environment

Slideshow: Galveston Rebuilds

By Todd Wiseman Sept. 14, 2010

Two years after Hurricane Ike's surge washed over Galveston, residents here still struggle to rebuild parts of the island, which has lost about 10,000 people from its pre-flood population of about 50,000. Full Story

Credit: Todd Wiseman
Series Explores Texas' Transmission Lines for Wind Power

By Kate Galbraith Sept. 10, 2010

This week, the Tribune put together a three-part series exploring the state's $5 billion transmission-line build-out to support wind power, which is mostly generated in West Texas but needs to be shipped to cities in Central and East Texas. The project is known as CREZ, short for Competitive Renewable Energy Zones. Full Story

Credit: Kate Galbraith
Battle Lines: Panhandle Power

By Kate Galbraith Sept. 10, 2010

While West Texas has become the nation's wind-power hub, the Panhandle's ferocious winds go largely untapped. That could change with a slew of proposed transmission line projects that could, in turn, enable forests of turbines — if landowners can be soothed. Part three of a three-part series. Full Story

Credit: Kate Galbraith
Battle Lines: Electrifying the Hill Country

By Kate Galbraith Sept. 9, 2010

The epicenter of the fight over the state's wind power transmission lines is the Hill Country, where landowners are spending lots of money and time to keep the lines from being built. They're trotting out every conceivable argument, and they may just succeed. Part two of a three-part series. Full Story

Credit: Jim Nix
There Goes the Sun

By Brandi Grissom Sept. 8, 2010

In the tiny outpost of Marfa, residents who opposed the build-out of a massive solar power plant can thank the languishing economy for putting the project on hold. Tessera Solar has scotched plans to erect 1,000 three-story mirrored satellite dishes until further notice. Full Story

Credit: Tessera Solar
Coal Hard Cash

By Nathan Bernier, KUT News Sept. 8, 2010

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Energy announced more than half a billion dollars in funding for "clean coal" projects across the country. As Nathan Bernier of KUT News reports, a sizable chunk of that federal spending will land right here in Texas. Full Story
Battle Lines: Fighting the Power

By Kate Galbraith Sept. 8, 2010

Texas already harvests more wind power than any state in the nation, bringing the promise of clean energy to millions of homes and businesses. Trouble is, getting that power from remote, windy West Texas to the big cities requires a massive, $5 billion network of transmission lines — which property owners in the Hill County and elsewhere don't want in their back yards. As construction gets under way on the new lines, an army of lawyers and angry landowners is working to stymie the state's renewable energy plans. Part one of a three-part series. Full Story

Credit: Brandon Cripps
Sounding Off on EPA Regulation

By David Martin Davies Sept. 8, 2010

Texans are being asked to sound off as the Environmental Protection Agency considers regulating the dumping of coal ash. A public hearing on the issue will be held later today in Dallas. David Martin Davies of Texas Public Radio reports. Full Story
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It

By Ross Ramsey Sept. 4, 2010

I hit the campaign trail with Rick Perry, E. Smith starts off the fall TribLive series by interviewing Attorney General Greg Abbott, Stiles on the most congested roads in Texas, Ramshaw's interview with former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, Grissom on the perils of talking too much if you're the head of the state's jail standards board, M. Smith on Congressman Chet Edwards' fight for political survival in a Republican year, Philpott on counties worried the state's budget woes will trickle down, Hamilton on whether Texas should be in the movie-vetting business, Aguilar on a Mexican journalist seeking asylum from his country's drug violence, Galbraith on green energy and Texas college football, and excerpts from former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby's new book, How Things Really Work: Lessons from a Life in Politics: The best of our best from August 30 to September 3, 2010. Full Story
TribBlog: Another Oil Rig Explodes in Gulf [Updated]

By Kate Galbraith Sept. 2, 2010

Another oil rig — owned by a Houston-based company — has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. Full Story
Flipping the Switch

By Mose Buchele, KUT News Sept. 2, 2010

The Public Utility Commission is poised to pass new rules that could prohibit some Texans from switching from one electric company to another. But as Mose Buchele of KUT News reports, advocates for the elderly and infirm are concerned about the impact of the proposal on some of the state's most vulnerable ratepayers. Full Story
Green Horns

By Kate Galbraith Sept. 2, 2010

When Longhorn football kicks off at home this month, so will a brand-new marketing effort urging boosters to buy, of all things, green electricity. Colt McCoy's family has already signed up with Texas Longhorns Energy, which promises customers 100 percent power from Texas wind. The Aggies will roll out a similar deal on Friday. The programs are another sign of the universities' branding heft — even though they may not be the best deal within the confusing Texas electricity market. Full Story

Credit: Graphic by UT Austin
Laura Miller: The TT Interview

By Emily Ramshaw Sept. 1, 2010

The former Dallas mayor on her new life as an energy policy nerd, leaving journalism for the "dark side" of elective office, her continuing frustration over the Trinity River Project and her (lack of) political aspirations. Full Story

Credit: Emily Ramshaw
Audio: Laura Miller Interview

By Emily Ramshaw Sept. 1, 2010

An interview with the former mayor of Dallas. Full Story
Coal Hard Facts

By Matt Largey, KUT News Sept. 1, 2010

The Environmental Protection Agency is considering new regulations for coal ash — the waste left over from coal-fired power plants. As Matt Largey of KUT News reports, those new rules could have a big impact in Texas, the nation’s number one coal consumer. Full Story
TribBlog: The Future of Water

By Kate Galbraith Aug. 31, 2010

An intensive process to plan the amount by which Texas aquifers can be depleted over the next half-century has been completed just ahead of the Sept. 1 deadline. Full Story

Credit: panoramio.com
TribBlog: Bashing Coal Ash

By Kate Galbraith Aug. 26, 2010

A new report by three environmental groups documents dangerous levels of toxic contaminants from coal ash in Texas and elsewhere — and little regulation. Full Story
Oil's Well That Ends Well

By Matt Largey, KUT News Aug. 26, 2010

Halfway through a controversial six-month hold on deep water oil drilling, Matt Largey of KUT News reports, energy sector jobs in Texas appear relatively unaffected. Full Story

Credit: United States Coast Guard
Hola, Amigas

By Kate Galbraith Aug. 26, 2010

Texas has always operated its own electricity grid, separate from the two other grids that span the rest of the nation. But a project quietly emerging in eastern New Mexico could curb that independence — and affect energy prices here in ways that remain much in dispute. Full Story

Credit: Graphic by Tres Amigas
The Not-So-Great Outdoors

By Allen Reed Aug. 24, 2010

Three years after voters approved bonds for fixes at state parks, not all of the money has been spent — despite facilities that haven't been upgraded since the 1930s and recent hurricane damage that hasn't been repaired. Full Story

Credit: Louis Vest