The latest energy news from The Texas Tribune.
President-elect Donald Trump may be seen as a boon for fossil fuels and a burden for renewables. But energy experts and clean energy groups say his victory may not be a win for Texas oil and gas — or a totally bad thing for wind and solar. Full Story
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The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission on Thursday snubbed several recommendations meant to enhance the Railroad Commission of Texas' efficiency and environmental regulatory functions. Full Story
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Libertarians on Tuesday earned a spot on Texas' next general election ballot. The Green Party must seek another route. Full Story
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Former state Rep. Wayne Christian, a Republican, notched an easy victory Tuesday in the race for Texas railroad commissioner. Full Story
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Texas touts its wind power production, but a new report suggests that the state doesn't utilize that energy, with around 10 percent of the energy on the grid coming from wind turbines. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: The longtime attractions at Aquarena Springs are being revived, satellite images show the impact of a Texas flood and an interview with John Nielsen-Gammon, the Texas State Climatologist. Full Story
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VW is atoning for its massive emissions scandal in a $15 billion settlement. A federal judge formally signed off on the deal Tuesday. Full Story
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Mark Miller, a Libertarian running for Railroad Commission, is gaining an unusual amount of attention in a turbulent election cycle, leaving his party hopeful that it can make a splash in a statewide race. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: A look at the surge in the market for bottled water, using underground reservoirs to manage water shortages and an interview with Gabe Collins and Hilmar Blumberg. Full Story
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the city of Brownsville, calling its $1 bag fee an “illegal sales tax.” Full Story
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Researchers and scientists are at odds about how to protect the Houston Ship Channel, and Texas legislators will try again to reach a consensus in 2017. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: New information points to health risks by cities that pump groundwater, reservoirs could be contributing significant amounts of methane gas and an interview with Stuart Henry, former Sierra Club attorney. Full Story
Federal environmental regulators have proposed to remove 202,000 cubic yards of toxic waste that has festered for more than half a century along the San Jacinto River. Full Story
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is helping to lead a 28-state effort to strike down the Clean Power Plan, President Obama's landmark effort to to fight climate change. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: Red tide has been detected in waters off Padre Island National Seashore, working with private landowners to set aside land for conservation and an interview with Brian Kamisato of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District. Full Story
Tom “Smitty” Smith, a colorful lobbyist and liberal activist who turned Public Citizen Texas into a strong voice on environmental, utility, consumer and ethics issues, is hanging up his spurs after 31 years. Full Story
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In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: a river protection group wants part of the San Marcos River declared a state park, the U.S. and Mexico cooperate on an aquifer study and drug resistant E. coli is found in French water samples. Full Story
Mark Miller, a Libertarian candidate for Texas railroad commissioner, is taking the commission to task for its failure to track toxic injections into underground zones that could hold drinking water. Full Story
State Rep. Cecil Bell, a private contractor, says he has a plan to curb costly and sometimes dangerous strikes to underground pipelines during construction: make sure whoever is responsible pays to fix them. Full Story
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Lite-Up Texas, a program that offered electricity discounts to hundreds of thousands of poor Texas families over the years, has run out of money. Full Story
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