Skip to main content
Topics

Environment

The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.

  • High Temperatures Bring Call for Electricity Conservation

    By Ari Auber

    As the triple-digit temperatures stretch into August, Texas residents are blasting their air conditioners — and straining the electric grid with record demand. The grid operator is asking that residents and businesses cut down on their electricity use in the late afternoons all week. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Graphic by ERCOT

  • In Lubbock, the Evolution of Wind is on Display

    By Kate Galbraith

    Forests of enormous electric wind turbines now rise across West Texas — a far cry from the smaller, water-pumping windmills that covered the land a century ago. In Lubbock, a museum called the American Wind Power Center traces this change, juxtaposing old and new. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Coy Harris / American Wind Power Center

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Ross Ramsey

    Aaronson examines the Texas jobs "miracle," Root on how Rick Perry built his financial portfolio, Tan and Wiseman on Perry vs. Ron Paul, Philpott on how budget cuts will affect a mental health provider, yours truly on a House freshman who was less than impressed with his first legislative experience, M. Smith on public schools charging for things that used to be free, Hamilton on a new call to reinvent higher education, Grissom on a rare stay of execution, Galbraith on the end of a Panhandle wind program, Aguilar on the increase of legal immigration into the U.S. and Texas: The best of our best content from July 25 to 29, 2011. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

    By Ross Ramsey

    Ramshaw on the lioness of the Texas House, Dehn and Tan review 20 years of Rick Perry's political ads, Murphy's latest database includes the governor's political accounts over the last decade, Aaronson's visualizations of what was said in the biggest legislative debates, M. Smith on the woman in the middle chair at the State Board of Education, Galbraith on how the drought is forcing ranchers to sell their herds, Grissom has the story on a cattle rustler who's asking the courts to give him an old-fashioned sentence, Hamilton covers Rick O'Donnell's latest salvo at higher education, Aguilar on whether and how the sanctuary cities issue will translate at the ballot box next year, yours truly on Ron Paul's candidacy and the candidate in his own words: The best of our best from July 18 to 22, 2011. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman

  • Highland Lakes' Levels Falling, LCRA Warns

    By Beth Brown

    At a press conference today, the Lower Colorado River Authority warned Austin and the rest of Central Texas to brace for continued drought. Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan, the region's major reservoirs, are currently 52 percent full, and dropping steadily. Full Story 

    Low water levels at Lake Travis because of drought; photo taken May 16, 2011.
    Credit: LCRA

  • This Will Be on the Test

    By Beth Brown

    This week, Secretary of State Hope Andrade conducted a lottery that determined the order of the 10 new proposals on the November ballot. Each amendment already won approval from two-thirds of the House and Senate and now needs a nod from a majority of the voters. Here's the rundown... Full Story 

    Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade announcing the launch of the 2010 census in Texas
    Credit: Jacob Villanueva