Texas environmentalists have adopted a pragmatic strategy for winning tougher control of industrial air pollution through the Sunset Advisory Commission’s review process: They’ve teamed with a former commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to craft recommendations. They’re speaking with a unified voice. And they’re pursuing limited changes in existing practices.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
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Energy
Water, Water Anywhere?
This month, parts of Central Texas will decide how much water will be in the aquifers below the land for the next 50 years. The decisions will affect Dripping Springs, Johnson City, Wimberley and other towns south and west of Austin that rely on groundwater supplies. Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports.
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Energy
TribBlog: PACE Slows
A national program to encourage energy-efficiency and solar in homes is generating interest in Texas cities — even as it has encountered setbacks in Washington.
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Energy
The Off Switch
Rather than building new power plants just to meet peak electricity demand on hot summer afternoons, why not just persuade people and companies to use less electricity? “Demand response” is quickly taking hold in Texas.
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Energy
TribBlog: Pickens Updates Plan
T. Boone Pickens, the billionaire Texas oilman, updated the presentation today for his Pickens Plan to get the country off of foreign oil. He focuses almost entirely on natural gas, and makes no mention of the wind power he also peddled two years ago.
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Energy
Back on the Ban-wagon
As BP tests the latest attempt to plug its runaway oil well, the Obama administration is taking another shot at forcing a pause in deep water drilling. This week, the government issued a new moratorium on some kinds of drilling in the Gulf… after a federal judge criticized one put in place in May. Matt Largey reports on how the oil industry in Texas is reacting to the new ban.
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Energy
Alternating Current
Since 1999, when then-Gov. George Bush signed a law that deregulated the Texas electricity market, a debate has raged about whether and how much the move has benefitted ordinary Texans. Who’s right?
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Energy
TribBlog: Fracktiousness in Fort Worth
Anger and fear were on display at a public meeting the Environmental Protection Agency convened in Fort Worth to discuss a natural gas drilling technique called hydraulic fracturing.
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Energy
Power From the People
Two Texas universities are building the biggest power plants of their kind in the nation, converting the sweat energy of exercising students into electricity to fuel their campuses.
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Energy
How the Human-Powered Gym Works
At Texas State University, one 30-minute workout can generate enough electricity to power a laptop for three hours. Watch as the director of campus recreation explains how elliptical machines and treadmills are harnessed into alternative energy.