Forrest Wilder

Forrest Wilder
Forrest Wilder, a native of Wimberley, Texas, joined the Observer as a staff writer in 2005. Forrest specializes in environmental reporting and runs the “Forrest for the Trees” blog. Forrest has appeared on Democracy Now!, The Rachel Maddow Show and numerous NPR stations. His work has been mentioned by The New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Time magazine and many other state and national publications. Other than filing voluminous open records requests, Forrest enjoys fishing, kayaking, gardening and beer-league softball. He holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin.
  • Rick Perry - The Response

    The Response

    Texas Observer reporter Forrest Wilder provides video stills from The Response, Texas Governor Rick Perry’s, Aug. 6th prayer rally held in Houston. Read more [...] Full Story
  • catfish OC Fisher lake

    Everyone Supports the State Water Plan, So Now What?

    Support for funding the $53 billion water plan appeared to be unanimous. Everyone pledged fealty to water conservation. The question now, as Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) suggested this morning, is *how* the financing is structured. Will the consensus hold, or will interests fracture along regional and economic lines? Full Story
  • coal plant - fayette

    Coal, An Obituary

    nce, not long ago, it seemed that coal would conquer Texas. Just a few years ago, out-of-state developers and home-grown utilities, including TXU and NRG Energy, were clawing over each other to build new coal-fired power plants. Thanks to high natural gas prices and Texas' deregulated power market, some of these companies were going to make a mint and turn Texas into the Coal Star State. Now, many of the proposed plants have been unceremoniously scrapped. Full Story
  • gas pad

    Fracking Industry Explains How Oil and Water Do Mix

    A parade of oil and gas industry representatives told legislators today that they are hard at work on reducing the amount of freshwater used in fracking. This is the Texas Legislature, which is enormously deferential to the industry, so the joint hearing of two House committees had the air of a casual fact-finding mission mixed with lots of oil-and-gas boosterism. Full Story
  • Conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan

    Michael Quinn Sullivan’s Fuzzy Math

    But one thing everyone should be able to agree on is that conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan is horrible at math. Twice in the past month, Sullivan's been thoroughly busted on the widely disseminated, but bogus, numbers that he uses to convince credulous tea partiers and lawmakers that Texas is a profligate spender. Full Story
  • CashStore

    Former Rep. Vicki Truitt Gets Her Payday in the Lobby

    Former legislators don't die, they come back as lobbyists quicker than you can say cha-ching! Today's profile in reincarnation is former state Rep. Vicki Truitt, who oversaw a watered-down payday loan reform effort last session. She is now lobbying for Cash America. Full Story