The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.
In the year since the West fertilizer plant explosion, there have been no new regulations approved for such plants. Now one state lawmaker is hoping to change that, but he's already facing opposition. Full Story
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Political rhetoric aside, uncertainty remains on the larger impact of Monday's Hobby Lobby decision. Full Story
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State and local water planning agencies in Texas were handed a narrow victory by federal judges on Monday, vindicating decisions to supply more water to cities and industries at potential expense of wildlife. Full Story
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Did Wendy Davis peak with the filibuster? Full Story
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The federal Department of Labor says it has found that some energy companies in states where drilling is booming are cheating thousands of workers out of millions of dollars in overtime pay. Full Story
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The Tribune's Reeve Hamilton has dropped the first in a three-part series tackling the timely topic of lawmakers writing recommendations on behalf of applicants to the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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Texas politicians from across the political spectrum are weighing in on the surge of unaccompanied minors crowding detention facilities. Full Story
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The U.S. Supreme Court largely rejected Attorney General Greg Abbott’s challenge of federal climate rules Monday, deciding that the EPA is allowed to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from most large industrial facilities. Full Story
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Spurred in part by its fast-growing renewable energy sector, Texas has become a major testing ground for storage technology that could revolutionize the power grid. Full Story
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The discovery of a mass grave in Brooks County containing unidentified immigrants already has a couple of state lawmakers calling for an investigation of what happened. Full Story
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UPDATED: The Texas Public Utility Commission on Friday unanimously rejected a petition to overturn its “small fish, swim free” rule, which gives small electricity generators an absolute defense against allegations of market power abuse. Full Story
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A North Texas rancher’s protest of a power line that splits his land — one he says was built in the wrong place — could prompt new rules addressing when a transmission company can tweak a line’s route after it is approved. Full Story
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A month after a fire destroyed 225 homes near Fritch, the small Panhandle town is grappling with questions about its future after years of drought and a steadily declining population. Full Story
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Last month, the Railroad Commission of Texas rejected an argument that drilling activity was to blame for methane migrating into a North Texas neighborhood's water supply. But independent geoscientists remain divided on the issue. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry spent his lunch hour Thursday with a couple dozen reporters in Washington, D.C., in an attempt to turn the page on last week's controversial remarks on homosexuality and to once again stoke talk of a 2016 presidential run. Full Story
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A key Republican lawmaker and a Democratic candidate for railroad commissioner are among those expressing concerns about the Railroad Commission of Texas' practice of preventing staffers from talking to members of the media. Full Story
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Texas' top leadership on Wednesday evening gave orders to boost spending at the Texas-Mexico border by $1.3 million a week through at least the end of the calendar year. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: LCRA talks water rates, water conservation discussed in North Texas and California and an interview with Martin Rochelle of Lloyd Gosselink. Full Story
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UPDATED: The Texas Water Development Board’s release of draft rules Tuesday afternoon offered Texans a clearer sense of how the board will prioritize and fund competing water supply projects. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry and other Texas leaders say a federal proposal to combat climate change is a direct assault on energy providers. This Tribune analysis examines what Texas would have to do to reach the goals set forth in the proposal — if that proposal stays as is. Full Story