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The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.

  • The Pollution "Police"

    By Andrew Kreighbaum

    The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has nearly doubled its number of administrative enforcement actions against polluters in the last five years — yet critics charge the agency still levies penalties too small to act as a deterrent. Full Story 

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  • "Accidents Happen Sometimes"

    By Morgan Smith

    In the wake of the BP catastrophe, former Railroad Commissioner Barry Williamson is defending the federal Minerals Management Service, which he led during the Exxon Valdez spill. “Was there a failure of regulation? I don't know," he says. "There may not have been." Full Story 

    Elizabeth Birnbaum, who resigned on May 27, 2010, as director of the federal Mineral Management Service.
    Credit: Minerals Management Service

  • Plug it, Mr. President

    By Matt Largey, KUT News

    There was mixed reaction in Texas to the president's remarks yesterday on the response to the Gulf oil spill, which critics have labeled "Obama's Katrina." KUT's Matt Largey reports. Full Story 

    This photo from a NASA satellite shows the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico on April 25, 2010.
    Credit: N.A.S.A.

  • TribBlog: W. is for Wind

    By Kate Galbraith

    Former President George W. Bush appeared in rousing, joke-cracking form in a rare speech this morning the American Wind Energy Association's conference in Dallas. He praised Texas wind energy, bashed the media, refused to bash his successor and said his grandchildren will be driving electric cars. He also gave away the first line of his forthcoming memoir, a quote from his wife that got him to quit drinking. Full Story 

    George Bush
    Credit: Eric Draper

  • TribBlog: Room at the Top, and Then Some

    By Ross Ramsey

    Jan Newton — who chairs the board of directors at the state's electric utility grid operator — is stepping down from that post, leaving the agency with interim officeholders and holes in key positions at the top of its organization chart. Full Story 

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    Credit: ERCOT

  • The Next Deepwater?

    By Morgan Smith

    While Congress investigates the April 20 explosion that killed 11 people and spiked an underwater oil leak that continues to spill more than 210,000 gallons a day, another BP rig is at the center of its own firestorm. Full Story 

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  • A Hostile Climate

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    The Obama administration's push to pass carbon control legislation got a boost yesterday with the release of a new version of the bill in the U.S. Senate. Here in Texas, as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, the state's GOP leadership continues to fight back against what they view as an energy tax bill. Full Story 

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  • The Green Mile

    By Ben Philpott, KUT News

    Former U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham was in Austin yesterday as part of a travelling conference on how far we have to go to address the county’s renewable energy challenges. Abraham spoke with Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune about his message to public and private sector players. Full Story 

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  • State of Readiness

    By Kate Galbraith

    Could a BP-style oil spill happen closer to our shores, threatening our fisheries and beaches? Of course. But Texas reformed its process for dealing with such a catastrophe two decades ago, and state officials say we're better prepared than other states to respond to — or better still, prevent — a major spill. Full Story 

    The Deepwater Horizon fire in 2010.
    Credit: Marc Morrison

  • What We Learned From the Oil Spill

    By Mose Buchele, KUT News

    As work crews struggle to contain the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Mose Buchele of KUT News reports how others are already looking ahead at what lessons might be learned from this environmental disaster. Full Story 

  • A Bonanza for Cleanup Firms

    By Mose Buchele, KUT News

    An oil spill of historic proportions like the one spreading through the Gulf of Mexico is bad news for most everybody, but it’s also a boon for those in the environmental cleanup business. Mose Buchele of KUT News caught up with some big winners at an industry convention in Austin. Full Story 

  • Oil Spill: Texas Considers the Worst Case

    By Nathan Bernier, KUT News

    Crude oil is still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico and threatening a growing environmental catastrophe. Texas is expected to avoid the brunt of the spill, but that doesn’t mean it’s not affected. Nathan Bernier of KUT News looks at the worst-case scenario. Full Story 

  • Oil Spill: How Will It Affect Shrimping and Fishing?

    By Jennifer Stayton

    People who catch shrimp and fish along the Texas Gulf Coast are waiting to see if the oil spill drifts closer and taints the water they depend on to make a living. Fritz Jaenike, the General Manager of Harlingen Shrimp Farms in the Rio Grande Valley, the oldest shrimp farm in Texas, talks to Jennifer Stayton of KUT News. Full Story