Experts in the News

Lina Hidalgo, who won a surprise victory over incumbent Ed Emmett last November, again demonstrated her political savvy when she announced last week she wouldn’t accept campaign contributions from county contractors. "It was a brilliant political move since it has won her support from across the political spectrum from voters and leaders who have long decried the endemic cronyism and pay-to-play politics in Harris County, the City of Houston and [the Houston Independent School District]," said political science fellow Mark Jones.

2019 will bring further economic hardship to Venezuelans as the economy shrinks and oil output continues to plummet. Energy fellow Francisco Monaldi expects production to bottom out at 850,000-900,000 barrels a day. Declines could be steeper if oil prices fall below $50 a barrel, he said.

Ambassador Edward Djerejian discusses the president's plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. Al Jazeera (translated to Arabic).

The most probable effect of midterm elections is continued legislative gridlock under a divided Congress, said Center for Energy Studies director Ken Medlock in an interview with AAPG Explorer. "It’s almost in a lot of ways laissez-faire: Let the market figure it out." 

The Houston Chronicle quotes research by energy and environment fellow Rachel A. Meidl on the challenges of plastic waste management: http://bit.ly/2F8H6TK.