Senate Bill 3 would require all power generators, transmission lines, natural gas facilities and pipelines to make upgrades for extreme weather. Its prospects are uncertain in the House, which is scheduled to take up a series of related, standalone bills on Tuesday.
Environment
Coverage of climate, conservation, natural resources, and environmental policy shaping the state, from The Texas Tribune.
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Winter Storm 2021
At least 111 people died in Texas during winter storm, most from hypothermia
The newly revised number is nearly twice the 57 that state health officials estimated last week and will likely continue to grow.
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Winter Storm 2021
California cities banned natural gas in new buildings. Texas wants to outlaw those bans.
A bill to stop cities from banning natural gas as a fuel source for heating homes and other buildings is being advanced as priority storm-response legislation following the February power outages.
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Energy
Texas power crisis prompts Texas House panel to advance several bills, including one requiring plants to prep for extreme weather
The bills, which include mandating weatherization of power plants, reforming the ERCOT board and creating a state emergency communications system, are “a work in progress.”
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Energy
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sues Biden administration demanding reinstatement of Keystone XL Pipeline permit
Twenty-one states signed onto the multi-state lawsuit led by Texas and Montana.
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Texas Legislature 2021
In oil-rich Texas, GOP lawmakers push bill to punish Wall Street for fossil fuel disinvestments
The bill would direct state investment funds to divest from companies that cut ties with fossil fuel companies, pitting Texas against some increasingly carbon-conscious Wall Street investors.
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Winter Storm 2021
Just one Public Utility Commission member remains after another resignation in aftermath of winter storm
Shelly Botkin’s departure comes a week after the commission’s chair, DeAnn Walker, also stepped down.
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Winter Storm 2021
Analysis: After the blackouts, a whiff of the 2022 elections in Texas
A proposed remodeling of the state’s electricity grid from Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller might be more than it seems. It reads like a campaign’s position paper.
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Winter Storm 2021
Oil and gas interests left to “self-regulate” in aftermath of winter storm as Texas politicians pile on to ERCOT
Politically powerful natural gas production and transportation companies, along with their regulators, appear to have so far escaped the wrath of the governor and the Legislature in the aftermath of the Texas power outages.
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Winter Storm 2021
Watch: Texas farmers start to replant after winter freeze left “total devastation”
Johnson’s Backyard Garden, an organic farm near Austin, lost almost its entire crop during February’s devastating winter storm.