Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Monday, Sept. 12, 2022:
DPS director speaks about Uvalde
DPS Director Steve McCraw spoke with USA Today about his agency’s response to the Uvalde school shooting in May. He told the newspaper he wishes DPS had taken a more decisive role at the beginning of the standoff.
El Paso migrants released
Border Patrol has started releasing hundreds of migrants a day from custody in El Paso to ease overcrowding at the federal processing center. Area shelters are also at full capacity – so large groups of migrants are on the streets. KTEP’s Angela Kocherga reports:
Manu Ginóbili joins NBA Hall of Fame
San Antonio Spurs legend Manu Ginóbili was enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, surrounded by former teammates, coaches, and family. Texas Public Radio’s Jerry Clayton has the story.
Before long, it will be time to fire up the furnaces as temperatures drop. But for Europe in particular, energy costs are expected to be through the roof as the Nord Stream 1 pipeline remains offline, cutting gas flows from Russia to Europe. Russia blamed an oil leak for the continued shutdown of the pipeline, but the White House has said that Russia is weaponizing energy to put pressure on the West. Matt Smith is lead oil analyst for the Americas at Kpler, and he’s been watching the situation.
Could Texas grow its geothermal energy footprint?
Last week, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was in Houston – not to talk about oil and gas, but to tout a program by the Biden administration for a more renewable source of energy. Bruce Cutright, CEO of Thermal Energy Partners, a geothermal energy development company, joins us to talk about what he sees as a bright future for geothermal in this oil-dominated state.
Talking to the author of ‘Wilder’
We’re in the middle of what environmentalists call a “biodiversity crisis” as climate change and human-caused habitat loss cause wildlife numbers to dwindle all over the planet. But what if we could at least partially reverse it? A novel approach to conservation aims to restore natural habitats through what’s called “re-wilding”– and could help ecosystems more closely resemble their natural state. We’ll hear more Millie Kerr, author of “Wilder: How Rewilding is Transforming Conservation and Changing the World.”
Debates around ‘Christian nationalism’
One Nation Under God. The division between church and state. Some of the big mottos and morals of the United States seem to conflict. Take the one at the center of debate in Texas right now: “In God We Trust.” For Texas native Amanda Tyler, lead organizer of Christians Against Christian Nationalism and the leader of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, this all centers around what she calls Christian nationalism.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Shelly Brisbin with the Talk of Texas.
