The Texas Observer

The growing, but fragile rooftop solar industry in San Antonio could crater if a city rebate program isn't patched up, solar-panel installers say. The problem is that explosive demand for solar panels has outstripped this year's budget for rebates. The anxiety also reflects jitters that CPS Energy, the city-owned utility, is losing interest in "distributed" solar power at a critical period.  Although CPS Energy has increased its solar rebate budget from $3.9 million to $8.6 million, the industry still expects the money to run out in two to four months. Solar San Antonio, a solar advocacy group that helps match… Read more...

A few days ago, Anthony Gutierrez, an official with the Texas Democratic Party, took me to task for what he called my "completely absurd" theory about Republicans potentially gaining ground with Latinos in Texas. I can't let his rejoinder go unremarked, primarily because he misstates what I wrote. Gutierrez wrote: Mr. Wilder’s theory of Republican success among Latinos is based upon three Latino party-switchers who recently became Republicans. While I personally believe his correlation is completely absurd, I’m willing to concede that it won’t be formally absurd for about a month. But on May 29th at 7pm, his argument will… Read more...

It’s that time again, folks: the great primary clown show—delayed by the redistricting kerfuffle—in which a tiny slice of the populace selects our political leaders. Thanks to computerized gerrymandering and the lack of a formidable opposition party—tea party excluded—the May 29 primary is the general election in most districts. Here’s a selection of state and federal primary races to keep an eye on—or at least shake your head at. Ralph Hall vs. Lou Gigliotti You can pry his congressional seat from Ralph Hall’s cold, dead hands. And you may have to. At 89, Rep. Hall, a Republican from Rockwall, is… Read more...

If you're a Republican politician in Texas or in the oil and gas industry, you're probably rejoicing at the news that regional EPA administrator Al Armendariz has resigned his post. You've got your scalp. Armendariz can now join a growing list of Obama appointees who've been taken down by conservative activists. Hello, Shirley Sherrod and Van Jones! But if you're a citizen choking on bad air, freaking out about fracking or upset with Texas' lax environmental enforcement, you might be bummed. When Armendariz was appointed by the Obama administration in late 2009, it was a cause for celebration among environmentalists. Dr.… Read more...

It turns out that one of the great consumer victories from the Texas Legislature last session was a bill so industry-friendly that ALEC and ExxonMobil adopted it as model legislation. The New York Times reported on Sunday that ALEC (that’s the American Legislative Exchange Council)— the one-stop shop for corporations in need of legislative favors—really dug Texas' supposedly landmark fracking disclosure law. Last December, ALEC adopted model legislation, based on a Texas law, addressing the public disclosure of chemicals in drilling fluids used to extract natural gas through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The ALEC legislation, which has since provided the basis for… Read more...

My column on why Texas Democrats should fear the GOP effort to win over Latinos angered a lot of Democratic Party insiders. The most formal response came from Ed Espinoza, a former DNC official, writing at Politico. The upshot of Espinoza's piece is that Democrats aren't to blame for the abysmal Latino turnout in Texas; Republicans are. Says Espinoza: While it’s true that Latinos in Texas do underperform in elections, it’s also true that Republicans have kept their thumb on the scales to keep Latino voter participation low. This is an important topic to address, but it’s also important not… Read more...

There’s a rule of thumb in journalism that “two’s a coincidence, three’s a trend.” Two of something may mean nothing, but find three examples and you’ve got yourself a story. So what to make of the two defections of Hispanic lawmakers from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in the past year? First, state Rep. Aaron Peña, a four-term Democrat from the Rio Grande Valley, announced right before the 2011 legislative session that he was switching to the GOP. Then, in March of this year, another South Texas Democrat switched parties. This time it was freshman J.M. Lozano, who… Read more...

Sometimes it seems the EPA is the best thing to happen to Texas Republicans. The federal agency makes a handy scapegoat for problems besetting Texas’ electric grid. Case in point: Last week’s hearing of the Senate Natural Resources Committee on EPA regulations. The tone was unrelentingly negative and gloomy. The theme: Blame the EPA. It called to mind the great South Park satirization of scapegoating, "Blame Canada." The hearing opened with Trip Doggett, the CEO of grid operator ERCOT, telling the committee that Texas will have trouble keeping the lights on in the coming years. Doggett pointed to Luminant,… Read more...

With a manila envelope labeled "TOP SECRET" propped up in front of him, state Rep. Lon Burnam, a Fort Worth Democrat, called on the Texas Attorney General to allow the public release of confidential information related to a West Texas radioactive waste dump owned by Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons. Burnam said the documents, obtained after a two-and-a-half-year battle with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, show "serious public health and safety risks" from the dump. Waste Control is awaiting final sign-off from TCEQ to open the Andrews County facility. That could come as soon as Friday, Burnam said. The company… Read more...

This is Part Nine in an occasional series of Q&As with Texans involved in issues of the environment and energy. (Read Part One with Bee Moorhead here, Part Two with Andy Sansom here, Part Three with Katherine Hayhoe here, Part Four with Patrick Kennedy here, Part Five with Michael Banks here, Part Six with Gabriel Eckstein here, Part Seven with John Nielsen-Gammon here and Part Eight with Tad Patzek here.) Charles Porter is a professor, author, and an expert on water rights and real estate. He is an assistant professor at St. Edward’s University in Austin, where he teaches history courses as well as a… Read more...