The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.
To report on and understand the haphazard irrigation system the Rio Grande has become and the changes it is going through, Colin McDonald decided the best approach would be to travel the length of the Rio Grande by foot and small boat. Relive his journey here. Full Story
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A group of state lawmakers have filed legislation that would allow Tesla to sell its luxury electric cars at as many as 12 stores in Texas, renewing the California-based company’s challenge to a state law protecting franchised auto dealers. Full Story
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State parks are crumbling under the weight of decades of deferred maintenance. Lawmakers and state officials say they desperately need a funding boost from the 84th Legislature — and not just for the next two years. Full Story
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Senate budget writers on Wednesday lit into Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek, a former senator himself, in a hearing that concluded with another call for him to resign. Full Story
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Tesla Motors is ramping up its lobbying efforts to change a Texas law requiring that new cars be sold through franchised dealerships. But some dealers say they'd like a shot at moving a few of the luxury, all-electric cars. Full Story
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State Rep. José Menéndez handily won election to the state Senate after a high-dollar, contentious race against House colleague Trey Martinez Fischer. Full Story
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Bipartisan appears to be a dirty word in a couple of the special election contests set to be finally decided on Tuesday. Full Story
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The Kroll report, which looked into the admissions process at UT-Austin and whether some well-connected people had too much influence on that process, surfaced on Thursday. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: Researchers test plants' resistance to drought, cities get creative when water is scarce and an interview with Todd Caldwell of the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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Anger boiled over at a town hall meeting Tuesday night as Hays County residents decried a company's plan to pump and sell millions of gallons of groundwater. The heated dispute foreshadows more to come in a growing state that's running out of water. Full Story
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The Tribune's Terri Langford has uncovered a new problem with the no-bid Medicaid fraud software contract awarded to 21CT by the Health and Human Services Commission. Full Story
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The decline in oil prices has led to thousands of layoffs in Texas. It has also led to renewed calls from Texans in Congress and other state officials to lift the ban that blocks the export of most U.S. crude oil. Full Story
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A handful of former HHSC employees are suing for wrongful termination in the aftermath of revelations over the awarding of a no-bid Medicaid fraud contract. Full Story
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The country has been trying to figure out for decades what to do with the high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. The operators of a nuclear waste dump in West Texas have told federal officials they'd be happy to take it. Full Story
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Last year, Tribune readers made it possible for us to spend months telling tales of life in Texas' shale plays. The crowdfunding effort worked so well that we're trying it again, this time for a major project on unsafe drinking water. Full Story
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U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz talked presidential politics and foreign policy in a pair of appearances on Sunday morning talk shows. Full Story
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Texans must wait for an answer to a vexing question: How far below the earth’s surface do property lines extend? The Texas Supreme Court evaded the issue Friday, deciding a case that pitted petroleum interests against property rights advocates. Full Story
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A peripatetic seismologist and son of McCamey has been hired to figure out whether oil and gas drilling is causing earthquakes in Texas. No matter what he says, some people will not believe him. Full Story
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Rick Perry had some choice words in an interview Thursday with the Tribune and the Washington Post on what separates him from Ted Cruz. Full Story
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After years of political wrangling, Mexico is poised to open up its state-run energy monopoly to private investment, pumping excitement into Texas. But as crude oil prices fall, will investors walk through that door? Full Story
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