TribLive: Staples on Paying for the Water Plan
At Thursday's TribLive conversation, Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples explained his strong reluctance to use money from the Rainy Day Fund to jump-start the state water plan. Full Story
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Video: Lawmakers Want Answers on West Explosion
A dozen officials from six different state agencies came before the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday to reflect on what worked and what didn't in the West fertilizer plant explosion. Full Story
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Lawmakers Want Answers on West Explosion
While not downplaying the devastation of the deadly fertilizer plant explosion in the town of West, the head of the state's emergency management operations told lawmakers on Wednesday that "the system worked." Full Story
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![Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd testified before the House Homeland Security & Public Safety Committee Wednesday about the response to the deadly April 17 fertilizer plant explosion in West, TX.]()
Credit: Illustration by Marjorie Cotera -
Video: What's Next for Water Infrastructure Funding
The day after the leading measure to fund state water projects stumbled in the House, legislators shifted their focus to a bill that some members hope will also include money for education. Full Story
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Straus: House Will Find Way to Fund Water
UPDATED: The morning after a major bill to authorize spending billions of dollars on state water projects faltered in the House, Speaker Joe Straus' office released a statement saying he wouldn't "let a technicality seal the debate." Full Story
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The Polling Center: Public Opinion Creates Rough Sailing for Water Policy
The rough seas that sank the Texas House's attempt to fund the state water plan on Monday night with a $2 billion draw on the Rainy Day Fund highlighted the limits of consensus on both how to pay for water development and whether it's a top priority. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman / Guillermo Esteves -
State's Shale Boom Has Major Impact on Budget
Besides boosting the economies of remote towns, the shale boom has big implications for the Texas economy and budget. Already, taxes on oil and gas production have soared above the comptroller’s estimates. Full Story
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![A worker waits to load a piece of pipe, or casing, that will be lowered into the well at a Chesapeake Energy drill site in Dimmit County on the Eagle Ford Shale.]()
Credit: Tamir Kalifa for The Texas Tribune -
Debate Over Water Bill Could Spur Bigger Fight
A bill that would draw $2 billion for water projects from the Rainy Day Fund is set to hit the House floor Monday afternoon. The debate could turn to focus on what it means to be a fiscal conservative in the Tea Party era. Full Story
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Credit: Graphic by Todd Wiseman / Pedro Moura Pinheiro -
In Texas, Exploration of Shales Fuels Bullishness
Texas is already the top oil-producing state — and excitement about a new era is pervasive, thanks in part to improved technology. Exploration of new shales like the Cline in West Texas is underway, and some oilmen say it's like the old wildcatting days. Full Story
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![A recently installed, working pump jack sits near wind turbines in the Cline Shale region, near Maryneal south of Sweetwater.]()
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Texas Weekly Newsreel: West, the Lottery and the Rainy Day Fund
In this edition of the Newsreel: The conversation in West turns to regulation, the Senate wants to ask voters to use Rainy Day Fund money, the House undoes the state lottery and then puts it back together, and some Texas prosecutors are in hot water. Full Story
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Cash for Road Repair in Shale Areas Proves Elusive
Efforts by state lawmakers to find money to repair South and West Texas roads torn up amid a drilling boom appear to be stalling, according to some officials working on the matter. Officials warn about the hazards of not maintaining these roads. Full Story
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![A road in the Eagle Ford Shale area in South Texas. The natural gas drilling boom is straining the region's rural roads. More than 1,000 loaded trucks are needed to bring a single well into production.]()
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A Hearing for Water, and Growth for Wind
A landmark water case pitting North Texas against Oklahoma goes to the U.S. Supreme Court next week. The Tarrant Regional Water District, which serves Fort Worth and the surrounding area, has sought more water from Oklahoma, but the Sooner State isn’t selling. Full Story
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Oil Lobbyists Overseeing Protection of Threatened Lizard in Permian Basin
The oil industry vigorously opposed efforts to list the threatened dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species. But three oil company lobbyists were given day-to-day oversight of the effort to save the reptile. Full Story
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Texplainer: Who Oversees Texas' Fertilizer Plants?
Hey, Texplainer: Which state and federal agencies were responsible for overseeing and regulating the fertilizer plant in West that exploded last week? Full Story
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![A vehicle near the remains of a fertilizer plant burning after an explosion in West, Texas, near Waco.]()
Credit: Mike Stone / Bay Area News -
TribLive: A Conversation About the Environment
Full video of Kate Galbraith's 4/22 TribLive conversation about the state of the environment in Texas with Laura Huffman, state director of The Nature Conservancy of Texas, Jim Marston, director of the Texas regional office of the Environmental Defense Fund and Bryan Shaw, chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Full Story
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Four Months After Fire, Nuclear Reactor Restarts
Four months after a fire shut it down, a nuclear reactor at the South Texas Project in Bay City is being restarted. That is the second prolonged shutdown at the plant in two years, prompting critics to demand closer scrutiny of the operation. Full Story
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Senate OKs Electric Rebates From Fund to Assist Poor
All but 10 percent of a nearly $1 billion state fund intended to assist the poor with utility payments would be rebated to electric customers under a measure that preliminarily passed the Texas Senate on Monday. Full Story
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House Panel Hears Testimony on Climate Change
At a House panel hearing Monday, witnesses largely agreed on the causes and magnitude of climate change, and they told legislators to speed up consideration of how to deal with the results of a warming climate. Full Story
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TribLive: Shaw and Marston on Texas vs. the EPA
At Monday's TribLive conversation, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Chairman Bryan Shaw and James Marston of the Environmental Defense Fund talked about the ongoing war between Texas and the Environmental Protection Agency. Full Story
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TribLive: Huffman on Water and the Lege
At Monday's TribLive conversation, Laura Huffman, the Texas state director of The Nature Conservancy, talked about the prospects for meaningful water legislation to emerge from the 83rd session. Full Story
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