. Both aim to punish the company for one of the largest chemical emissions events the state has ever seen.
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Energy
The Heat of the Moment
It’s late August in Texas, which means triple-digit temperatures and air conditioners everywhere cranked to the max. No wonder that, on Monday, the state set an energy consumption record — for the second day in a row. Peter Babb of KUT News has this report.
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Energy
Dust to Dust?
Texas has the most acres of any state enrolled in the federal Conservation Reserve Program, which seeks to prevent another Dust Bowl by paying farmers to plant grass instead of crops. But the program has fallen on hard times, and its participants worry they will, too.
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Energy
Barry Smitherman: The TT Interview
The chairman of the Public Utility Commission talked to the Tribune this week about his controversial application for the top job at the state grid operator, as well as his views on energy efficiency and smart meters.
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Energy
TribBlog: Texas Takes On Offshore Drilling Ban
Texas is suing to stop the Obama administration’s second offshore drilling moratorium.
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Energy
The Pelican Grief
At Goose Island, near Rockport, some of the nearly 200 pelicans rescued from the Gulf oil spill and sent to Texas seem to be thriving. But officials are holding their breath to see whether the rescued birds stick around or fly back to habitats that may still be contaminated. “Wildlife do crazy things,” says the manager of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. “That’s why they’re called ‘wild.'” But the ones that stay could face survival struggles, too, from coastal litter and competition with other species for food.
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Criminal Justice
TribBlog: Abbott Takes On BP
The Texas attorney general accuses BP of “once again prioritizing profits over environmental compliance” at its Texas City refinery.
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Energy
TribBlog: State’s Air Monitor Inaccurate? [Updated]
According to a study commissioned by the town of DISH, which sits in the heart of the gas-rich Barnett Shale region, a permanent air monitor recently installed by the state is giving false readings.