The Railroad Commission and TCEQ are in town today

By dwray in The nature of things

That's right, representatives from the RRC and TCEQ will be on hand this afternoon, with a few other public and private sector dignitaries, to speak at the Victoria Energy Summit. I wonder what they want to talk about? Kidding. Oil, ...

Downton Abbey had it right, that thing about enemies

By dwray in The nature of things

-"Are we to be friends, then?" -"We are to be allies, my dear, which can be a good deal more effective." The exchange is between the Dowager Countess and her American daughter-in-law in the turn-of-the-century British soap "Downton Abbey", and ...

The past is never dead, it's not even past

By dwray in The nature of things

"The past is never dead. It's not even past." William Faulkner said that, and some Russian scientists have gone and proved him right by growing a living plant from the tissue of an Arctic flower that died 32,000 years ago, ...

Keystone XL is facing off a farmer tomorrow

By dwray in The nature of things

If you haven't been following the Keystone XL pipeline saga, the story is taking an interesting turn in regard to pipelines and the right of eminent domain. On Friday morning, the company behind the pipeline behind the 1,700 mile pipeline ...

Looks like the BP oil spill will slide into court

By dwray in The nature of things

It's been almost two years since the Deepwater Horizon rig went up in flames, killing 11 and kicking off one of the worst environmental disasters in our history. About 200 million gallons of oil gushed into the Gulf before the ...

The Texas Supreme Court could be changing their tune about eminent domain

By dwray in The nature of things

I recently got to look at how eminent domain law works in Texas while writing about how Jimmy and Cathy Gips have been wrangling with the Kinder Morgan over a pipeline that is going through their property. The Texas Supreme ...

Looking for sources: How is the Eagle Ford Shale impacting you?

By dwray in The nature of things

I am working on the next part of The Play, the series on the Eagle Ford Shale, and I am looking for people working in the Eagle Ford Shale oil field to talk to about the job you do and ...

Turns out, Japan's nuclear meltdown really made the NRC nervous

By dwray in The nature of things

In movies about British people, calm and decorum are valued in times of crisis. We Americans have never held much truck with that business of never letting the teacup tremble in your hand when things get difficult, or so I ...

The BP oil spill may be the "trial of the century" if it goes to trial at all

By dwray in The nature of things

Remember the BP oil spill? It's been a while - going on two years - since April 2010 when the Deepwater Horizon rig became was engulfed in flames and thousands of barrels of oil began from the underwater oil well ...

Ohio is sloshing with fracking fluid, and less than thrilled

By dwray in The nature of things

I cover energy and the environment, which, in the midst of an old fashioned oil boom, means I read everything that comes my way about fracking. Ohio is in an interesting position on this. The state isn't really the center ...