2011 Texas Tribune Festival Keynote: John Cornyn
Full video of the keynote speech by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the Energy and Environment track at the 2011 Texas Tribune Festival. Full Story
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Giant Algae Tubes Could Provide New Biofuel Solution
For decades, scientists have been trying to find ways to mass-produce algae as a source of fuel for vehicles, but financial and environmental roadblocks have gotten in the way. The solution may be inside giant tubes at the University of Texas. Full Story
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![The AlgaEternal Facility located on the University of Texas Pickle Research Campus with Chief Scientist Michael Jochum.]()
Credit: Spencer Selvidge -
Video: Perry Fields Questions at N.H. Town Hall
A little more than a week after his embarrassing debate performance, Rick Perry this weekend got back to doing what he does best — pressing the flesh with voters. Full Story
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Credit: Jay Root / Todd Wiseman -
How is a Grid Smart? New Project Aims to Find Out
An Austin smart-grid project known as Pecan Street is continuing its roll-out with an announcement on Friday that a handful of major companies, including Whirlpool, Best Buy and Chevrolet, will test new-age products on the grid. Full Story
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![Residents in the Mueller development area shows up to check out the Chevy Volt which is powered by electricity, on 27th September 2011.]()
Credit: Muliadi Soenaryo -
Hearings Begin on Controversial Canada-Texas Oil Pipeline
As the U.S. State Department convenes hearings in Texas this week on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring tar sands crude from Canada to Texas, environmentalists are revving up their opposition. Full Story
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![Trevor Lovell speaks to the public about the XL pipeline on 24th September 2011.]()
Credit: Muliadi Soenaryo -
Draft Water Plan: Texas "Will Not Have Enough"
The Texas Water Development Board's just-released 295-page report says that if Texas does not spend tens of billions more on water infrastructure, a drought as bad as that of the 1950s could cost Texans $116 billion per year by 2060. Full Story
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Credit: AgriLife Today / Kay Ledbetter -
Donna Nelson: The TT Interview
The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission on how close Texas came to rolling blackouts this summer, what consumers can expect to pay as wind-power transmission expands, and how the historic drought affects the reliability of the power grid. Full Story
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![Chairman Donna L. Nelson - Public Utility Commission of Texas]()
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Liveblog: Energy and Environment at The Texas Tribune Festival
We'll be liveblogging throughout the weekend from the Texas Tribune Festival's energy and environment track — which includes panels on the coming crisis over water, big oil and national security, and whether green energy is an oxymoron. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Ben Hasson -
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Ramshaw, Root and Philpott track the governor on the campaign trail, Tan and Dehn on high school football concussions, and Murphy and yours truly on the partisan climates of each district under redistricting maps: The best of our content from Sept. 19 to 23. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Katharine Hayhoe: The TT Interview
The Texas Tech climate scientist and author of A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions on why why working in Texas, a state full of both prominent climate skeptics and extreme weather, is an "opportunity." Full Story
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LCRA Approves Emergency Drought Plan, Which Will Hurt Farmers
At a board meeting on Wednesday, the Lower Colorado River Authority approved an emergency plan that could cut off water supplies to downriver rice farmers entirely next year if the drought worsens. Full Story
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![Jose Avila, left, and Hilario Luna on June 13, 2011, repair an overflow damaged by crawdads on a levee of Mike Burnside's rice fields, flooded with water from the Colorado River, near Bay City.]()
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Texas Schools Feeling Effects of Drought, Fires
The drought and extreme heat are taking their toll on school districts across Texas. Costly problems include cracks in building foundations, increased maintenance costs and loss of vegetation. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
Drought Could Pose Power Plant Problems
If the drought continues well into next spring and summer, the electric grid could lose "potentially several thousand megawatts," according to an ERCOT official. That's roughly equivalent to several coal plants. Full Story
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Inside Intelligence: Parched
Amidst a record-setting drought and neighborhood-devouring wildfires, we asked the insiders this week about water and fire policy. Full Story
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Texas State University System to Manage Christmas Mountains
A mountainous tract of West Texas land that has been a point of contention between the General Land Office and environmental groups will serve a new purpose — a research and educational area for university students. Full Story
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Credit: Texas General Land Office -
LCRA Planning for Drought Worse Than 1950s Dry Spell
Fearing that this drought could reduce lake levels lower than ever before, the Lower Colorado River Authority's board will meet next week to discuss reducing or ending its water sales to downriver farmers next year. Full Story
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![Low water levels at Lake Travis because of drought; photo taken May 16, 2011.]()
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A Dry Odessa Looks Longingly to El Paso for Help
Odessa, running seriously low on water, is looking to the example set in El Paso, a desert city that has poured money into a desalination plant and invested in conservation. Full Story
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Credit: AgriLife Today / Kathleen Phillips -
Officials Insist EPA Rule Could Turn the Lights Off in Texas
At a hearing today, power companies and state agencies slammed the Environmental Protection Agency over a measure aimed at reducing emissions from power plants in 27 states, including Texas. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
M. Smith on Rick Perry's allergic reaction to federal school money, E. Smith elicits Ted Cruz's take on David Dewhurst, Root and Ramshaw cover Perry's first presidential debate, Ramshaw and Aguilar poke at Perry's immigration record and how it plays among Republicans, Hamilton on the dash for top status among Texas colleges, Galbraith on an environmental ruling from the White House that got conservative applause and one that didn't, Grissom has the latest on the Willingham arson case and the state's plans to look at other fires and Aaronson's widget for comparing the presidential candidates: The best of our best content from Sept. 5 to 9, 2011. Full Story
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Credit: Illustration by Todd Wiseman -
With Wildfire Risk High, Military Alters Training in Texas
As the worst one-year drought in Texas history wears on, officials at some military installations around the state have banned the use of tracer fire and other pyrotechnics. Full Story
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![Colonel Crow demonstrating practice techniques at the indoor firing range simulator at Camp Swift, Texas.]()
Credit: Spencer Selvidge