It has been nearly 120 years since Texas adopted the “rule of capture" as its groundwater common law, and the state acutely needs an updated system. This research paper draws upon dozens of judicial and legislative decisions made in 10 other American states to provide policymakers in Texas with a knowledge base of other groundwater common law doctrines, should they choose to update Texas' law.
Based on the results of a survey conducted in March 2021, the authors argue that Mexico's asylum system can be strengthened by bolstering transnational cooperation between Mexican civil society organizations and U.S. policymakers and NGOs.
Kelsey Norman, Ana Martín Gil, Kevin Cole, Zaid HydariJune 7, 2021
This study examines the impact of natural gas prices on the power systems of Mexico and the United States.
In Energy Policy, The International Journal of the Political, Economic, Planning, Environmental and Social Aspects of Energy.
Juan Rosellón, Luis Sarmiento, Anahi Molar-Cruz, Charalampos Avraam, Maxwell Brown, Sauleh Siddiqui, Baltazar Solano RodríguezJune 2, 2021
With the rise of the gig economy has come an increase in concerns about tax compliance. This blog post reviews two recent changes to tax reporting rules for the sharing economy sector — the comeback of Form 1099-NEC and a reduction in the reporting threshold of Form 1099-K — and their implications for tax administration and reporting.
Why did Mexico’s state-owned PEMEX buy a Houston-area oil refinery this week, when many other oil companies are moving away from fossil fuels? Post-doctoral energy fellow Adrian Duhalt explains in the Baker Institute Blog.
This is the first analysis focused specifically on whether subnational resource curse dynamics seen in other oil-rich locales (1) apply to the Permian Basin and if so, to what extent, and (2) compensatory policy steps.
Baker Institute Rice Faculty Scholar and University Professor Moshe Vardi analyzes three recent crises — the 2021 winter storm in Texas, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Boeing 737 Max software failure — that highlight the cost of valuing efficiency over resilience and provide lessons for bringing society into balance.
This report explores Houston's substantial comparative advantage in finding and developing low-carbon solutions and creating opportunities to efficiently and effectively deploy the region’s vast resources to produce and deliver cleaner, greener fuels to the nation and the world.
Texans served by regulated electricity markets, especially by electric cooperatives, were much more satisfied with their providers’ performance during Winter Storm Uri than those in deregulated markets. In this post for the Baker Institute Blog, the authors offer possible explanations for the contrast in favorability.
Mark P. Jones, Pablo M. Pinto, Renee Cross, Kirk P. WatsonMay 11, 2021
The recent cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline, one of America’s most critical pieces of energy infrastructure, offers lessons in the crucial role of energy storage and the importance of cybersecurity for maintaining our nation’s long-term energy security, writes Kenneth B. Medlock III, the senior director of the Center for Energy Studies, in a post for the Baker Institute Blog.