The newly cracked, chipped and crowded roads linking Texas boomtowns have meant more than just traffic jams for local commuters. They've also proved deadly. Each day, as thousands of 18-wheelers travel roads ill-prepared to handle them, drilling regions are seeing an increase in deadly accidents. This slideshow is part of our Shale Life project.

Just hours after Denton voted to ban hydraulic fracturing, the state’s General Land Office and biggest petroleum group filed off legal challenges to the new rule. The Texas Oil and Gas Association called the ban unconstitutional, saying it supercedes state law and deprives mineral owners of their property rights.

At our 10/31 symposium at the University of Texas at San Antonio on the impact of the shale boom on Texas, I talked economic transformation with Midland Mayor Jerry Morales, San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor, UTSA's Thomas Tunstall and Don Tymrak, the city manager of Karnes City.

The surge in Texas energy production has brought a new set of hazards to communities facing the bulk of the drilling — including an increase in traffic accidents and chemical spills. That means more work for already understaffed emergency response units across small-town Texas. This video is part of our Shale Life project. 

State Rep. Poncho Nevárez, D-Eagle Pass, DeWitt County judge Daryl Fowler, environmental advocate Sister Elizabeth Riebschlsaeger and La Salle County judge Joel Rodriguez discuss air, water and road infrastucture.

State Rep. Jim Keffer, chairman of the House Energy Resources Committee, and Barry Smitherman, Texas railroad commissioner, discuss how to keep the boom booming.

San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor, Midland Mayor Jerry Morales, Karnes City City Manager Don Tymrak and Thomas Tunstall from the Institute for Economic Development at UTSA will discuss the transformation of the Texas economy.

While many rural communities have eagerly welcomed Texas’ drilling boom, most of Glasscock County’s 1,251 residents would have been happier if the drillers had passed them by. This story is part of our Shale Life project.

Hey, Texplainer: I heard that oil prices are plunging – down more than 20 percent since June. Texas boomtowns may not be panicking, but what does the drop mean for the state budget?

In his second race after switching to the GOP, incumbent state Rep. J.M. Lozano thinks HD-43 voters are more comfortable with his party choice. But Democratic challenger Kim Gonzalez isn't going to let it go.

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 race for an open seat on the three-member Railroad Commission.

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.

After calling for an end to subsidies for wind energy production, the Texas comptroller will soon release a report that could rekindle debate surrounding Texas’ largest incentive for natural gas producers. The tax exemption for "high cost" gas has shaved more than $7 billion off operators' tax bills since 2008.

The Austin City Council has called for a dramatic expansion in solar power generation, earning accolades from environmental advocates across the country. But the city-owned utility, Austin Energy, has balked at the council’s proposal and said it would be too expensive for ratepayers.

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.

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. Support for the plan, expressed in a letter this month, provides a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes collaboration between two agencies whose relationship often appears icy.

Midland school officials and area businesses are excited about a planned high school program that will focus on preparing high schoolers to work in the region's booming oil industry. The program would meet new high school requirements while satisfying the job needs of the community. 

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. High levels of methane escaped poorly constructed natural gas wells and migrated into shallow aquifers.