Many Texas lawmakers have forsworn taxes, but they also promised to educate kids, to build roads, to care for the needy and to do what government is expected to do. It’s the adult version of those mathematical story problems that made sixth grade so much fun.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
Energy
Bill Would Allow Advertising at State Parks
With the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department facing budget cuts and park closures, Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports that lawmakers are looking at an unconventional solution — advertising in parks — to help pay for maintenance and promote tourism.
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Energy
Months After Spill, Another Look Into the Gulf
With the one-year anniversary of the BP oil-rig explosion approaching, Ian Crawford of KUT News spoke with Carter Smith, executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, about the state of the Gulf and why researchers may be studying its effects for decades.
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Energy
Pushing Renewable Energy on a Tight Budget
It’s renewable energy lobby week at the Capitol, and as Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, the budget shortfall — though sure to dampen hopes for some legislation — isn’t keeping advocates from pushing for a number of energy programs.
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Energy
Blackouts Revive Debate Over Electric Deregulation
The power failures earlier this month have called into question one of Texas’ most basic tenets: that we do everything, including deregulation, better than anyone else.
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Energy
Energy or Railroad: Are the Politics Different?
What’s in a name? The Texas Railroad Commission — and the elected officials who run it — may soon find out.
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Energy
Are TX Senators Influenced By Power PAC Money?
This week, lawmakers from two senate committees called the power players in the electricity industry to Austin to grill them about the rolling blackouts on Feb. 2. As it turns out, many of those executives and their companies’ PACs have contributed thousands to the senators who were questioning them.
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Energy
ERCOT Releases Updated List of Failed Generators
The state grid operator on Wednesday released an updated — albeit still partial — list of power plants that went down during the statewide rolling blackouts on Feb. 2.
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Energy
At Blackout Hearing, Big Political Donors Grilled
The big power companies in Texas on the hot seat during a Senate hearing about this month’s rolling blackouts have donated more than $400,000 since 2000 to members of the two committees asking questions. The donations are part of nearly $4 million in campaign money the companies and their employees have spent on political candidates during that time.
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Energy
Power Generators on the Hot Seat
As hearings continued this afternoon at the Capitol, power plant owners tried to explain why so many of their operations failed during the Feb. 2 rolling blackouts.