The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has put off a decision on whether to declare the dunes sagebrush lizard, which lives in West Texas, an endangered species. The delay has pleased Texas business groups but alarmed environmentalists. Full Story
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In a report released Thursday, the state's electric grid operator indicated that next summer could see a repeat of the rolling blackout threats that plagued Texas past summer. The reason: rising demand for electricity and some power plants going offline. Full Story
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In his newest campaign ad — airing today in Iowa — Rick Perry name-checks Jimmy Carter in accusing Barack Obama of "all talk, no action" on ending America's dependence on foreign oil. Full Story
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A wild flock of whooping cranes flies each year from Canada to the Aransas marshes of the Texas Gulf Coast. As Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, the fate of the endangered birds has spurred a federal court case in Corpus Christi set to begin next week. Full Story
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The drought that has plagued Texas is virtually certain to continue at least until early summer, climate experts said on Tuesday at a conference in Fort Worth. But what happens after that is anyone's guess. Full Story
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Water remains a precious commodity thanks to Texas' record drought. But in Montgomery County in Houston, as Dave Fehling of KUHF News and NPR's StateImpact Texas reports, residents are concerned about a different threat to the water supply: wells used to dispose of toxic waste. Full Story
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The ever-expanding suburbs of San Antonio have created light, noise and endangered species challenges for Camp Bullis, where all military medics train. Other bases around Texas are also facing an array of encroachment issues. Full Story
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Natural gas booms are under way in places like Pennsylvania, where the governor has said he wants to make his state the "Texas of the natural gas boom." As Dave Fehling of KUHF News and StateImpact Texas reports, such efforts could lure energy giants from Houston, jeopardizing the city's status as the so-called "energy capital of the world." Full Story
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The Obama administration has halted construction on parts of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have transported oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast. But the delay, as Mose Buchele of KUT News and NPR's StateImpact Texas reports, isn't likely to stop crude oil from reaching the Gulf Coast. Full Story
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City officials in Groesbeck — facing a water shortage that could leave the town completely dry by Thanksgiving — are scrambling to build a new pipeline, after their last effort to pump water from a nearby rock quarry failed. Full Story
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Groesbeck, which has received no measurable rainfall since April, ranks near the top of the state’s list of communities in danger of running out of water. Local leaders are attempting a quick fix, lest the town run out of water by Thanksgiving. Full Story
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Ramshaw and Root on the debate that dominated the nation's political news, Tan and Ramshaw on how it will affect Rick Perry's campaign, Philpott on what "oops" might mean for Perry in South Carolina, Root on what it means in Iowa, Dehn with the latest Weekend Insider video, Galbraith on the split fates of water-related constitutional amendments, Grissom on an arrest in a 1986 murder case, Hamilton on UT-Arlington's efforts to control tuition costs and M. Smith, Murphy and Gerdau on West Texas schools raising money with wind farms: The best of our best content from November 7 to 11, 2011. Full Story
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Terrence Henry of KUT News and NPR's StateImpact Texas spoke with one longtime resident of Corpus Christi trying to get families to speak out about the health problems they've faced living on what some call Refinery Row. Full Story
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Energy development capitalizing on the high winds in West Texas has injected sluggish rural communities with new economic lifeblood. The “windfall” has bestowed hundreds of millions of dollars — an embarrassment of riches — on mostly tiny schools. Full Story
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In this edition of the Texas Tribune Weekend Insider, reporter Julian Aguilar explains the challenges and temptations facing business owners on the border. And reporter Morgan Smith takes us to West Texas, where school districts have benefited from the wind energy boom. Full Story
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On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency, which took over greenhouse gas permitting in Texas in the face of the state's resistance, issued its first such permit in the state — to a yet-to-be-built natural gas power plant in Llano County. Full Story
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A number of Texas plants have appeared on never-before-published pollution watch lists compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency. Terrence Henry of KUT News and NPR's StateImpact Texas reports on a Corpus Christi neighborhood that sits right in the middle of several refineries on the list. Full Story
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Amid the most intense drought in state history, Texas voters split on a pair of water-related constitutional amendments that had the backing of many environmentalists and businesses. Analysts are scrambling to explain their differing fates. Full Story
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Several Texas plants have appeared on never-before-published pollution watch lists compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency. Mose Buchele of KUT News and StateImpact Texas looks at the regulatory environment that allows industries to keep polluting. Full Story
Employees of the agency that regulates the Texas oil and gas industry will now be able to carry concealed firearms as they go about their work, following a unanimous vote on Tuesday by the three commissioners. Full Story
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