Texas Public Radio Stations Launch Energy and Environmental Policy Broadcast, “StateImpact Texas”
AUSTIN, Texas — Nov. 7, 2011—Public radio stations KUT 90.5 in Austin and KUHF 88.7 in Houston today launched “StateImpact Texas: Power, Policy and the Planet,” which examines the impact of state government on energy and environmental policy.
StateImpact Texas, a local-national journalism project with NPR, is broadcasting stories on public radio stations across the state and publishing additional content on the StateImpact Texas website. Some of the reports to be broadcast this week include:
· A three-part series on the Environmental Protection Agency’s most habitual industrial polluters in Texas and their impact on citizens, and the political environment that allows some companies to continue polluting for years with few consequences.
· An examination of job growth in Texas’s green energy industry.
· An investigation of Mexico’s plans to open the section of the country along the Texas border to natural gas drilling and the potential environmental and industrial effects on Texas.
· A report about the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality considering granting tax abatement to Valero for making its gas more environmentally safe. A coalition of community leaders and environmental groups claims the company is asking for a payoff for doing something that is already required under national regulations.
· A story about a project in Texas that might address energy needs in Haiti.
StateImpact Texas is composed of a team of award-winning journalists from Austin and Houston, including Mose Buchele, Dave Fehling and Terrence Henry, reporting from the centers of government and energy production in the state. It’s one of eight StateImpact initiatives across the country.
StateImpact Texas reporters share their reports through radio broadcasts, the StateImpact Texas website and social media platforms including Facebook (facebook.com/StateImpactTX) and Twitter (@StateImpactTX). The StateImpact Texas website serves as a central hub, featuring audio, video, multimedia slideshows and curated content.
StateImpact Texas reports will air on public radio stations throughout the state, including High Plains Public Radio in the Texas Panhandle; KERA, Dallas; KEDT, Corpus Christi; KNCH, San Angelo; KOHM, Lubbock; KRTS, Marfa; KSTX, San Antonio; and KWBU, Waco. Thanks to collaboration agreements with Texas Monthly and KUT’s online political reporting partner The Texas Tribune, the reports will reach listeners across the state.
KUT’s lead role on this project is made possible by a grant from the William and Salomé Scanlan Foundation of Austin and San Antonio. The International Association of Drilling Contractors, based in Houston, also has contributed to StateImpact Texas. Several other foundations, corporations and individual donors have made philanthropic contributions to NPR and partner stations in support of StateImpact including: the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation, the Florida College Access Network, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Melville Charitable Trust, the Open Society Foundations, the School of Business at Southern New Hampshire University and The Wallace Foundation. These grants fund the planning and launch phases, and have made it possible for NPR to staff an eight-member StateImpact desk to run the project. KUT and KUHF are actively working with NPR to seek additional funding for the overall initiative, and local and regional matching funds.
About KUT Radio
For more than 50 years, KUT 90.5, listener-supported public radio from Austin, Texas, has striven to be the most trusted radio source for news and music in Central Texas. A founding member of NPR, KUT established a news department in 2002. Since then, KUT News has won more than 50 state, national and international awards for journalistic excellence. KUT is nationally known for playing a unique blend of handpicked, homegrown and uniquely Austin music. In summer 2012, KUT will complete the KUT Public Broadcast Center, which will demonstrate KUT’s work from the inside out, showcasing KUT as one of the most creative, exciting and community-focused public media organizations in the world.
About KUHF Radio
KUHF News offers international, national, regional and local coverage from the KUHF Newsroom, NPR, the BBC and American Public Media. KUHF’s program services are broadcast on 88.7 FM, HD-1, and online at kuhf.org. KUHF is supported financially by its listener-members and by gifts from the greater Houston community through the Association for Community Broadcasting. KUHF is licensed to the Board of Regents of the University of Houston and is operated in the public interest as a community outreach of the university. More information is at www.kuhf.org.
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Contacts: Erin Geisler, (512) 475-8071, egeisler@kut.org; or Emily Binetti (713) 743-1824, emilyb@kuhf.org; or Anna Christopher Bross, (202) 513-2304, achristopher@npr.org
