The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.
In the wake of the BP catastrophe, former Railroad Commissioner Barry Williamson is defending the federal Minerals Management Service, which he led during the Exxon Valdez spill. “Was there a failure of regulation? I don't know," he says. "There may not have been." Full Story
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There was mixed reaction in Texas to the president's remarks yesterday on the response to the Gulf oil spill, which critics have labeled "Obama's Katrina." KUT's Matt Largey reports. Full Story
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Former President George W. Bush appeared in rousing, joke-cracking form in a rare speech this morning the American Wind Energy Association's conference in Dallas. He praised Texas wind energy, bashed the media, refused to bash his successor and said his grandchildren will be driving electric cars. He also gave away the first line of his forthcoming memoir, a quote from his wife that got him to quit drinking. Full Story
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Jan Newton — who chairs the board of directors at the state's electric utility grid operator — is stepping down from that post, leaving the agency with interim officeholders and holes in key positions at the top of its organization chart. Full Story
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While Congress investigates the April 20 explosion that killed 11 people and spiked an underwater oil leak that continues to spill more than 210,000 gallons a day, another BP rig is at the center of its own firestorm. Full Story
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An analysis by the The Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan watchdog group in Washington, D.C., shows that BP is responsible for almost all of the nation's "willful" safety violations at refineries. Check out their interactive map. Full Story
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The Obama administration's push to pass carbon control legislation got a boost yesterday with the release of a new version of the bill in the U.S. Senate. Here in Texas, as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, the state's GOP leadership continues to fight back against what they view as an energy tax bill. Full Story
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Former U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham was in Austin yesterday as part of a travelling conference on how far we have to go to address the county’s renewable energy challenges. Abraham spoke with Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune about his message to public and private sector players. Full Story
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Clayton Williams Jr. and Fort Stockton Mayor Ruben Falcon have resolved at least one of their conflicts. Full Story
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Could a BP-style oil spill happen closer to our shores, threatening our fisheries and beaches? Of course. But Texas reformed its process for dealing with such a catastrophe two decades ago, and state officials say we're better prepared than other states to respond to — or better still, prevent — a major spill. Full Story
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Muskets, bayonets, Confederate war heroes. Just a sample of some of the cool stuff Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson keeps in his office. In our latest HuTube vlog episode, we get Patterson to give us a tour. Full Story
As work crews struggle to contain the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Mose Buchele of KUT News reports how others are already looking ahead at what lessons might be learned from this environmental disaster. Full Story
An oil spill of historic proportions like the one spreading through the Gulf of Mexico is bad news for most everybody, but it’s also a boon for those in the environmental cleanup business. Mose Buchele of KUT News caught up with some big winners at an industry convention in Austin. Full Story
A trio of pieces from our partners at public radio station KUT in Austin examines the potential impact on Texas of the disastrous oil spill off the Louisiana coast. Ericka Aguilar reports on Attorney General Greg Abbott’s meetings with other Gulf Coast states on potential legal action against British Petroleum, Nathan Bernier asks whether the oil might make its way to Texas — possibly driven by a hurricane, and Jennifer Stayton looks at the effects on fisheries. Full Story
Crude oil is still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico and threatening a growing environmental catastrophe. Texas is expected to avoid the brunt of the spill, but that doesn’t mean it’s not affected. Nathan Bernier of KUT News looks at the worst-case scenario. Full Story
People who catch shrimp and fish along the Texas Gulf Coast are waiting to see if the oil spill drifts closer and taints the water they depend on to make a living. Fritz Jaenike, the General Manager of Harlingen Shrimp Farms in the Rio Grande Valley, the oldest shrimp farm in Texas, talks to Jennifer Stayton of KUT News. Full Story
Texas Attorney General Abbott and his colleagues in other Gulf Coast states are casting their legal eyes on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports. Full Story
The Gulf oil spill that currently spans almost 50 miles wide and 80 miles long is “growing worse by the day“ with “no end in legitimate sight,” Attorney General Greg Abbott said at a press conference this morning. Full Story
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Allies of the billionaire oilman are brandishing a study purporting to show that his proposed pumping of the Edwards-Trinity Aquifer will do no harm. Environmentalists and elected officials in the Rio Grande Valley still think he's a water profiteer with their worst interests at heart. Full Story
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Crews set fire to an oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday in a last ditch effort to keep the spill from the eaching the coast. Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has dispatched response teams and a special fire boom to help corral the mess, which resulted from the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig. David Brown of KUT News talked to Patterson about the clean-up efforts. Full Story