An interview with the director of HBO’s “Gasland”
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
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Energy
Josh Fox: The TT Interview
Josh Fox’s movie “Gasland,” which premiered on HBO last week, uncovers widespread concerns about water contamination associated with a new form of natural gas drilling known as fracking. Fox talks about how devastating it felt to drive around Fort Worth (home to the Barnett Shale), how refreshing it was to come across west Texas wind farms, and how federal regulators are tightening up.
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Energy
Air Splitting
The battle over Texas’ environmental regulations came to a head as the Environmental Protection Agency shot down the state’s air-pollution permitting regime for large plants. It’s the latest episode in a larger cultural and political fracas pitting Texas against Washington — and business against government — that continues to take center stage in the race for governor.
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Energy
Balking at Bacteria
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has voted not to allow higher levels of E. coli bacteria in the state’s water sources, despite staff concerns that the current rules are unnecessarily stringent.
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Energy
TribBlog: EPA Shoots Down Texas Pollution Regulations
The Environmental Protection Agency has formally denounced the state’s air-pollution permitting system for some of its biggest industrial plants — and reactions are pouring in.
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Energy
TribBlog: Uribe to the Rescue
“I’m all for Texas turning blue, but not like this,” said Hector Uribe, Democratic candidate for land commissioner.
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Energy
EPA to TCEQ: Step Off
The Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t think Texas is doing enough to keep its air clean, so today the agency is expected to tell the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that the feds will take over air quality permitting for about 39 plants. Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports.
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Energy
Oil and Water and Hurricanes
The National Weather Service is expected to upgrade Tropical Storm Alex by the end of the day, kicking off an Atlantic hurricane season that will be different from previous ones in the Gulf of Mexico because of — you guessed it — that pesky leaking oil off the Louisiana coast. Ben Freed of KUT News Radio reports.
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Energy
The Nuclear Option
Seventeen years ago, Texas turned on its last nuclear reactor, about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth. In another decade, several more reactors could get built here — if events in Washington go the power companies’ way.