The Environmental Protection Agency’s campaign against Texas’ air pollution permitting process is well-known, but federal regulators are also working to tighten a number of other rules relating to power plant waste, ozone and greenhouse gas emissions. Texas businesses fear that the new regulations will dent the state’s fragile economic recovery. Environmentalists are, predictably, delighted.
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
M. Smith’s interview with the new chair of the Texas GOP, Philpott on Republicans and Tea Partiers living in harmony, Aguilar on Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s not-yet-released strategic plan, Ramshaw’s tragic tale of out-of-state kids in Texas treatment centers, Grissom on how budget cuts could impact juvenile justice, Stiles’ awesome new population app, Galbraith on the decline of the Ogallala Aquifer, Hamilton’s interview with the commissioner of higher education and the debut of Hu’s new video debate series: The best of our best from June 14 to 19, 2010.
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Energy
TribBlog: Keeping Up With the Jones Act
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Dallas, filed a bill today to waive the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 — a move sure to please Republican state Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Houston.
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Energy
TribBlog: Grading the Grid
A consulting firm’s report on the Texas grid operator, ERCOT, includes comments about “dead wood” among the workforce. It recommends staffing cuts and an independent board.
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Energy
TribBlog: Joe Barton Says Sorry to BP Chief [Updated]
U.S. Rep. Joe Barton apologizes to BP chief executive Tony Hayward, saying that the $20 billion escrow account for spill victims set up by the White House and BP on Wednesday amounts to a “shakedown.” Later Thursday, he retracted his apology to BP, and apologized himself.
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Energy
Panhandling for Water
Within Texas, the Ogallala Aquifer accounts for about 40 percent of all water use, but its levels are declining sharply. In a dry growing season, the High Plains Water District recorded an average drop of 1.5 feet. Meanwhile, the 2007 state water plan projects that the Ogallala’s volume will fall a staggering 52 percent between 2010 and 2060.
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Energy
TribBlog: New EPA Rules Could Put More Cities Over Pollution Limits
The ongoing battle between the EPA and Texas got a little hotter today, and it could get even more intense as the TCEQ works on a plan to comply with stricter ozone regulations.
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Energy
TribBlog: Texas v. the EPA, Round 2
In the latest bout of the state’s legal contretemps with the Environmental Protection Agency, Attorney General Greg Abbott announced today that Texas will challenge the federal agency’s decision to disapprove its qualified facilities program.
Posted in
Economy
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Ramshaw and the Houston Chronicle’s Terri Langford on incidents of abuse and mistreatment at residential treatment centers, M. Smith on the state Republican Party platform and 10th Amendment embracers, Galbraith on a pipeline project raising crude concerns and the most important word in water law, Ramsey on former officeholders who are now lobbyists and the possibility of a speaker’s race, Grissom on a fight over solar power in Marfa, Hamilton and Aguilar on the TxDOT audit, Philpott on budget cuts affecting school districts and my conversation with Dallas County D.A. Craig Watkins: The best of our best from June 7-11, 2010.