Aaronson on a freshman lawmaker’s rogue antics, Aguilar on how cartel violence affects tick eradication, Galbraith on Midland’s water woes, Hamilton on the exit of a higher ed reformer, Murphy maps voting age by county, Philpott on the data breach at the Comptroller’s office, Ramsey on why Susan Combs needs to eat crow, my TribLive interview with U.S. Sen John Cornyn, Ramshaw on Cornyn’s refusal to take the “nickel tour” of Planned Parenthood, M. Smith annotates the contracts of superintendents, Stiles on a GOP-friendly redistricting map and Tan on a possible Rainy Day Fund raid: The best of our best content from April 18 to 22, 2011.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
Energy
Drought-Plagued Midland Is Running Out of Water
A nasty drought is gripping all of Texas, but Midland’s situation is especially precarious. Since the beginning of October, barely one-tenth of an inch of rain has fallen, and regional reservoirs are getting close to empty.
Posted in
Energy
West Texas Project Could Change Future of Wind Power
Utility giant Duke Energy announced last week that it has hired a Kyle-based company to build what would be the world’s largest wind energy storage system for the Notrees wind farm in West Texas. As Lindsay Patterson reports for KUT News, the technology behind the project could solve some of wind power’s biggest problems.
Posted in
Energy
EPA Budget Cuts Will Affect Texas Environmental Programs
Texas faces a hefty reduction in federal funding for drinking water and sewer projects as a result of a recent budget cut to the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington.
Posted in
Guides
Texplainer: How Will High Gas Prices Affect the Budget?
With gasoline costing $1 more than a year ago, budget planners can add fuel expenditures to their list of worries. However, it’s also true that oil companies will also pay more in taxes to the state as they beef up their drilling operations.
Posted in
Energy
Lawmakers Question Tax Exemption for Natural Gas
In a Texas House Appropriations Committee hearing this morning, natural gas producers fought back against suggestions that a major tax exemption they receive be rolled back.
Posted in
Energy
Senate Approves Radioactive Waste Commission Plan
Today the Senate passed a couple of bills that outline how the Texas Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission should oversee a low-level radioactive waste dump planned for Andrews County.
Posted in
Energy
Wildfires in West Texas Could Creep Eastward
A string of wildfires has charred about 400,000 acres in drought-stricken West Texas. But as Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, areas further east, also thirsting for water, may be just as vulnerable as the west.
Posted in
Energy
Steve Pollock: The TT Interview
The regional fire coordinator for the Texas Forest Service, near the front lines of a 100,000-acre blaze that swept through Stonewall and King Counties last weekend, says more bad fire weather is on the way later this week.
Posted in
Energy
Steve Pollock Audio
An audio interview with Steve Pollock of the Texas Forest Service on the Texas wildfires.