The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.
The debate over whether some Texas city drilling ordinances go too far has become a much-discussed issue during the Texas legislative session. Use our tool, with data from the Texas Municipal League, to see if your city has an ordinance. Full Story
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Railroad Commissioner David Porter has kicked off an initiative to tout the benefits of natural gas, whose low price has benefited some power generators but bedeviled operators and other energy companies that bet big on it years ago. Full Story
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Take a look back at Blood Lessons, a Texas Tribune/Houston Chronicle investigation into whether the nation’s oil refineries learned the lessons of the deadly explosion at BP’s Texas City plant in 2005. Full Story
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Dripping Springs state Rep. Jason Isaac went before the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday to make the case for his four-bill cocktail aimed at stopping a controversial groundwater pumping project in Hays County. Full Story
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Texas again went head-to-head with the EPA before the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, this time challenging federal limits on the emission of pollutants like mercury, acid gases and other toxic metals from power plants. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: Shellfish face threat in acidification of Texas bays, a new report says sprinklers are used too much and an interview with Wenwei Xu, a professor and corn breeder based at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Lubbock. Full Story
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How many people die at oil refineries each year? Longstanding federal record-keeping practices make it incredibly tough to answer that simple question. Review the deaths at refineries in the 10 years before and after the infamous Texas City explosion. Full Story
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A Senate committee has advanced legislation to limit local control over oil and gas activities across Texas. The proposal is among nearly a dozen filed in response to a North Texas town's vote to ban hydraulic fracturing. Full Story
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Even Texans with the greenest of lawns are watering them too much, experts say. And if everyone would turn on the sprinklers only twice a week — still probably more than necessary — the water savings would be significant, according to a report released Tuesday. Full Story
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Ten years after the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion, hear from two workers who survived it — but lost many of their friends. These videos and vignettes are part of a collaboration between The Texas Tribune and the Houston Chronicle. Full Story
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After Denton voters decided to ban fracking in their town, it seemed likely this Legislature will do something to rein in cities that try to regulate oil and gas production. But one likely approach by Rep. Drew Darby is stoking local fears. Full Story
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Ten years after the 2005 Texas City explosion, there is little evidence that the 15 lives lost on that March day brought needed changes to the nation's refining industry, a joint Texas Tribune/Houston Chronicle investigation shows. Full Story
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The Texas Tribune and the Houston Chronicle spent months examining whether the nation’s oil refineries learned the lessons of the deadly explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery in 2005. Ten years later, their investigation shows, the death toll has barely slowed. Full Story
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Georgetown’s municipal utility has unveiled plans to tap wind and solar energy to meet all of its customers’ power needs, making it the first Texas city-owned utility to abandon fossil fuels. Full Story
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Plenty of lawmakers are siding with the oil industry in response to Denton's vote to ban fracking inside city limits. What's surprising this session is how few are weighing in for local control. Full Story
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An infusion of $2 billion into Texas' state water plan — once a little-known wish list of water projects — has highlighted the role of private engineering and consulting firms, which play a big role in writing it. Full Story
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With a four-bill cocktail, state Rep. Jason Isaac hopes to stop, or at last slow, a Houston-based company's plans to pump huge amounts of water from beneath Hays County. Full Story
At our 3/10 symposium on water, Neena Satija talked about the politics of groundwater with state Rep. Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs, Billy Howe of the Texas Farm Bureau, Kyle Frazier of the Texas Desalination Association and Dianne Wassenich of the San Marcos River Foundation. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: A new series on communities lacking clean water, a new study links climate change to drought and an interview with Cameron Turner of the Agricultural Water Conservation Programs at the Texas Water Development Board. Full Story
At our 3/10 symposium on water, I talked about life after Proposition 6 with Chairman Jim Keffer of the House Natural Resources Committee, Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller; and Chairman Carlos Rubinstein of the Texas Water Development Board. Full Story
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