Nearly 150 speakers (including 20 more biggies revealed today) across more than 50 sessions. Four days of virtual programs. Two jampacked days of in-person programs. Everything streamed. Everything on demand. Are you as excited as we are?
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
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Energy
Texas plan to reduce haze in national parks wouldn’t require any new limits on pollution
Federal agencies that manage national parks said Texas overestimated the cost of new emission regulations and failed to address their concerns in its analysis.
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Energy
ERCOT will have to release information about power plant outages quicker — but it may not detail what causes them
The Public Utility Commission said the state’s main power grid operator will have three days — instead of 60 — to release some information about power plant outages. But that may not include why the electricity generators were offline.
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Criminal Justice
Gov. Greg Abbott vetoes criminal justice bills, legislation to protect dogs, teach kids about domestic violence
Abbott vetoed 13 bills authored by Democrats and seven by Republicans. Twelve of the vetoes targeted bills that originated in the House, and eight were from the Senate.
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Energy
Gov. Greg Abbott makes interim Public Utility Commission appointment
The nomination comes the same week that ERCOT asked Texans to cut back their electricity use to avoid outages. Cobos’ term will last until Sept. 1
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Energy
Gov. Greg Abbott says power grid better than ever as Texans asked to cut back electricity use
A number of power plants were inexplicably offline at the same time that Texas was experiencing record June demand for electricity. ERCOT officials are still working to determine why.
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Energy
Is Texas headed toward another blackout? Did the Legislature fix the power grid? Here are answers to your questions about the grid.
The state’s grid operator indicated that conditions are improving and said that power outages to residents are unlikely.
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The 2021 Texas Tribune Festival
T-Squared: Tickets for the 2021 Texas Tribune Festival are on sale now
As we emerge from the pandemic, our signature annual ideas conference will be a best-of-both-worlds convening. Some of our programming will be virtual. Some of it will be in person. All of it will be awesome.
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Energy
Another Texas power outage “appears unlikely” this week, but severe weather this summer could prompt an electricity crisis
The state’s grid operator included extreme weather scenarios in its early summer assessment and found that a combination of a severe drought, heat wave and low winds could lead to more power outages. Experts warn this summer could be hot and dry, enhanced by climate change.
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Texas Legislature 2021
Everyday Texans overlooked in state lawmakers’ response to power outages during winter storm
While lawmakers took significant steps toward preventing another blackout, hardly any of the proposals passed during this legislative session will aid consumers in recovering from the February storm — but they’ll see higher utility bills.