Categories
Energy & Environmental Policy

Cleaning Our Hands of Dirty Pipelines

  This article was co-written by Marcus Denton, a second year master's candidate at the LBJ School for Public Affairs, studying social and economic policy. President Obama generates controversy with nearly every one of his decisions. But if he gives in on the most important environmental decision in years, we’re all going to feel the […]

Categories
Energy & Environmental Policy

Fire Storms in Texas and the Urban Wildlife Interface

  Texas has seen its driest conditions in nearly a century. High winds, high temperatures and low humidity equate to a recipe for disaster. The fire in Southwest Austin on Sunday destroyed 11 houses, damaged 10 more badly, and scorched over 100 acres, according to the Travis County Fire Department. This was a rare occurrence […]

Categories
Energy & Environmental Policy

Thirsty Texas

Mark Twain allegedly once said, “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.” While Mark Twain was a Missourian, his words also ring true for Texans. And boy, do we fight over water. Water makes frequent appearances in Texas Supreme Court trials about rights to pump groundwater and flooding due to construction and the […]

Categories
Energy & Environmental Policy

Five More Reasons to Lay Off the Seafood

Last week, we covered the first five reasons to lay off the seafood: 1) Predator loss disrupts the food web, 2) current fishing practices reduce biodiversity, 3) industrial fishing is cruel, 4) seafood has a high carbon footprint and 5) seafood contains toxins. These reasons focused on the environmental impacts of conventional seafood harvests. This […]