First Lawsuits Filed Over Denton's New Fracking Ban
That was fast. Just hours after Denton residents voted to ban hydraulic fracturing, the state’s General Land Office and biggest petroleum group filed legal challenges to the new rule. Full Story
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![Fracking in Fort Worth, Sept. 27, 2013]()
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Denton Bans Fracking, But Challenges Almost Certain
Denton on Tuesday became the state’s first city to ban hydraulic fracturing, setting up a high-profile property clash likely to be fought in courtrooms and the Legislature. Full Story
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![A gas well is shown in 2014 sitting less than 400 feet from a home in Denton.]()
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Texas Republicans Extend Statewide Streak to 16 Years
Texas Democrats maintained their 16-year losing streak on Tuesday night, with Republicans decisively sweeping all 15 statewide races on the ballot. Full Story
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![Land Commissioner George P. Bush speaking at the GOP election night party at the Moody Theater in Austin on Nov. 4, 2014.]()
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TribLive: A Conversation With Brown and Sitton
Full video of Jim Malewitz's 10/30 TribLive conversation with Steve Brown and Ryan Sitton, the Democratic and Republican nominees for Texas Railroad Commissioner, respectively, in 2014. Full Story
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An Unvarnished Interview With T. Boone Pickens
The legendary oilman reflects on plunging oil prices, cranky folks in Denton and silly congressmen. Full Story
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Railroad Commission Seat Gets Hotter as Oil Booms
The state's drilling and fracking frenzy is raising questions about safety, earthquakes and water use. That's raising the stakes for this year's Railroad Commission race. Full Story
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![Steve Brown (l.) and Ryan Sitton, Democratic and Republican nominees for Railroad Commissioner.]()
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Responding to Quakes, Texas Regulators Pass Disposal Well Rules
Texas regulators on Tuesday tightened rules for wells that dispose of oilfield waste, a response to the spate of earthquakes that have rattled North Texas. Full Story
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![Each day, dozens of trucks hook up to the Gulf Coast-run fracking fluid disposal well site near Gonzales, Texas.]()
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2014 TribuneFest: Audio From the Energy Track
The energy track at the 2014 Texas Tribune Festival featured panel discussions on the state of the electric grid, what Mexican energy reform means for Texas, hydraulic fracturing and a closer look at the state's drilling boom. Listen to audio of each session. Full Story
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Drilling Waste Plan Roils South Texas Town
Nordheim, population 307, is the site of one of the first organized protests in the heart of the Eagle Ford. Many of its residents are fighting to keep out a massive disposal facility for oil and gas waste — a sight that could become more common as energy producers search for places to dispose of their leftovers. Full Story
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![Paul Baumann's property, owned by his family for generations, is directly next to a proposed drilling waste dump in the small town of Nordheim. He, along with other concerned citizens, are protesting the dump as they fear it will pollute and ruin their way of life.]()
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Texas and the EPA Find Agreement Underground
In their efforts to regulate the wells that hold Texas' oilfield waste, state officials have found a surprising ally in the federal Environmental Protection Agency, long a political punching bag in Texas. Full Story
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![Although leadership at the Texas Railroad Commission and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency often feuds, staff at each agency has found ways to work together, says Milton Rister, executive director of the Railroad Commission.]()
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Texas Supreme Court Weighs Oilfield Fraud
For mineral owners, making sure oil and gas operators pay what they promise can prove incredibly difficult, as shown in a case the Texas Supreme Court will soon decide. Full Story
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Drillers, but Not Fracking, Tied to Tainted Water
Oil and gas activities – but not hydraulic fracturing – tainted drinking water wells atop North Texas’ Barnett Shale and Pennsylvania’s Marcellus formation, according to a new study. Full Story
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![Steve Lipsky shows the methane contamination of his well by igniting the gas with a lighter outside his family's home in Parker County near Weatherford on June 17.]()
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Railroad Commissioner Raises Concerns About a Russian Threat
Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter on Monday became the second of the state's three oil and gas regulators to raise concerns that Russia is waging a misinformation campaign against hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Full Story
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![Railroad Commission Chairman David Porter.]()
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Tainted Well Prompts Free Speech Dispute
A tainted water well in North Texas has already stirred national debate about the impacts of oil and gas production. Now it stars in a free speech dispute that has landed in the Texas Supreme Court. Full Story
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![Steve Lipsky shows the methane contamination of his well by igniting the gas with a lighter outside his family's home in Parker County near Weatherford, Texas on June 17, 2014.]()
Credit: Cooper Neill -
On Climate Rules, Texas Regulators Look Beyond Litigation
Texas should not bank on legal action to free itself from the Obama administration’s proposal to tackle climate change, two state regulators said Friday at a Public Utility Commission workshop. Full Story
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![Gov. Rick Perry has said that a new federal proposal to cut carbon emissions is "the most direct assault yet on the energy providers that employ thousands of Americans."]()
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Christi Craddick: The TT Interview
The Railroad Commission's new chairman on the agency's dual role as an industry watchdog and champion, the push to ban fracking in Denton and the commission’s efforts on earthquakes and disposal wells. Full Story
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![Railroad Commissioners Barry Smitherman (center), David Porter (left) and Christi Craddick (right) are shown at a Jan. 15, 2013, meeting in Austin.]()
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Disposal Well Plan Seen as First Step in Addressing Earthquakes
Two candidates for the Railroad Commission welcomed the agency's newly proposed requirements for disposal well applications, saying they were a good first step in addressing the spate of earthquakes that have shaken up parts of North Texas. Full Story
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![Lynda Stokes, the mayor of Reno, Texas, testified before the Railroad Commission of Texas on Jan. 21, 2014. She voiced her concern about an increased number of earthquakes around Eagle Mountain Lake.]()
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Pipeline Proposal Prompts Eminent Domain Debate
Landowners and pipeline companies are closely scrutinizing proposed rules aimed at clearing up confusion over a status that gives pipeline companies the right to claim private property using eminent domain. Full Story
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![One of the many pipeline markers sprinkled across David Holland's family farm near Beaumont, Texas. Holland is involved in major litigation involving common carrier status against Denbury Resources, which built a pipeline across his land.]()
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Denton Fracking Ban Could Spur Legal Clash
A North Texas town's effort to ban hydraulic fracturing may prompt an unprecedented showdown between two powerful rights: a city's authority to shape development and mineral owners' right to tap their resources. Full Story
![A gas well is shown in 2014 sitting less than 400 feet from a home in Denton.]()
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Race for Railroad Commissioner Revives Overhaul Talk
Several thwarted legislative proposals to overhaul the Texas Railroad Commission — the state's curiously named oil and gas regulator — have resurfaced in the race for an open seat on the commission. Full Story
![Steve Brown (l.) and Ryan Sitton, Democratic and Republican nominees for Railroad Commissioner.]()
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