ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

Featured Data

In Texas Boomtowns, More Traffic Means More Deaths

  • by Becca Aaronson, Emily Albracht and Tamir Kalifa
Enlarge

The Brief: Nov. 5, 2014

Greg Abbott celebrates his victory over Wendy Davis on Nov. 4, 2014.
Enlarge photo by: Bob Daemmrich
Greg Abbott celebrates his victory over Wendy Davis on Nov. 4, 2014.

As the night lengthened on Tuesday, the real contest, it seemed, was to find a fitting description as to how thoroughly Democrats were taken to the woodshed both in Texas and nationally.

San Antonio Approves Historic Water Project

Lee County resident Hilde Sides protests the Vista Ridge Water Supply Project with other Lee and Bastrop County residents outside the San Antonio City Council public hearing on the project on Oct. 8.
Enlarge photo by: Charlie Pearce
Lee County resident Hilde Sides protests the Vista Ridge Water Supply Project with other Lee and Bastrop County residents outside the San Antonio City Council public hearing on the project on Oct. 8.

The San Antonio City Council on Thursday unanimously voted in front of a packed chamber to approve a controversial pipeline that would bring in groundwater from 142 miles away.

 

The Brief: Oct. 30, 2014

A cascade aerator is shown at the Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant outside of San Antonio, where the San Antonio Water System maintains an underground storage reservoir.
Enlarge photo by: Gabriel Cristóver Pérez
A cascade aerator is shown at the Twin Oaks Valley Water Treatment Plant outside of San Antonio, where the San Antonio Water System maintains an underground storage reservoir.

Questions continue to be raised about a giant water pipeline project that would pump roughly 16 billion gallons of groundwater annually from Burleson County to San Antonio.

Vote Set on San Antonio's Historic Water Gamble

A map of the proposed pipeline that will deliver 16 billion gallons of water annually from underneath Burleson County to San Antonio, about 140 miles away.
Enlarge photo by: San Antonio Water System
A map of the proposed pipeline that will deliver 16 billion gallons of water annually from underneath Burleson County to San Antonio, about 140 miles away.

As San Antonio's City Council prepares to vote on a controversial water pipeline, new emails fuel concern that the project might not be necessary.

 

The Meadows Foundation and the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation have supported energy coverage, and the Burdine Johnson Foundation has supported coverage of the environment.

Featured Video

Livestream: Christi Craddick at TribLive

First Responders Face New Shale Challenges

  • by Alana Rocha and Tamir Kalifa
Enlarge photo by: Tamir Kalifa

The shale boom has led to more traffic accidents and chemical spills in communities facing the bulk of the oil and gas drilling. That means more work for understaffed emergency response units. This video is part of our Shale Life project. 

Life Inside a Man Camp

  • by Tamir Kalifa
Enlarge

Visit a “man camp” that has popped up to accommodate West Texas' transient oilfield workers. These temporary neighborhoods are common in the regions touched by the shale boom. This audio slideshow is part of our Shale Life project. 

The Brief: Nov. 3, 2014

Signs greeting early voters outside the Lakeside Activity Center in Mesquite.
Enlarge photo by: Ross Ramsey
Signs greeting early voters outside the Lakeside Activity Center in Mesquite.

It's the day before Election Day, meaning time for everybody to take a deep breath in anticipation of what might unfold on Tuesday. Here's what you might have missed over a busy weekend on the political front.