The Lost Rider Podcast with Herman Brune

Challenger to the HD85 state representative seat is Lt. Col. Dennis Geesaman. He says that the days of bipartisanship, as seen with George W. Bush and Bob Bullock, are gone. Geesaman feels that the Democrat left has moved so far that compromise is all but gone. He agrees that the MO of school funding should be removed from property taxes, and the homestead tax needs to be eliminated for everyone. Otherwise, the American Dream will...

The Texas 2026 March primary season is heating up. But, State Representative Stan Kitzman is adamant that Austin is not Washington D. C. While many issues are decided down party lines, Kitzman says that without bipartisanship amendments and many issues high on constituents' radar would not be resolved. He also goes on to relate that "water issues" are looming larger than ever on the horizon. It is probable that precedents, such as ...

Chris Hall explains "fusion". It started, in the 1980's, with President Reagan and Premier Gorbachev at the end of the Cold War. in 2026, scientists feel that they may be within eight or nine years of producing cost effective energy from fusion. Nevertheless, don't expect to see it generating electricity until after 2039. When you hear the term think about hydrogen. Also, Hall injects the idea that what we've always known about sol...

Another candidate for the Texas Rail Road Commission is Hawk Dunlap. He has no hard feelings towards current commissioners but feels it's time to fix a few problems. Dunlap explains more about abandoned wells and how reinjection wells may effect groundwater. He says that not all reinjection wells are 10,000 feet or deeper. His view is to awaken the public to the technology available to recycle industrial water. This is a widely acc...

The Texas Rail Road Commission's main job is permitting drilling and pipelines in the oil patch. This election cycle a host of challengers are vying for Jim Wright's seat on the commission. One point of contention that  draws attention is also the permitting of "flares". This is when excess natural gas is burned because there is no place for storage. Candidate James Matlock discusses this conundrum, as well as, defines "orphan well...

Social Media director, Justin Morissey, for the National Shooting Sports Foundation gives us a preview of the upcoming 2026 SHOT Show in Las Vegas. It is the hunting and shooting industry's trade show. It is an international show expecting more than 50,000 people and 2800 vendors. The booths cover approximately 18 acres with in the Venetian, Palazio, and Caesar's conference and exhibition space. Morrisey also elaborates on the NSSF...

In an effort to untangle a hairball of information, Brune goes back for another interview with Nueces River Authority  Executive Director John Byrum. While folks are satisfied that the discharge from a seawater desal plant will go offshore into deep water, they're not as happy about brackish aquifer desal plants putting the discharge back into creeks. The hairball starts when CCA's Shane Bonnet says that the runoff would be too "fr...

The Charley Russel Museum is in Great Falls, Montana. Once a year the Western Art community gathers for an extended weekend to celebrate with "paintings in the park", a buffet and auction Friday night, and a banquet and auction Saturday night that includes pieces from eras gone by.

The last evening is when nationwide museums and collectors gather to bid on selected pieces of Charley Russel artwork. In this interview Brune visits wi...

The Coastal Conservation Assn. position on the discharge of desalination plants is to be in favor of deep water off shore discharge in the case of the Harbor Island seawater desal plant. As per the South Texas Water Authority's plans for a brackish aquifer desalination plant the CCA position is to use reinjection wells for the discharge. Brune interviews CCA Advocacy officer Shane Bonnet and asks, what happens when reinjection well...

Brune's commentary simplifies and seeks to make relative the geography and conservation interests that would benefit from seawater and brackish aquifer desalination. The technology to treat desalination plant's discharge is readily available and not new. Likewise, taking the pressure off freshwater aquifers, as well as, river systems is essential for municipalities, agriculture, wildlife, and the Texas Gulf Coast. Brune raises the ...

Brune interviews Port of Corpus Christi Authority's Kent Britton. The discussion revolves around the largest planned seawater desalination plant in the U.S. They also talk about the amounts of oil and natural gas that are shipped out of Corpus Christi daily. One ship going to the Netherlands can power 1million homes in Europe for one month. Approximately one such ship leaves Corpus every day. The conversation also leans towards the...

In this insightful episode of The Lost Rider Podcast (and its broadcast version, News from the Camp House), host Herman Brune visits Texas A&M University to sit down with Dr. Ty Wardell, assistant professor in the Rangeland, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management Department.

Wardell shares his fascinating journey from growing up in a ranching and rodeo family on the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota to earning his Ph.D. at ...

Water questions is a commentary from Brune. It showcases that lifelong "conservationists" in state agencies have the answers to questions that plague concerned citizens and NGO's. There is nothing new about water process technologies. When discussing water desalination: Water treatment for super saturated saline discharges was practiced in Texas, in the 1980's, during the creation of the strategic oil reserves. Likewise, major muni...