TribLIve: Craddick on the Denton Fracking Ban
At our 11/6 TribLive conversation, Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Christi Craddick reacted to Denton's passage of a ban on fracking.
Full StoryHydraulic fracturing, or fracking, as it is almost universally known, is the process of injecting a combination of fluid, chemicals and sand under high pressure to create fissures in a subterranean layer of rock, thereby releasing substances trapped in the rock. The technique is not new; as far back as the 1860s similar methods were employed to extract oil and ...
At our 11/6 TribLive conversation, Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Christi Craddick reacted to Denton's passage of a ban on fracking.
Full StoryState 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.
Full StoryState Rep. Jim Keffer, chairman of the House Energy Resources Committee, and Barry Smitherman, Texas railroad commissioner, discuss how to keep the boom booming.
Full StoryState Sen. Carlos Uresti, Permian Basin Petroleum Association President Ben Shepperd, South Texas Energy & Economic Roundtable President Omar Garcia and Middle Rio Grande Development Council Executive Director Leo Martinez discuss the changing state of energy.
Full StorySan 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.
Full StoryA North Texas town's effort to ban hydraulic fracturing may prompt an unprecedented showdown between two powerful rights: a city's authority to shape development inside its borders, and mineral owners' right to tap their resources. The outcome could reshape Texas law at a time when drilling is causing tension in some urban areas.
Full StoryResponding to questions about whether fracking has pushed methane to migrate into a North Texas neighborhood’s water supply, the Railroad Commission of Texas last month effectively shut the door on its investigation, saying that oil and gas drilling was not to blame. But independent geoscientists remained divided on the issue.
Full StoryAs pipeline companies scramble to provide infrastructure for the energy boom, they are paying more to build pipelines across private property. Experts say a series of cases in which juries awarded large payments to property owners are helping drive the trend.
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A documentary and a book in the works will document Texas A&M University’s transformational decision to join the Southeastern Conference, so we start this week’s R&B-themed Playlist with James Brown’s “Get On The Good Foot.”
Full StoryFor landowners and mineral owners in Texas’ hottest drilling plays, the state’s boom means long-lasting windfalls — if those lessors know what to look for in negotiating contracts. With new educational efforts, advocates for royalty owners hope to bolster their position.
Full StoryUPDATED: The Railroad Commission on Thursday sided with Marathon Oil Company’s bid to dismiss a groundwater conservation district’s protest of its application to inject waste into part of South Texas’ Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer.
Full StoryIn 2013, state lawmakers approved millions of dollars in funding to help repair roads damaged by trucks transporting fracking materials. A year later, many of the affected counties say that money will cover only a fraction of what they need. Read the full story at StateImpact Texas.
Full StoryMore than six months after a series of earthquakes surprised parts of North Texas, the mayors of two shaken-up towns told a state House subcommittee Monday that the state has moved too slowly in investigating what’s behind the phenomenon.
More than six months after a series of earthquakes surprised parts of North Texas, the mayors of two shaken-up towns told a state House subcommittee Monday that the state has moved too slowly in investigating what’s behind the phenomenon.
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The Texas Railroad Commission has hired a seismologist to research the oil and gas industry's ties to the spate of earthquakes that has rattled North Texans.
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Neither Greg Abbott nor Wendy Davis has spent much of their gubernatorial campaigns talking about the energy industry and regulations. But Texans should have little trouble distinguishing their positions on the issue. As a lawmaker, Davis has a detailed record, and Abbott has staked his position in the courts.
Full StoryA report released this week says oil and gas companies could help slash methane emissions. But Texas, the nation’s top energy producer, is unlikely to lead the way. State regulators dispute the dangerousness of greenhouse gases, and some in the industry say another methane culprit is just as bad — bovine flatulence.
Full StoryA slight majority of Texas registered voters would support an overhaul of federal immigration law that includes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. And 47 percent would rather have local and state officials enforce those laws than the federal government.
Full StoryThe state doesn't track the use of acid in oil and gas drilling operations in Texas, but industry researchers have expressed concerns for years over possible dangers to workers and the environment. Read the full story at StateImpact Texas.
Full StoryMany candidates' reluctance to acknowledge a link between oil and gas drilling and a recent spate of earthquakes in North Texas has stirred new debate in the race for Railroad Commission, the state's oil and gas regulator. Read the full story at StateImpact Texas.
Full StoryIn drought-stricken regions of Texas, some oil and gas companies could be at risk of depleting their own water supplies. Explore how much water was used for fracking in 10 Texas counties in 2012. In some counties, fracking water use in 2012 equaled at least half of the county's entire water usage in 2011.
Full StoryUPDATED: In a lawsuit, Trinity East Energy says the city of Dallas took the company’s property “without just compensation” by leasing it tracts of land — and pocketing millions in bonus payments — before refusing to issue zoning permits for drilling.
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A new national report on water use for hydraulic fracturing suggests that oil and gas companies are at risk of running short on the precious resource — especially in South Texas.
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As the oil and gas industry continues to flourish in Texas, several areas of the state are experiencing small earthquakes, and scientists see a link. But the shaking is just part of what has many of the affected residents on edge. Read the full story at StateImpact Texas.
Full StoryIn La Salle County, about an hour southwest of San Antonio, production in the Eagle Ford Shale is estimated to drive 90 percent of all 911 calls. Before November, there were just a handful of volunteer firefighters to respond.
Full StoryThe Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday grappled with the concept of underground trespassing as it heard oral arguments in a groundwater case that the state’s surging oil and gas industry says could significantly impact production.
Full StoryThe Texas Railroad Commission said it would hire a seismologist to research the link between earthquakes and disposal of oil and gas waste in injection wells.
Full StoryAfter a contentious town hall meeting concerning the possible links between wastewater injection and a spate of North Texas earthquakes, locals say they cannot afford to wait for state regulators to address the issue.
Full StoryOil and gas production, pipelines, the Railroad Commission and questions about Texas’ energy grid all grabbed headlines in 2013. Here's a look back at the year's biggest energy stories.
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