The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.
A state plan to eradicate invasive Carrizo cane along the Rio Grande — cited by Gov. Greg Abbott as a border security priority — is finally getting some funding after sitting dormant for almost a year. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/04/04/CarrizoCane.jpg)
A federal judge on Monday approved a $20.8 billion settlement between a group of five Gulf Coast states — including Texas — and BP stemming from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/OilrigFire.jpg)
Thanks to a surge in drilling, La Salle County was able to finance a multi-million upgrade to its emergency response capabilities. While the oil boom has stalled, the dramatic improvements are here to stay, officials say. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/03/30/Cotulla-Collage.jpg)
State lawmakers are considering whether to tighten eminent domain laws to help landowners battling pipeline companies, electric utilities, public agencies or other entities seeking to condemn land their land for public use. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/IMG_1226.jpg)
The financial troubles of a Spanish company hired to build San Antonio's $884 million Vista Ridge water pipeline won't drag down the project, utility and city officials contend. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/10/08/DSC_3862.jpg)
Texas regulators on Thursday approved the Ray L. Hunt family’s high-stakes plan to purchase and reshape the state's largest electric utility. But they added major revisions, prolonging the battle to own Oncor. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/01/11/PUC-sign.jpg)
In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: A new report points to high levels of arsenic in many Texans' drinking water, El Niño wreaks havoc globally and an interview with Laura Huffman of the Nature Conservancy. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/08/Tribwater.jpg)
A public meeting to gather input from Houston-area residents on various hurricane protection plans turned into a mini protest Tuesday with several attendees challenging a levee proposal that would leave some communities around Galveston Bay unprotected. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/windstorm-galveston.jpg)
In the Roundup: Ted Cruz still thinks he can surpass frontrunner Donald Trump to secure the GOP presidential nomination. Plus, a new report on arsenic in Texans’ drinking water and a look at which sports make money for state universities. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/031816_Still2.jpg)
D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Merrick Garland has a history with cases involving the Environmental Protection Agency, which Texas has sued 24 times since Obama took office. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/03/16/Garland-Merrick.jpg)
For decades, the petroleum industry has largely fueled Texas' influence in national Republican politics. But operatives are seeing early signs that the current oil bust has depressed the sector’s political giving. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/10/29/OilMoney-2.jpg)
Tens of thousands of Texans live in places where the drinking water contains toxic levels of arsenic — a known carcinogen — and the state isn’t doing enough to discourage them from consuming it, according to a new report from an environmental group. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/03/14/Arsenic-Report-8.jpg)
Wayne Christian, a candidate for Texas railroad commissioner, frequently touts his energy expertise. But he did not know one of the agency’s key duties — regulating natural gas utilities — until a reporter told him. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/03/01/RRC-RunOff-2016.jpg)
In the Roundup: Ted Cruz appears positioned to go head to head with Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination, a federal appeals court will again examine Texas’ controversial voter ID law, and the upper Texas coast remains vulnerable to a storm’s direct hit. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/031116_Still.jpg)
A new proposal to protect the Houston area from hurricanes is reigniting controversy — and potentially diminishing the odds that a consensus will emerge anytime soon on the best plan to safeguard the nation's fifth-largest metropolitan area. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/03/09/SHIPCHANNEL_SEAWALL1176.jpg)
Full video of my 3/10 conversation with Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. Topics discussed: the state of ag, the decline in rural population, fee increases, cupcakes and deep fryers, and making America great again. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/MillerSid807x.JPG)
After a 20-month free fall, West Texas crude prices thudded to a milestone last month — one that could bring some tax relief to small-time producers in Texas, state Comptroller Glenn Hegar said this week. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2015/01/12/OilPumpSunset-2.jpg)
In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: Some scientists fear a disaster waiting to happen when Houston's perfect storm comes, Mexico pays back water debt to U.S. and an interview with Ken Rainwater of Texas Tech University. Full Story
Several experts worry that the low-lying residential areas in the Houston region are now more vulnerable to storms. Read more in our "Hell and High Water" project, done in collaboration with ProPublica. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2016/03/02/ProPublica_Houston_053.JPG)
With billions of dollars at stake, the Texas Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in a tax showdown whose outcome could shake up the next legislative session while providing a boost to struggling petroleum drillers. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/12/19/TexTrib-Best017.jpg)