Oil Price Tremors Not Rattling Texas. Yet.
![Don Tymrak, city manager of Karnes City, in his downtown office. He says the recent tumble in oil prices shouldn't affect the South Texas city's conservative plans for development – at least not yet.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20141022170659im_/http://s3.amazonaws.com/static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/10/20/TXT-ShaleLifeKarnes-Richmond077_jpg_260x1000_q100.jpg)
A steep drop in crude oil prices threatens to slow drilling in some U.S. oilfields, but officials in Texas' hottest shale plays say they're not worried.
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.
A steep drop in crude oil prices threatens to slow drilling in some U.S. oilfields, but officials in Texas' hottest shale plays say they're not worried.
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.
Full StoryU.S. Sen. Ted Cruz has endorsed Republican Ryan Sitton for railroad commissioner, Sitton’s campaign said Friday.
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Steve Brown, the Democratic candidate for railroad commissioner, on Thursday called for shale communities to form councils that would address tension between drillers and residents. Ryan Sitton, his Republican opponent, dismissed the plan.
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Full StoryTexans in 2014 complained more about their electricity service than in the previous fiscal year, reversing a trend of growing satisfaction, according to a new analysis.
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A coalition aiming to encourage commercial and industrial property owners in Texas to invest in energy and water efficiency says it has made major progress.
Full StoryJim Hogan, the Democratic candidate for Texas agriculture commissioner, is staying true to a major campaign promise: that he won’t raise any money.
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A Texas environmental group is backing Democrat Steve Brown's bid for railroad commissioner.
Full StoryNordheim, 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.
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Texas’ biggest solar panel manufacturing plant is ramping up production. It’s part of San Antonio’s effort to become a solar energy hub – by building solar farms to help power the area and luring the companies that manufacture their parts.
Full StoryGov. Rick Perry on Thursday called on the federal government to pass a comprehensive energy plan with a focus on natural gas drilling and exports — and to approve the Keystone XL pipeline.
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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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