An investigation by The Texas Tribune and Grist shows that regulators in the Lone Star State have given a hand up to struggling coal companies as they face millions of dollars in mandated land restoration costs.
Kiah Collier
Kiah Collier was a reporter for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigative initiative from 2020 through 2023. She previously worked at the Tribune as a reporter and associate editor, covering energy and the environment through the lens of state government and politics. Kiah has reported for numerous other publications across Texas since 2010, including the Austin American-Statesman and the Houston Chronicle. Her beats also have included government and politics, public education and business. Kiah’s work has been honored with numerous prizes, including a George Foster Peabody Award, a Gerald Loeb Award, the Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism, the National Edward R. Murrow Award for best investigation and the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award. A seventh-generation Texan, she grew up in the Austin area and graduated with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in journalism and philosophy.
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The 2019 Texas Tribune Festival
El Paso Mayor Dee Margo says he won’t support mandatory buyback of assault weapons
During a panel at The Texas Tribune Festival, Margo doubled down on his support of background checks but stopped short of supporting any other gun control measures.
Posted inState Government
Turnout among young Texas voters exploded in 2018. Groups want to make it even bigger in 2020.
Texas has one of the worst voter participation rates — and youth voter turnout is particularly dire. But some see “a lot of potential” as one in three Texas voters are expected to be younger than 30 by 2022.
Posted in
Energy
T. Boone Pickens, famed Texas oilman, dies at 91
The energy pioneer and philanthropist died of natural causes at his home in Dallas surrounded by friends and family, a spokesman said Wednesday
Posted in
Energy
Trump administration announces rollback of Obama-era methane regulations
The unwinding of requirements that oil and gas companies tamp down on climate-warming methane leaks has big implications for Texas, the nation’s petroleum king.
Posted in
Protecting the Coast
Texas might spend up to $20 billion to protect Houston from hurricanes. Rice University says it can do it for a fraction of that.
A government plan to guard the Houston-Galveston region from deadly storm surges isn’t expected to become reality for at least 15 years. Rice University says it has a plan that could be completed faster for a fraction of the cost.
Posted in
Protecting the Coast
Can the “masters of the flood” help Texas protect its coast from hurricanes?
After centuries of fighting back water in a low-lying nation, the Dutch have become the world leaders in flood control. And their expertise is helping Texas design what would become the nation’s most ambitious — and expensive — coastal barrier.
Posted in
Environment
Federal judge rules against Formosa Plastics in pollution case, calling company a “serial offender”
The judge determined this week that the Taiwanese-owned company has been in “enormous” violation of its state-issued permits and federal clean water laws for discharging plastic pellets and other pollutants into Lavaca Bay and other waterways from its plant in Point Comfort.
Posted in
Transportation
Some see a plan to expand I-35 as a betrayal of Austin’s environmental values
Supporters say the $8 billion plan for one of the state’s most notorious stretches of highway is necessary to fight congestion. But critics say new lanes won’t end traffic — and worry the plan undercuts Austin’s goal to reduce single-occupancy car trips.
Posted in
Texas Legislature 2019
Renewable energy proponents brace for last-minute attack on tax breaks for wind and solar
For the past year, an influential conservative think tank has lobbied to make wind and solar projects ineligible for a popular local property tax abatement program. A measure to do that has stalled, but renewable advocates are watching for last-minute changes to other legislation.