The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.
The manager of a West Texas farm on the oddities of crop insurance, why all the farmers near Lubbock want to grow cotton and why West Texans don't believe in climate change despite the drought and weird weather. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/23989D_100_Rogers.jpg)
The outgoing director of the Lone Star chapter of the Sierra Club on the importance of water, the growth of the Club, and how he stumbled on his future career path while hiking near Fort Bliss. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/KramerAutumn72b.jpg)
Texas has become a major player in the growing poultry market, ranking sixth in the nation for chicken production. But as Dave Fehling of KUHF News reports for StateImpact Texas, the rise of "big chicken" has sparked some unexpected environmental concerns. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Chickens-Many.jpg)
Aaronson interactively maps Texas Medicaid providers, Aguilar talks legalization with the head of the Drug Policy Alliance, Galbraith on farmers watering what they know won't grow, Grisson sits down with exoneree Michael Morton, Hamilton on the elusive $10,000 college degree, Murphy et al. update the 2012 election brackets, Ramsey on Bill Ratliff's frank budget analysis, Ramshaw on a hospital where the overweight need not apply, Root on Joe Straus' primary opponent and Tan rounds up reactions to the Supreme Court's health care hearings: The best of our best content from March 26-30, 2012. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Tribweek-03262012.jpg)
The Environmental Protection Agency has withdrawn an administrative order that charged Range Resources, a Fort Worth-based natural gas driller, with contaminating water wells. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/NaturalGas-Pipeline.jpg)
Texas' electric grid prefers to stay isolated from the rest of the nation. But proposals are afoot to boost outside ties — something that proponents say could help ease the state's looming electricity crunch. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-ElectircGrid-004.jpg)
Reeve, Emily, Jay and Kate talk about a Texas hospital that won't hire obese workers, Texas farmers watering crops that won't grow, and the primary challenge for the Speaker of the Texas House. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Tribcast_2.jpg)
By mid-summer last year, it was so hot and dry that many West Texas cotton farmers gave up hope of producing a crop. Yet they had to keep watering, pumping from diminishing aquifers like the Ogallala, to claim crop insurance. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/DryCotton.jpg)
The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday announced rules limiting carbon pollution from new power plants nationwide. As Mose Buchele of KUT News reports for StateImpact Texas, plants may start scrambling to begin construction before the regulations take effect. Read the full story at StateImpact Texas. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/EPA-Emissions.jpg)
The PBS NewsHour, in partnership with StateImpact Texas, takes a look at how two Texas communities are dealing with the Texas drought. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Drought_CC.jpg)
In Texas, some oil companies lease private land from landowners, who then receive royalties from the sale of the oil. But as Dave Fehling of KUHF News reports for StateImpact Texas, some Texas landowners say they've been cheated out of payments. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/7f3d0d99bc0f25189e707fbb04dc5b0e/.hideoil)
State officials voted today to allow low-level nuclear waste from around the country to be brought to the Texas-New Mexico border for storage. As Mose Buchele of KUT News reports for StateImpact Texas, the vote put the final touches on a controversial plan approved by the Legislature last year. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Radiation_Texas4.jpg)
Recent rains have helped fill lakes, but the drought is far from over. Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples talked with StateImpact Texas about the very real possibility that the drought could linger for several years — and what's being done to help farmers and ranchers deal with that possibility. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Staples.jpg)
The process of desalination needs to be explored as an option for the future, experts testified Thursday in Austin before the House Natural Resources Committee. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/SanGabrielRiver_Dry.jpg)
It's a unique field of research, but underwater noise pollution — the kind caused by tanker ships and oil rigs — can damage ecosystems and fisheries. But as Mose Buchele of KUT News reports for StateImpact Texas, Texas researchers may have a solution. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/OceanOilRig.jpg)
The Texas redistricting case is closed, but Texas still has 17 lawsuits pending against the federal government. This updated interactive includes the latest lawsuit filed regarding the Women's Health Program. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/SupremeCourtDataAppUpdate.jpg)
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has suspended the killing of wild burros in Big Bend Ranch State Park. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Burro-Foal.jpg)
UPDATED: CNN has reported that when President Obama speaks Thursday in Cushing, Okla., he will "fast-track" the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline. What this means remains unclear, but the pipeline needs federal permits. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/keystonepipeline.jpg)
Opponents of a coal company's plan to mine land in Eagle Pass are also fighting a plan to build a rail line to transport the coal to Mexico. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-MexicanCoal013.jpg)
Drilling for oil and gas has surged in Texas, benefiting the state's economy. But as Dave Fehling of KUHF News reports for StateImpact Texas, it’s also costing local governments and the state as trucks transporting drilling materials take a toll on roads and highways. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/FrackDamageRoads.jpg)