Oil and gas industry groups provided a list of names to the Railroad Commission for appointment to a council formed in response to the February power crisis. All four of the industry’s top choices were selected.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
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Climate Change in Texas
Climate change is making Texas hotter, threatening public health, water supply and the state’s infrastructure
A report from the state climatologist finds that the state is experiencing hotter days with less relief from high temperatures at night.
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Demographics
The Karankawa were said to be extinct. Now they’re reviving their culture — and fighting to protect their ancestors’ land.
Historians long thought the Karankawa people had disappeared. But now a group of descendants is fighting to protect a coastal area — where thousands of Karankawa artifacts were found — from an encroaching oil export facility.
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The 2021 Texas Tribune Festival
Watch experts in climate, energy and environmental justice discuss extreme weather at The Texas Tribune Festival
The conversation focused on what we’ve learned about extreme weather in Texas and beyond — and what can be done about it.
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Environment
More than 100,000 Texas electricity customers without power after Nicholas. Restoring it to everyone could take days.
Texas was spared from mass destruction once the storm came ashore as a Category 1 hurricane. But it caused enough damage to disrupt electricity for a large swath of the Texas coast, including the Houston and Galveston areas.
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Environment
Texas sees limited damage in wake of Tropical Storm Nicholas as storm weakens and takes aim at Louisiana
“I think we fared well,” said one official in Matagorda County, where Nicholas made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane early Tuesday morning.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Texas bans storage of highly radioactive waste, but a West Texas facility may get a license from the feds anyway
The new law may soon be in conflict with federal regulators. A decision from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on one company’s license could come as early as Monday.
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Texas Legislature 2021
State lawmakers again try to ban most dangerous nuclear waste as feds consider allowing it at West Texas site
A failed regular session bill sought to give a financial break to a West Texas nuclear waste disposal company. Now, lawmakers have removed what opponents called a giveaway and are again trying to pass a bill to stop highly radioactive materials from coming to Texas.
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Climate Change in Texas
Texas regulators want to prepare the state’s electricity grid for extreme weather. But that’s a moving target in a warming world.
The state plans to use past weather data to craft rules for power plant upgrades. Scientists warn that the accelerating effects of climate change make relying on old data alone insufficient.
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Climate Change in Texas
San Antonio built a pipeline to rural Central Texas to increase its water supply. Now local landowners say their wells are running dry.
A pipeline helped secure water for San Antonio for decades to come — at a potentially high cost to some rural residents who are losing groundwater to the big city. Is it a preview for the rest of the state as climate change brings more water scarcity and cities keep sprawling?