The latest energy news from The Texas Tribune.
Are the drought and record heat due to climate change? Scientists hedge, especially on the drought question, but there's no question it's been getting hotter in Texas — and it's going to continue to do so. Full Story
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The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is warning that the worst one-year drought on record is causing black bears to change their behavior, roaming farther from traditional habitats and potentially becoming more aggressive toward people. Full Story
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Despite the national media's intense scrutiny of his history of appointing big-dollar donors to high-profile positions, Gov. Rick Perry named two such donors to key boards Wednesday. Full Story
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The cost of building several thousand miles of transmission lines to carry wind power across Texas is now estimated at $6.79 billion, a 38 percent increase from the initial projection three years ago. Full Story
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The relentless drought still gripping the state has dried up drinking water for cattle, pushing ranchers to sell off parts or all of their herds at auction. Matt Largey of KUT News reports. Full Story
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Gov. Rick Perry often emphasizes that he favors diversification of energy sources — and the record mostly bears him out. Wind farms and gas drilling have proliferated under his tenure, and he has tried to make building coal plants easier. Full Story
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Throughout August, the Tribune will feature 31 ways Texans' lives will change come Sept. 1, the date most bills passed by the Legislature take effect. DAY 18: The sport of catching catfish with bare hands, known as noodling, is now legal in Texas. Watch the Trib's interview with filmmaker and avid noodler Bradley Beesley. Full Story
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The sand dune lizard, located in parts of West Texas and New Mexico, could potentially be interfering with the drilling of oil and gas. Full Story
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As the scorching summer days march on, so does the fear of blackouts. Full Story
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Aguilar on the denial of asylum petitions by border judges, Galbraith on the history of wind, Grissom talks to the head of the Jail Standards Commission, Hamilton on plans for the state's new online university, Murphy and Ramsey on political warchests at midyear, Philpott on Texas' trucker shortage, Ramsey talks data privacy and abortion with Susan Combs, Ramshaw on the Rick Perry's experimental adult stem cell procedure, Root on the response to The Response, M. Smith on the country's could-be next first lady and Tan on a few of the ways Texas will change on Sept. 1: The best of our best content from Aug. 1 to 5, 2011. Full Story
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In West Texas, the main concern is water. In cities like Houston and Fort Worth, clay soil is drying up because of the blistering summer heat, bursting water pipelines and splitting asphalt roads. Across Texas, the cause of these spiraling problems is the same: a nine-month drought that shows no signs of relenting. Full Story
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After more unabating triple-digit temperatures and continued skyrocketing power demand, the Texas electric grid operator warned of a "high probability" of rolling blackouts, although as of 5 p.m. the danger appeared to have abated. Full Story
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It’s official: Texas is now in the midst of the worst one-year drought on record, according to State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon. Full Story
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Texas set another all-time record for electricity use on Wednesday, forcing the state's grid operator to declare a power emergency. Matt Largey of KUT News reports on the state power grid's struggle to keep up with the heat. Full Story
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As scorching temperatures continued and Texas electricity use reached another all-time high, the state grid operator initiated the first step of emergency procedures today, seeking power from other grids, including Mexico. Full Story
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As the triple-digit temperatures stretch into August, Texas residents are blasting their air conditioners — and straining the electric grid with record demand. The grid operator is asking that residents and businesses cut down on their electricity use in the late afternoons all week. Full Story
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Forests of enormous electric wind turbines now rise across West Texas — a far cry from the smaller, water-pumping windmills that covered the land a century ago. In Lubbock, a museum called the American Wind Power Center traces this change, juxtaposing old and new. Full Story
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Aaronson examines the Texas jobs "miracle," Root on how Rick Perry built his financial portfolio, Tan and Wiseman on Perry vs. Ron Paul, Philpott on how budget cuts will affect a mental health provider, yours truly on a House freshman who was less than impressed with his first legislative experience, M. Smith on public schools charging for things that used to be free, Hamilton on a new call to reinvent higher education, Grissom on a rare stay of execution, Galbraith on the end of a Panhandle wind program, Aguilar on the increase of legal immigration into the U.S. and Texas: The best of our best content from July 25 to 29, 2011. Full Story
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The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday issued new regulatory standards for oil and gas wells that use hydraulic fracturing. Full Story
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As the Department of Agriculture focuses on biofuels, it is pulling out of wind and solar research. For the tiny Panhandle hamlet of Bushland, this means the end of a wind program that has operated for 35 years. Full Story
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