The former Dallas mayor on her new life as an energy policy nerd, leaving journalism for the “dark side” of elective office, her continuing frustration over the Trinity River Project and her (lack of) political aspirations.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
Energy
Coal Hard Facts
The Environmental Protection Agency is considering new regulations for coal ash — the waste left over from coal-fired power plants. As Matt Largey of KUT News reports, those new rules could have a big impact in Texas, the nation’s number one coal consumer.
Posted in
Energy
TribBlog: The Future of Water
An intensive process to plan the amount by which Texas aquifers can be depleted over the next half-century has been completed just ahead of the Sept. 1 deadline.
Posted in
Energy
TribBlog: Bashing Coal Ash
A new report by three environmental groups documents dangerous levels of toxic contaminants from coal ash in Texas and elsewhere — and little regulation.
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Energy
Oil’s Well That Ends Well
Halfway through a controversial six-month hold on deep water oil drilling, Matt Largey of KUT News reports, energy sector jobs in Texas appear relatively unaffected.
Posted in
Energy
Hola, Amigas
Texas has always operated its own electricity grid, separate from the two other grids that span the rest of the nation. But a project quietly emerging in eastern New Mexico could curb that independence — and affect energy prices here in ways that remain much in dispute.
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Energy
The Not-So-Great Outdoors
Three years after voters approved bonds for fixes at state parks, not all of the money has been spent — despite facilities that haven’t been upgraded since the 1930s and recent hurricane damage that hasn’t been repaired.
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Criminal Justice
The Other BP Catastrophe
BP’s problem-plagued Texas City refinery — where a 2005 explosion killed 15 and injured 170 — now faces two civil lawsuits stemming from its release this spring of more than 500,000 pounds of cancer-causing pollutants over 40 days. One suit seeks $10 billion on behalf of 2,000 exposed workers; the other, filed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, seeks more than $1 million in fines. Both aim to punish the company for one of the largest chemical emissions events the state has ever seen.
Posted in
Energy
The Heat of the Moment
It’s late August in Texas, which means triple-digit temperatures and air conditioners everywhere cranked to the max. No wonder that, on Monday, the state set an energy consumption record — for the second day in a row. Peter Babb of KUT News has this report.