Jim Malewitz
covers energy for the Tribune. Before arriving, he spent two years covering energy and environmental issues for Stateline, a nonprofit news service in Washington, D.C., where his work also appeared in The Washington Post and Chicago Tribune, among other newspapers. A native of Michigan, Jim has an undergraduate degree from Grinnell College in Iowa, where he played varsity baseball. He also holds a master’s from the University of Iowa, where he helped launch the nonprofit Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism. Jim loves tacos and barbecue, making him a good match for Austin’s eating scene. However, he remains on the lookout for great waffles.
Recent Contributions
Although leadership at the Texas Railroad Commission and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency often feuds, staff at each agency has found ways to work together, says Milton Rister, executive director of the Railroad Commission.
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.
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Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples answers an Evan Smith question at TribLive on October 31, 2013.
UPDATED: Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples confirmed he has been selected to head up the Texas Oil and Gas Association – the state’s largest and oldest petroleum group. He will leave his current post early.
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For mineral owners, making sure oil and gas operators pay what they promise can prove incredibly difficult, as shown in a case the Texas Supreme Court will soon decide.
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Mark Miller, Libertarian candidate for Texas railroad commissioner.
In an email blast on Wednesday, Libertarian Railroad Commission candidate Mark Miller said the Denton anti-fracking effort “results from a failure of government to assert its primary roles to protect individual rights and to resolve conflicts.”
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Steve Lipsky shows the methane contamination of his well by igniting the gas with a lighter outside his family's home in Parker County near Weatherford on June 17.
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.
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Steve Brown, a Democratic candidate for the Railroad Commission of Texas.
Steve Brown, a Democratic candidate for Texas railroad commissioner, has called on regulators to completely halt the permitting of disposal wells for hydraulic fracturing water by 2020 — a bold proposal that one of his opponents dubbed “naïve.”
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Railroad Commissioner David Porter was elected to a six-year term on the Railroad Commission in 2010.
Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter on Monday became the second of the state's three oil and gas regulators to raise concerns that Russia is waging a misinformation campaign against hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.
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photo by: B Jefferson Bolender
Texas now has 104 natural gas fueling stations, according to a map released Monday by the Railroad Commission of Texas. That’s nearly 50 more than Texas had last year. Meanwhile, 67 more stations are set to open in 2015.
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Steve Lipsky shows the methane contamination of his well by igniting the gas with a lighter outside his family's home in Parker County near Weatherford, Texas on June 17, 2014.
A tainted water well in North Texas has already stirred national debate about the impacts of oil and gas production. Now it stars in a free speech dispute that has landed in the Texas Supreme Court.
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Less than eight months after breaking ground, the company constructing one of the state’s largest solar plants says it has begun harnessing West Texas’ intense rays.
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A Tesla Model S. The California-based electric automaker has named Texas one of four finalists to house a $5 billion lithium-ion battery factory.
After a drawn-out competition, Texas has lost out on Tesla Motors' $5 billion lithium-ion battery plant, according to a news report. CNBC reports that the upscale electric carmaker had chosen the Silver State to be home to its “gigafactory.”
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A look inside the ERCOT control center in 2013.
Texas should have more than enough electricity to keep its lights on this fall and winter, the operator of the grid covering most of the state says.
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In a sarcastic web ad released Thursday, the Democratic National Committee tried to push back against the positive spin Gov. Rick Perry has put on his indictment.
In a sarcastic web ad released Thursday, the Democratic National Committee tried to push back against the positive spin Gov. Rick Perry has put on his indictment.
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Oil production in West Texas has grown faster than the infrastructure needed to meet the region's new electricity demands. As a result, congestion costs are being passed onto customers' electric bills.
In West Texas, oil and gas development is surging, but it's also fueling a huge demand for electricity that the current infrastructure struggles to meet. The result? A congested grid and higher electricity bills for consumers.
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Front and back of T-shirts with Gov. Rick Perry and District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg mugshots, provided by RickPAC at a Manchester, N.H. event on Friday.
Gov. Rick Perry has attacked the premise of his indictment as politically motivated “farce.” At Republican gatherings in the crucial primary state of New Hampshire, where Perry is testing public opinion ahead of a possible presidential run, some folks wore that viewpoint – literally.
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