Inside Energy: Recent Episodes
Inside Energy
Inside Energy was a public media collaboration, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, that produced from 2014-2017. Our audio stories will help inform you of the tensions and tradeoffs in American energy issues. Don’t miss our podcast: http://insideenergy.org/podcast
Is having oil and gas development nearby bad for your health? In this story, we’re going to dig into what is known and what is unknown about these dangers and why those unknowns still exist, as more and more wells are drilled. We’re going to meet different people with different perspectives, who are all gathering data or studying it. They’re looking for answers and living with unknowns.
A natural gas boom in the U.S. is changing the power sector in the country. It's credited with bringing down American carbon dioxide emissions more than any other factor. But, one difficult to control component of the natural gas industry threatens to undermine those gains. This audio special from Inside Energy explores the serious and persistent problem of methane leaks.
Tax reform is going to impact renewables, oil and gas, and energy overall in the western U.S. Now that the President has signed the final tax bill into law, what does it mean for western energy? Inside Energy helps unpack.
Four stories chronicling the growing conflict between oil and gas drilling and suburban development, in the aftermath of an April 2017 natural gas explosion in Firestone, Colorado that resulted in the death of two people. Submitted in the "Continuing Coverage" category for the 2018 RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Awards.
President Donald Trump has used the term “clean coal” a lot lately, but what is clean coal? Well, it can mean a lot of different things, depending who you ask. For some, it's history. For others, it's a fantasy. And for still others, it's a necessity. But could it become a reality that helps bring back coal and helps stop climate change? Inside Energy’s Madelyn Beck digs deep.
An increasing number of cities are claiming they will go it alone to meet the emission reduction targets of the Paris Climate Agreement. This comes in the wake of President Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of the Paris accord earlier this year. Just last week, mayors from more than 50 North American cities signed a formal agreement to reduce greenhouse gases in their communities. Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce looks at how they’re doing in trying to reach those goals.
President Trump is set to announce a plan to shrink the boundaries of two national monuments in Utah: Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monument, the latter created by President Obama one year ago this month. Trump’s action will mark an important milestone in the story of these two red buttes which has become an outsized symbol for a slew of western issues. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
The American West is known for its wide open spaces.
That can make for some pretty epic road trips -- unless you have an electric vehicle and you’re stuck hours away from a charge….
Sales of E-Vs are climbing and some forecasters predict half of the vehicles sold worldwide will be electric by 2040.
But, in present day, a lack of charging stations is still holding back this transportation revolution.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce reports on an agreement between Western states to try and calm so-called “range anxiety.”
It’s been a busy week for lawmakers in the nation’s capital pushing their bills that fall in line with the Trump Administration’s energy dominance agenda. Congresswoman Liz Cheney is working to make it harder for federal agency’s to unilaterally approve a federal coal leasing ban. Congressman Evan Jenkins is seeking to do away with the Obama-era social cost of carbon calculation. E & E Reporter Dylan Brown walks us through what happened and why it’s important.
Wyoming’s biggest bet on clean coal is almost finished. The Integrated Test Center outside Gillette aims to host researchers who are finding ways to turn carbon emissions into marketable products. But what does this test center and clean coal mean for the state, the coal industry or climate change? Inside Energy’s Madelyn Beck takes us on a 360 degree view of clean coal to answer that question.
The Department of Interior officially re-opened the 2015 sage grouse management plans last month. They took over a decade of compromise and negotiation to put together, with Wyoming as leader. Many people involved in the process are nervous that the current administration could damage the integrity of the plans, while others see it as an opportunity to make needed improvements.
Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports on the struggle between two priorities in Colorado: energy development and housing development. She takes us to the Front Range, where drilling rigs and subdivisions are both going up, in towns north of Denver. At the intersection of the these two types of development are serious concerns about health and safety. The following story first appeared as an episode of the podcast Trump on Earth.
If Ryan Zinke is modeling himself after the Conservationist President, Teddy Roosevelt, then why is he making headlines for rolling back land protections? There's more of an answer there than you might think. This half-hour Inside Energy special is hosted by Leigh Paterson and reported by Dan Boyce
Wyoming has the sixth highest wind capacity potential in the country, but it sits at 15th in actual production. With new transmission lines and soon-to-end federal subsidies, now could be the time for Wyoming to take a leap forward in wind investment. But several barriers block the western state’s way from becoming a leader in this renewable energy.
The oil & gas industry is pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into local politics in a Denver suburb, fighting a measure that could give the town more control over drilling. This ballot question is part of a much larger fight over health, safety, policy, and state law that's playing out in towns across northern Colorado as oil and gas development moves in. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
The Department of the Interior is outlining potential steps aimed at increasing energy production on federal lands. Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, says boosting production of resources like oil and gas creates jobs and enhances the nation’s energy security. It’s another pro-industry headline for a Secretary touting himself as not only an avid outdoorsman, but a follower of the conservation ideals of the 26th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce looks at how their philosophies stack up.
When a coal company wants to dig on federal land, the Bureau of Land Management figures out an environmental impact statement for them. They look at how exactly the new development will affect the environment. But not until recently did these documents start to include how they might affect climate change. A federal appellate court is moving the US a step closer to figuring that out.
Today, the Trump Administration kicked off the formal process of repealing an Obama-era rule called the Clean Power Plan. But many in Colorado think the state will stay the course on reducing carbon emissions. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
Wyoming and the country of Japan are working out a relationship over coal. Wyoming wants to export that coal, and Japan wants to buy it. Both want to figure out an affordable way to clean up coal emissions. Inside Energy’s Madelyn Beck reports on how this mutually beneficial relationship is facing challenges on all fronts.
Since January, President Trump has ordered systematic rollbacks of Obama-era environmental regulations. He’s voiced an intent to focus on energy development and jobs over environmental regulation. Many of these rules were crafted by Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency under Gina McCarthy. She was E-P-A Administrator during his second term. They focused on taking strong steps against climate change. For Inside Energy, Wyoming Public Radio’s Cooper McKim spoke with McCarthy during her visit to Wyoming, and gets her reaction to these drastic changes.
Over eighty percent of new wind power last year went up in states that voted for President Donald Trump. It may sound strange when Trump’s aim is to bolster coal, not wind, but what red states usually promote is individual choice and a smart use of money. Inside Energy’s Madelyn Beck reports that wind power - both large and small - is literally changing Wyoming’s energy landscape.
Future development on vast swaths of western land is uncertain now that sage grouse is back on the agenda. The well-being of this chicken-like bird was the focus of a hard-fought deal- a compromise, between nearly a dozen states, finalized a few years ago. Now the federal government is asking for changes to that deal with energy development and jobs in mind. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson teamed up with Wyoming Public Radio’s Cooper McKim to report on what it all means for compromise on major western issues.
Superfund cleanups are a priority for Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
He wants to cut through red tape that has left more than a thousand sites still contaminated -- with everything from radioactive waste to lead.
He also wants to remove sites that have already been cleaned up from the so-called National Priority List which has more than 1300 sites.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce visited a town in western Colorado that’s been on that list since 1986.
The U.S. used to be the world’s number one uranium producer, and most of it came from Wyoming. But since the 1980s, production has fallen off a cliff. Prices are at rock bottom. That may be about to change -- uranium’s biggest customer is the nuclear energy industry. In coming years, hundreds of new nuclear reactors are planned for China and India. Uranium companies in the U.S. are hoping to gear up for a boom.
People and oil and gas development don’t always make good neighbors. This is especially true in northern Colorado where tensions among residents, energy producers, and lawmakers are playing out in battles over drilling projects. But the uncomfortable intersection of tons of people living on top of rich fossil fuel resources is forcing communities and companies to figure it out. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
Colorado’s governor is stepping up regulations on the state’s oil and gas industry. Tuesday’s announcement follows a home explosion in April that killed two people. One controversial issue the new measures do not change -- how far the state’s expanding oil and gas operations can be from homes. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
Wyoming's Republican politicians have come out swinging against a proposal from West Virginia for a federal subsidy for Appalachian coal. Representative Liz Cheney called the idea unjust and bad economic policy. The proposal came from West Virginia Governor Jim Justice who recently switched to the Republican party. Our story comes from Glynis Board of the public media collaboration the Ohio Valley Resource
The U.S. solar industry is booming. Twice as much solar was installed last year as in 2015. But some say not everyone has reaped the benefits. Earlier this week, the U.S. International Trade Commission heard arguments that cheap solar imports have devastated solar manufacturing jobs. The case could have huge implications for the industry. For Inside Energy, KJZZ’s Will Stone reports.
President Trump idealizes a traditional view of American life, an America based on industry and lifting up the image of the blue collar working man.
And no working man has been more lauded under this administration than the American coal miner.
The economics for coal aren’t looking good, between regulations and low prices for natural gas and renewables.
Still, Trump has been trying to fulfill his campaign promise to bring back mining jobs.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce recently spent a weekend with a Colorado coal miner, for a perspective on the ground.
There is a lot of natural gas locked underground in Western Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.
Trouble is, it can be tough to get that gas to market.
Enter President Donald Trump.
The administration is signalling that a natural gas terminal in coastal Oregon denied a critical permit under the Obama administration could have new life.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce has the story.
Central Oklahoma is still feeling aftershocks from a 4.2-magnitude quake that struck earlier this week. A key part in solving the earthquake crisis is managing the enormous amount of water that comes to the surface when oil and gas is pumped out of the ground. It's a billion-barrel-a-year problem the energy industry is working to solve. One promising alternative is reusing this wastewater instead of injecting it underground. Joe Wertz from StateImpact Oklahoma reports for Inside Energy.
A southwestern Wyoming region has some of the strongest emissions regulations on the oil and gas industry in the country. Companies operating in the Upper Green River Basin are required to reduce air pollutants that may lead to ozone — a dangerous greenhouse gas. This week, a federal court mandated the Environmental Protection Agency begin enforcement of similar standards nationwide. Cooper McKim reports on how Wyoming’s plan to clean up their air has worked.
A changing climate may be bad PR for fossil fuels, but it could help their bottom line. Two major coal companies released earnings reports last week stating how higher temperatures could mean more energy use, which could ease some coal stockpiles.
n most parts of the country, solar energy has been having a great decade.
Estimates puts the industry’s growth at 16-hundred percent over the last 8 years.
A great decade, maybe, but solar’s been having a really bad year -- especially residential rooftop solar.
There’s been a big-time slowdown in that market, and bankruptcies abound from the likes of SunEdison, Sungevity, Suniva, and at least one company not starting with Sun -- SolarWorld.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce looks into what’s going on.
Millions of gallons of salty wastewater are produced each day wherever there’s oil and gas production. Most states inject wastewater deep underground. But in Wyoming, above-ground wastewater ponds are still used. Regulators now want to make sure the state will not be left scrambling to pay for and figure out cleanup, once the ponds are shut down. Inside Energy’s Madelyn Beck reports.
A new coal mine may be opening in the Powder River Basin -- if it does, it would be the first to open in Wyoming in 50 years. Before that can happen, they have to obtain a permit. Local groups are arguing against one. They say the mine's proposed permit is lacking and worry about the environmental impacts of a new mine.
The wind energy industry is growing worldwide, and so is the global competition between turbine-makers. That battle is now playing out in Wyoming, a state with some of the best wind potential in the nation. In the next few years two massive wind power projects are slated to come on line. To get an edge, a Chinese company is trying to win over the state’s scant pool of workers through free training to become a wind turbine technician. Inside Energy’s Madelyn Beck reports.
Oil markets are turbulent -- Still, prices are high enough right now that oil companies are expanding their drilling operations here in the US.
Of all the problems to have, though, companies aren’t getting as much oil out of the ground as they want because they can’t find enough workers for their highly paid jobs.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce picks up the story from the side of a highway near oil country.
Coal used to be the dominant resource to feed power generation, but it's fallen to natural gas and renewable energies. With a drop in coal demand, a Kentucky-based company is looking for a new way to use the resource. They're hoping to find a way to make coal as versatile as oil, creating new products like car parts, building material, and much more.
The US Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, is recommending a reduction in the size of the controversial, and brand new, Bears Ears National Monument in Utah.
That follows a directive from President Trump to review all large monuments designated since the late 90s.
Trump argues some of these monuments actually restrict access to public land and burden both local governments and local economies.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce reports from another of these monuments under review in North Central Montana.
After a home exploded north of Denver in April, killing two people, the investigation into what happened is underway, clean-up is ongoing, lawsuits are being filed and people who live in that small community are worried. Not only about their safety but about the value of their homes. The explosion was caused by a leaking pipeline, attached to an oil and gas well and in this part of Colorado, that kind of infrastructure is everywhere. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
Wyoming coal companies are out of bankruptcy and rehiring. President Trump's promise to put coal miners back to work appears to have come true in northeastern Wyoming where nearly 300 mining jobs have returned, bringing residents home and boosting local morale. Still there’s a lot of uncertainty for the state and the coal industry overall. Inside Energy’s Madelyn Beck reports.
A fatal home explosion in northern Colorado is prompting a lot of questions in the state about how oil and gas wells are regulated, and how close to old wells new homes should be built.
The explosion was linked to a leaking gas line, running from a nearby well. The line was abandoned, but not properly sealed.
A statewide review of oil and gas operations is now underway. Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce reports.
Colorado's governor ordered a review of all oil and gas development in the state after two people were killed last month in a home explosion that happened less than 200 feet from a well. Inside Energy's Leigh Paterson reports.
President Trump is directing the Environmental Protection Agency to revise or get rid of the most significant climate regulation of the Obama Administration.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce says Trump signed an Executive Order on the Clean Power Plan Tuesday.
Many states that rely on coal to generate electricity are moving to lower cost natural gas. In Nebraska, there's a move in a different direction. A partnership between a Silicon Valley startup and the state's largest utility aims to replace at least some coal-fired electricity with a new fuel source that will cut emissions while creating new jobs. For Inside Energy, Ariana Brocious of NET News reports.
Some states have jumped onto the solar bandwagon with gusto. Colorado is a solar leader with over 6000 people working in the industry in 2015. There are far fewer workers in states like Wyoming and North Dakota. And even less in Alaska, where the solar revolution has been especially slow to take root. But with prices dropping dramatically around the world, some Alaskan entrepreneurs are now seeing an opportunity. As Rachel Waldholz of Alaska's Energy Desk reports for Inside Energy, one of the challenges they face is convincing people that solar works in Alaska -- and that, in fact, Alaska might be ideal solar territory.
“TRUMP DIGS COAL” -- that’s what many yellow signs read during the presidential campaign.
The nominee promised to put laid-off coal miners back to work.
Now, the President is soon expected to issue executive actions looking to fulfill that promise.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce tells us it even snuck into the President’s speech last week to a joint session of Congress.
Wyoming’s new Science Standards for schools are encouraging kids to make up their own minds about climate change. Recently, a group of Laramie middle schoolers tackled the issue of the environmental impacts of energy development in Wyoming. We handed off the microphone to two young reporters.
A one size fits all national science curriculum has often been controversial. For states that rely on fossil fuels, for instance, teaching that the climate is changing and humans are to blame can rile people up. This school year, for the first time, Wyoming kids are learning about climate change using science standards adapted to Wyoming realities. Wyoming Public Radio's Melodie Edwards reports for Inside Energy.
As protesters at Standing Rock clean up camp and head home, their fight has inspired others who are trying to stop pipeline construction elsewhere. Marfa Public Radio’s Sally Beauvais takes us to the Big Bend Region of Texas, where construction on a natural gas pipeline is almost complete.
President Donald Trump gave new momentum to the controversial Keystone X-L Pipeline when he took office. But the final say on whether the pipeline is built may lie on the Great Plains. For Inside Energy, Grant Gerlock reports on landowners in a rural part of Nebraska who promise to put a kink in the president’s plans.
Each week, Inside Energy joins our partner radio station, KUVO, for a discussion about the big energy stories we’re watching. This week, while Democratic governors across the country are stepping up on cutting emissions, Colorado’s John Hickenlooper is stepping back. Ben Storrow, a reporter with E&E News, joined KUVO to discuss his recent article on Hickenlooper’s latest moves.
The coal industry is in transition, challenged by a natural gas boom and regulations aimed at reducing carbon emissions. We are covering this collapse from ground zero, in Wyoming, where 40 percent of the nation’s coal is mined.
For Murrows: a compilation of Inside Energy/Prairie Public stories on the Dakota Access pipeline
2016 was the year the collapse of the coal industry finally hit the epicenter of US production: Wyoming's mineral-rich Powder River Basin. Two out of the four largest coal companies in the US declared bankruptcy. They shed hundreds of their Wyoming miners at all once. In this story, Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson takes us to northeastern Wyoming, where a recent boost in coal prices and production, along with a pro-coal president has hopes rising.
Two huge new transmission lines for Wyoming wind power were approved earlier this month, setting the stage for construction of the nation's biggest wind farm. In Colorado, Xcel Energy recently received approval from regulators to construct a massive wind farm. And North Dakota is one of a handful of states that gets at least 10 percent of its electricity from wind power. But wind is not just growing on the plains and the Rocky Mountain West. In the waters off of Rhode Island, the first offshore wind energy project began operations this fall. Now developers are pushing ahead in another vast body of water: the Great Lakes. For Inside Energy, Elizabeth Miller of Great Lakes Today has this progress report from Lake Erie.
Freshman Congressman Ryan Zinke from Montana is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Interior Secretary. Last week Zinke said he was “honored and humbled to be asked to serve Montana and America.” The Interior Department oversees one-fifth of federal lands in this country, including national parks from Yellowstone to the Grand Canyon. For Inside Energy, Nicky Ouellet of Montana Public Radio reports.
President-elect Donald Trump appears to have fossil fuels on his mind as makes his cabinet picks. The Governor of Texas at the Department of Energy, an ExxonMobil CEO running the State Department, and Oklahoma’s attorney general for the Environmental Protection Agency. But where do renewables like solar energy fit into this conservative agenda? In places like Arizona. For Inside Energy, Will Stone of KJZZ in Phoenix reports.
Now that the Army Corps of Engineers has denied a permit to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline, parties with a vested interest are wondering what’s next. For thousands of who’ve joined the Standing Rock Sioux’s protest against the pipeline -- should they leave or should they stay? Meanwhile, the oil industry and legal experts are trying to make sense of the decision and what it means for the project’s fate. Inside Energy’s Amy Sisk reports.
The U.S. government’s decision to block construction on the Dakota Access pipeline was a major victory for tribes in the much bigger fight to protect places they hold sacred — even when those projects are located off their reservations. Dan Kraker reports.
President-elect Donald Trump indicated for the first time on Thursday that he supports completion of the Dakota Access pipeline. Protesters have been camped out at the construction site in North Dakota for months, and now winter has arrived, dumping almost two feet of snow on the encampment this past week. The two-day deluge drove out some of the fairer-weather protesters, but most are gearing up to stay. All are waiting to see what happens on Monday, the deadline set by the Army Corps of Engineers for protesters to leave federal land. For Inside Energy, Nicky Ouellet reports.
Tonight in Bismarck, North Dakota, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will host a community forum to discuss the controversial encampment where thousands have gathered to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline. The US Army Corps of Engineers wants to shut the camp down for safety reasons in the next week. Minnesota Public Radio's Doualy Xaykaothao has been visiting the camp since Thanksgiving and takes us inside.
Protesters gathered all around the country this week in opposition to a controversial crude oil pipeline. The Standing Rock Sioux, the tribe opposing the Dakota Access pipeline project, are worried that if there was an accident, the pipeline could contaminate their water. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports on the risks of our massive and largely hidden pipeline network.
Coal country is celebrating Donald Trump's election victory. Support for Trump was strong from Appalachia to Wyoming, and people have high hopes he can reverse coal's recent downturn. But can he?
For weeks this spring, students and teachers at the school in tiny Midwest, Wyoming reported strange smells and headaches. Then, in May, the school shut down after health officials detected dangerous levels of potentially toxic gases. But for months, no one could answer the questions: What were the gases? And how did they get into the school?
Fossil fuel companies have a history of backing Republican candidates. But this year’s unusual presidential campaign appears to be having a strange ripple effect on political giving - at least from the oil and gas industry.
It may not be at the top of the ticket, but key battles are being waged on many state ballots over the future of energy this year. As the influence of solar grows, that industry and the power companies are clashing. Both sides hope to tip the scales in their favor by spending big money to get the right regulators elected. Arizona is ground zero for this fight. For Inside Energy, Will Stone of KJZZ in Phoenix reports.
Peabody Energy paid nearly one point eight million dollars in overdue taxes this week to a rural county in western Colorado, resolving, for now, a serious funding concern for a tiny school district there. Communities all over the country count on revenue from fossil fuel extraction to pay for basics like schools and roads. But with the downturn in coal, oil and gas, that steady stream of energy dollars is no longer assured. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
The duck curve has become shorthand for the challenges that utilities face as they add more solar power and other renewables to the grid. Why are power regulators across the country talking about it more and more?
Coal has been a major theme this election season, with each side pointing fingers at the other. From the presidential debate stage to local town halls, what to do about lost mining jobs keeps coming up. On Colorado’s western slope, two candidates running for Congress are divided on the issue and are nearly matched in campaign contributions as election day approaches. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
The future for Wyoming’s wind industry is finally looking up. There are few places in the country with more wind energy potential than Wyoming, but the state has seen almost no new wind turbines built in six years, even while wind has boomed in the rest of the country. Depending on who you ask, the challenges have been political, technical or both. But now, the outlook is improving on all fronts.
Questions over the country’s energy future surfaced in the Presidential debate Sunday night. It was a surprising 5 minutes of actual policy discussion in an otherwise tense debate focused mainly on character assassinations. For Inside Energy, StateImpact Pennsylvania’s Susan Phillips takes a look at how the facts stack up to the candidates comments on energy.
Electricity prices typically move in one direction: up. But for the first time in more than a decade, residential electricity prices have dropped nationwide.
Electricity prices typically move in one direction: up. But for the first time in more than a decade, residential electricity prices have dropped nationwide.
In 2014, a massive explosion tore through the Williams natural gas processing plant in Opal. It forced the evacuation of the southwestern Wyoming town and caused a spike in the price of natural gas. Wyoming’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted an investigation in the aftermath and found a number of safety violations. But the agency never collected the corresponding fines and never released a final report about the investigation.
Researchers are starting to draw a straight line between ozone and oil and gas development. A recent study out of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration found that 17 percent of new ozone on an average summer day in Colorado's front range comes from oil and gas emissions.
Native American leaders from all over the country are traveling to Washington to meet with President Obama on Monday at his last Tribal Nations Conference. Meanwhile in North Dakota, protesters remain camped out in opposition to a controversial oil pipeline. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports that the Standing Rock Sioux tribe- and others- are bringing issues from the prairie all the way to the capital.
Legislators see the increase as a way to raise revenues in the face of a massive budget shortfall due to a drop in coal, oil and gas production. But wind developers say it's a dangerous gamble for a state that has some of the best wind power potential in the nation.
One thing we can say about this year's presidential election...it's not following the usual rules. Take the oil and gas industry for example. It has given more to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton than it has to Republican nominee Donald Trump. With Trump planning to address Shale gas drillers this week (Thursday 9/22) at a conference in Pittsburgh, StateImpact Pennsylvania's Susan Phillips reports for Inside Energy on another twist in this odd campaign season.
What started as a small protest in North Dakota over a pipeline has turned into a national fight. The Dakota Access Pipeline would carry oil over a thousand miles from North Dakota to Illinois. Protests started in April with a handful of members from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe But on Tuesday, thousands of people joined solidarity protests in cities across the country to oppose the pipeline. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson starts us off in Denver.
Hillary Clinton’s energy whisperers have roots in fossil fuel country. Trevor Houser grew up in coal-rich Wyoming. He part of a small team behind Clinton’s energy strategy. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson spoke with Houser about crafting energy policy in the middle of an energy bust.
The latest fight in the battle over local control of oil and gas drilling in Colorado may have come to an end this week. Two ballot measures to restrict drilling failed to make the November ballot. But that issue has not gone away. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports that the question of how best to regulate oil and gas development, especially in populated areas like Colorado’s Front Range, is likely to come up again… and again.
In fiscal year 2016, the University of Wyoming’s utility bill was $10.8 million—almost $2 million more than fiscal year 2015. Next year, as new buildings under construction come online, that bill is likely to increase, even as the University faces $41 million in budget cuts. That means there may be hard choices ahead—keep the lights on, or keep people employed.
Donald Trump is wooing energy-state voters by promising a presidency that will champion coal, promote drilling and free frackers from federal regulations limiting oil and gas development. As StateImpact journalist Joe Wertz reports for Inside Energy, oil-state influencers are helping shape the platform of the Republican presidential candidate.
So far, seven initiatives have been approved for Colorado’s November ballot. That’s a perfect score for the various measures, including a minimum wage increase and one that allows “death with dignity” for the terminally-ill. The Secretary of State is now sorting through the signatures for two more measures. They’re the last two to be considered and, taken together, they would seriously restrict oil and gas development in the state. Government workers are doing the tedious work of sorting through boxes of petitions to determine if Initiatives 75 and 78 have the 98,482 signatures required to be placed on the ballot. Inside Energy's Leigh Paterson reports.
Amid a wave of historic coal bankruptcies, states like Texas and Colorado, have taken proactive steps to make sure coal companies are on the hook for their future cleanup costs. In other states, like Wyoming, over a billion dollars of these cleanup costs have gotten tied up in bankruptcy court. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports on why we’re seeing different outcomes in different energy-rich states, starting off in a small town in central Texas called Elgin.
There is a building boom for pipelines all across the country right now. And that’s created anxiety about new pipelines close to where people live and work. While the federal government is trying to ratchet up safety rules, there are limits on what these new rules can do. In western Pennsylvania, residents are especially concerned after an interstate gas pipeline ruptured east of Pittsburgh. The Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports for Inside Energy.
For the poorest amongst us, paying every bill can be a struggle, including the power bill.
Until now, solar power hasn’t really been a go-to option for those at the bottom. That’s despite the fact that solar has boomed nationwide and costs have fallen some 70% But that’s starting to change. as Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce explains.
Glance at a satellite image of northeast Wyoming, and you can’t miss the coal mines. Even zoomed out, the square-cornered grey blotches stand out—stretching north to south over more than 70 miles. But if all goes according to plan, someday, when the mining is done, those scars will disappear, erased from the landscape by intensive reclamation efforts. Coal companies are on the hook for that cleanup, but the industry’s recent collapse has raised questions about whether they will actually be able to meet those obligations.
Millions of dollars are being spent in a fight over two controversial ballot initiatives. Taken together, they would seriously restrict oil and gas development in Colorado. Opposing campaigns, infused with this fresh flow of cash are all about one thing right now: signatures. Gathering enough of them to get these initiatives on the November ballot or stopping that from happening. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
Frank Thompson was one of almost 500 miners laid off in Wyoming in a single day earlier this year. Now, he's trying to figure out life after mining—how to provide for his son, and how to bounce back.
How we get electricity in the West is changing. Fast. New projections put 2016 as the biggest year ever for natural gas-fired power plants. But that’s just the beginning of the story.
The oil tycoon who’s been a key adviser to Donald Trump says the candidate will make America energy independent. Harold Hamm addressed the Republican National Convention Wednesday night. Inside Energy’s Amy Sisk has more.
Burning natural gas for electricity is much cleaner than coal. But there's a problem - leaking methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Nearly two years ago Colorado implemented rules to try to limit methane leaks from natural gas infrastructure. Now the EPA is proposing to model federal rules on Colorado's. Still finding and plugging leaks remains a challenge nationwide. In Pennsylvania, where thousands of gas wells and pipelines are working the Marcellus Shale, researchers are trying to figure out how much is leaking. For our Inside Energy project, The Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier tagged along.
Wyoming, like other energy producing states, is shedding jobs in coal, oil, and gas. But the renewables industry is growing nationwide, including jobs to make parts like wind turbine blades and towers. Wyoming wants to attract wind manufacturing jobs as part of an effort to diversity its fossil fuel-based economy, but right now the state has none of these jobs. Neighboring Colorado has thousands. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson went to find out what’s standing in the way, starting off in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Across the country, power companies are rushing to keep pace with a changing energy landscape. Many operate on outdated business models that never accounted for people producing their own electricity or clean energy mandates. That’s prompted Arizona’s largest utility to pursue a new way of charging its customers -- one that no other utility has done before. Will Stone of KJZZ in Phoenix reports for Inside Energy.
From the podcast Outside/In: GRIDLOCKED - Something very different is going on up in Boothbay, Maine. It was an experiment which – if it works – could represent a fundamental shift in the way we think about using electricity.
The coal industry’s recent downturn is casting ripples throughout the economy in the West. In Wyoming, the unemployment rate is climbing faster than any other state in the country—and it’s not just miners who are struggling. From a hotel in Gillette, Wyoming Public Radio’s Stephanie Joyce explores the fallout from the collapsing mineral economy.
How oil and gas drilling can affect drinking water has been a source of controversy across the country, from Pavillion, Wyoming to Pennsylvania.. Residents near drilling operations in the Keystone state have filed thousands of complaints, and sometimes waited for years for answers. That’s left some isolated communities to fend for themselves in a quest for clean water. For Inside Energy, Maryam Jameel from the Center for Public Integrity reports.
There’s growing evidence that activities related to hydraulic fracturing can contaminate water supplies. A controversial draft report last year from the Environmental Protection Agency said the contamination was not widespread or systemic --- yet for a number of households whose water has been tainted, and for many more who fear it is tainted, the struggle for clean water can sap energy and take years. Maryam Jameel from the Center for Public Integrity has the first of two stories on families in Pennsylvania desperate for answers.
Waste from fracking is often radioactive but there are no federal regulations governing how and where it is dumped. States deal with it with a patchwork of regulations and recommendations. In the Ohio River Valley and the Marcellus region, companies and regulators are struggling to find safe ways to get rid of it. Glynis Board reports from Ohio Valley Resource.
Answering an energy question from Wellington Middle School, our Inside Energy team shines a light on power wasted in electricity generation. Can it be reused? Recycled? Turned into energy?
Under a new bill introduced in Congress on Thursday, coal companies would no longer be allowed to just promise to pay for future mine clean up. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
Researchers at Colorado State University have released the results of a nearly $2 million dollar study measuring oil and gas emissions on the state’s Western Slope. The area was recently discovered to hold the second-largest natural gas reserve in the country.
Some of the world’s biggest data companies—Google, Microsoft and Facebook—have joined a new coalition that is pushing for easier access to renewable energy. Through that push, they are trying to change the nation’s energy landscape— even in states that haven’t fully embraced that change.
With the help of a few more delegates from a handful of states, including North Dakota, Donald Trump on Thursday finally gathered enough to clinch the republican nomination. And with that news, the official Republican Presidential nominee rolled into Bismarck, North Dakota on Thursday. Our Inside Energy reporter Leigh Paterson was there and has this report.
The people who run our electricity grids are trying to figure out what to do with solar and wind power that is generated when no one needs it. Take California – there’s enough solar there now to serve more than three million homes. But during the day, especially in the spring, demand is low and generation is high. So…that clean power has to be sent elsewhere. Right now, its going across state lines to Arizona. For Inside Energy Will Stone of KJZZ in Phoenix reports.
When it comes to energy policy, presidential candidate Donald Trump has left a lot to the imagination. But today he’s traveling to Bismarck, North Dakota to address energy industry professionals from all across the country. For energy-rich states, there’s a lot on the table right now, from low energy prices to new federal regulations. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
A political organization created to fight anti-oil and gas ballot measures in Colorado has raised more than $6 million dollars in the first quarter of 2016.
It shows an industry preparing for a potential battle this fall against a much less well-funded foe.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce reports supporters of the ballot measures have raised just tens of thousands of dollars.
There’s a polarized debate going on in this country about the future of fossil fuels- specifically coal. Nationwide, we are using less and less coal but we still burn hundreds of million of tons of it each year for electricity. And so beneath that debate is a real disconnect between the people who produce coal and those who consume it. The debate and the divide were very much on display recently at a public event in Casper, Wyoming. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
In another blow to the U.S. coal industry, the Army Corps of Engineers on Monday denied approval for a new coal terminal in the Pacific Northwest. The Gateway Pacific Terminal would have doubled total U.S. coal export capacity and would have been the largest export terminal in the country.
The poorest among us pay more than they can afford for their power bills. Economists call it an “affordability gap” when a household spends more than 6 percent of annual income on utilities. Many low-income households pay a much higher percentage. That means energy bills force hard decisions in other areas.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce says the most desperate time can be the spring when power bills from the winter start piling up.
It’s election season, which means politicians are busy promising lots of things, including lots of new proposals when it comes to energy. Hillary Clinton has pledged to give $30 billion to coal communities if elected; Donald Trump has promised energy independence. We wondered, if these policies actually came to pass, what would the world look like? Are they good ideas or bad ideas?
So, we decided to ask the experts, at a live Inside Energy event in Laramie, Wyoming in April. We invited four energy economists to weigh in on the presidential candidates’ policy proposals as well as on proposals floated by Wyoming Governor Matt Mead.
Rob Godby and Chuck Mason joined us from the University of Wyoming, Ian Lange from the Colorado School of Mines and Tim Fitzgerald from Texas Tech.
America’s coal industry is hurting, facing layoffs and bankruptcies. The drop off in coal production over the past year is staggering. But what does it sound like? We've mapped the data to music so you can hear coal production fall off a cliff.
The Colorado Supreme Court has struck down limits on fracking in two Colorado cities.
Inside Energy's Dan Boyce tells us the rulings could have big implications for future drilling in the state.
The debate about whether or not humans are warming the planet is essentially over 97% of climate scientists agree that we are. But the debate over tactics, how to reduce our carbon emissions, is just starting to heat up. For Inside Energy, Amy Martin explains.
Wyoming’s powerful coal industry is starting to feel the full force of the market’s decline. Three of the state’s four largest producers are now in bankruptcy. Last month, two of the country’s largest coal mines, both in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, laid off 15% of their workers. And that’s on top of hard times in both oil and gas. As the state’s energy booms go bust, Wyoming is facing the colossal task of having to replace some- or live with less- of its main economic drivers. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports from Gillette, Wyoming’s coal capital.
The massive fall in the price of crude oil means hundreds of thousands of people are no longer working in the business...and many smaller energy companies are in a footrace against bankruptcy. Yet, up until now, oil production has NOT dropped in places like the Permian Basin of west Texas the nation's highest-producing oilfield. For Inside Energy, Lorne Matalon reports.
Solar energy is booming in California—so much so that on some days, there's too much. California would like to send that extra solar to its neighbors in the West, but other western states aren't sure they want California's power.
Picture the wind turbine technician, a worker with a hard hat and climbing harness perched atop a tall white tower, making sure those power-generating blades are spinning just right.
That job, maintaining wind turbines--that’s the fastest growing profession in the country right now.
Inside Energy reporter Dan Boyce puts that in context.
The cost of wind and solar power have fallen dramatically in recent years. Still, renewables only account for a fraction of the energy produced in the United States. One person confronting this issue sits in an office in Golden, Colorado. His name is Martin Keller and he is the new boss at the National Renewable Energy Lab. Keller, who hails from Germany, tells Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce the lab needs to spur more innovation to increase the amount of renewable energy available.
North Dakota Heritage Center's Director on Closing the Green Revolution Exhibit by Inside Energy
Emails Show Museum Closed Green Energy Exhibit After Complaints From Fossil Fuel Industry by Inside Energy
In every downturn, there are survivors who position themselves for recovery. The price of crude oil is down by more than 70 percent since the summer of 2014. And oil and gas companies once flush with cash have cut exploration...and decommissioned up to two thirds (2/3rds) of their rigs. are out of job. For Inside Energy, Lorne Matalon of Marfa Public Radio reports on strategies for recovery from the Permian Basin of Texas, the nation's largest-producing oilfield.
Nearly a dozen west Texas cities, counties, hospitals and school districts are facing a possible bond downgrade in coming months by Moody's Investor Services, one of the country's "Big Three" ratings firms. That because those local institutions rely on energy-related tax revenue, which has gone way down. And a bond downgrade is a threat facing other oil and gas states as well. For Inside Energy, Lorne Matalon of Marfa Public radio reports.
In the wake of mass layoffs at the country's two biggest coal mines, miners and the State of Wyoming alike are wondering what's next.
New maps released by the US Geological Survey this week reveal that seven million people are now living in areas at high risk for earthquakes. Not naturally occurring earthquakes but man-made - induced by oil and gas operations that pump wastewater deep underneath the ground. At highest risk? Parts of Oklahoma, Texas and even Colorado. Last year Oklahoma had more than 900 quakes, up from 3 in 2007.
For Inside Energy, Larry Buhl looks into the challenge facing homeowners there who claim their property is damaged by these quakes.
A steady dip in natural gas and crude oil prices has forced companies drilling all across the country to lay off workers and shut down operations. As Reid Frazier of the Allegheny Front reports for Inside Energy, in drilling hotspots, that means a big change to local economies.
We often hear about the economic costs of environmental regulation on the energy industry But there’s a flip side to that equation - the price society pays for pollution. One scientist has added up those costs and found they’re going down. For Inside Energy, Reid Frazier went to find out why.
Peabody Energy’s senior lenders, recently recommended it file for bankruptcy. If the coal giant goes under, it would be the latest in a string of major producers to file for Chapter 11. But if you drive through one of the country’s most productive coal regions - Wyoming's Powder River Basin, dynamite blasts still shake the earth and miners in gigantic trucks are still scooping up coal. So what does bankruptcy actually mean on the ground? Our Inside Energy reporter Leigh Paterson has more.
The US oil and gas industry was shocked recently by the sudden death of one of its most influential executives. Aubrey McClendon was killed after driving his SUV into a concrete embankment, a day after being indicted on bid rigging and price fixing charges. He was the former CEO of Chesapeake energy, a major producer now floundering under low oil and gas prices. Dan Boyce explores whether Chesapeake’s cautionary tale contains glimmers of hope.
The Oregon legislature passed a bill to phase out coal-fired electricity use in the state, the first state in the nation to do so.
PART TWO: “Senseless Exposures”: How Money and Federal Rules Endanger Oilfield Workers by Inside Energy
PART ONE: How A Journalist And A Doctor Helped Solve The Mysterious Death of 9 Oilfield Workers by Inside Energy
It’s lights out for the solar industry in Nevada. That state is hemorrhaging jobs after a decision to raise rates for customers with rooftop solar panels. The move has jarred the solar industry, especially in other southwestern states like Arizona.
Continuing low oil prices have left tens of thousands of oil workers out of a job.
Now, a growing number of them are turning to the courts, saying they weren’t paid fairly when times were good.
An interview by Eric Whitney, News Director of Montana Public Radio, with Al Ekblad, Executive Director of Montana's AFL-CIO, about the future of the coal industry and the workers who depend upon that industry for their livelihoods.
"Running on Empty:" North Dakota's Oilfield Slowdown in 5 Numbers and a Song by Inside Energy
A blown out natural gas well in Los Angeles has been pouring methane into the air for over two months now. It’s estimated that each day the Aliso Canyon leak is adding about as much greenhouse gas to the atmosphere as four and a half million cars on the road. The spewing gas is sparking calls for a new watchdog system for methane.
By some estimates, producing our food consumes about a fifth of the nation’s energy supply. But some farmers are trying to cut back on the coal and gas used to grow our food. Harvest Public Media and Inside Energy are teaming up for Feasting on Fuel, a series looking at how energy is used in food production. Today, Harvest reporter Grant Gerlock looks at a couple ways farms are getting greener.
Wyoming gets nearly 90% of its electricity from coal-fired power plants. A series of new regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency requires those plants to install new pollution controls - its either install, or close down. Nearly half of the electricity currently generated by coal in Wyoming is now either in compliance with mercury rules, or racing towards a compliance deadline. It is an expensive job. For Inside Energy, Reid Frazier of the Allegheny Front takes us inside a plant being retrofitted in Pennsylvania.
2015 was a year marked by a dramatic reversal of fortune for the oil industry. Crude oil prices dropped down to a third of their 2014 highs, effectively pouring ice water on America’s shale revolution.To understand what many oil companies have been going through in the last year, and what's to come, we need to enter a dark forest filled with hedges, zombies and strippers.
This is a story about accounting for your money -- lots of money you may not even know you had. It’s buried on federal and tribal lands in the form of natural resources, in states like Wyoming and Colorado.
It is the classic holiday dilemma. Do you take the easy way out and buy a pretty decent frozen pie from the grocery store or risk making your own burnt, lumpy version? While there is something special about that home-cooked option, every chef knows that it takes a lot of your own energy. But increasingly Americans are relying on a different kind of energy to produce their food -- the fossil-fueled machines and processors that bring us pre-made pie dough, bagged lettuce, and those chicken strips with perfect grill marks. Our Inside Energy reporter Leigh Paterson has more on the growing energy costs of convenience.
A giant stream of potent climate-warming gas – methane – is blowing hundreds of feet into the air in Los Angeles County for the seventh week. The release cancels out hundreds of smaller efforts over more than a decade to clamp down on escapes of the gas, a priority because in the short term, methane is a far more powerful climate-warming gas than carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide emissions have a pretty bad rap these days. The Paris Climate summit brought together delegations from all over the world in an effort to cut carbon emissions and avoid catastrophic global warming. But right now the dirtiest fuel - coal - still supplies nearly 40% of the electricity in the U.S. and in even more in many developing countries. The good news is this gas isn’t always destructive. CO2 can actually be turned into a building block to make all sorts of products that we use every day. Our Inside Energy reporter Leigh Paterson has more on the furious race to capture carbon in the fight against climate change.
It takes a lot of energy to produce the food we eat, but technologies are improving to give some of that energy back to us after we’re finished with it.
Today’s farmers can produce more from their land than ever before. That’s partially because of a key ingredient that has never been more widely available: fertilizer. The U.S. may be on the verge of a boom in fertilizer plants. That could be good news for farmers - but not the environment.
North Dakota’s Fort Berthold Indian Reservation is at the heart of the Bakken oil boom. When anthropologist Jen Shannon first visited the tribes there, it was to return religious artifacts. But the relationship grew. Next came an oral history project, then a film. And now, a more unusual request - help kids do science projects to understand their changing community.
North Dakota Officials Accept A Low Carbon Future, But Not on EPA’s Terms by Inside Energy
Congress is looking to Pennsylvania for innovative ways to clean up the environmental damage from coal mining. Washington is calling in the wake of a mine blow out last summer that caused three million gallons of polluted water to spill and turned the Colorado's Animas River bright yellow. For Inside Energy, Reid Frazier of the Allegheny Front has the story.
When oil and gas drilling bumps up next to homes and communities, there are tensions. That has long been evident in Colorado, where a handful of cities have fought to ban the practice within their borders. Now, state regulators are considering some new rules which would would give local governments more input over oil and gas development.
In energy rich regions across the country, over one million acres of land is currently dug up and built on for coal mining operations. Reclaiming those mines...filling the pits with dirt and then recreating the ecosystem that once was is expensive. And as the dramatic collapse of the coal industry rapidly advances, coal companies may no longer have the cash on hand to pay for billions of dollars in clean-up costs. Our Inside Energy reporter Leigh Paterson looks at the massive task of reclaiming the land from our energy appetites.
Colorado sits right in the middle of the political battle for the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan, with two of the state's top elected officials falling on opposite sides of the debate.
In south-central Montana, plans are underway to get more coal out of the ground and onto ships headed to Asia. The Crow Tribe of Montana and Cloud Peak Energy of Wyoming are partnering to develop a new coal mine on the reservation and to open a new export terminal in Washington’s Puget Sound. Although coal prices are in decline and a protest movement is growing, the Crow are undeterred. For them, coal equals survival. Amy Martin visited the Crow reservation and has this report.
Climate change can be a controversial subject in Wyoming, as in other coal-dependent states. But the economic effects of climate change, especially in coal-producing regions, are undeniable. Demand for coal-fired electricity is shrinking as the US moves towards cleaner sources of energy. And so, globally, there’s a race on to figure out what to do with coal other than burn it. Our Inside Energy reporter Leigh Paterson has the story.
Oil and gas regulators in Colorado are proposing a new set of rules that would give local governments more say over drilling operations. The draft rules released October 6 require engagement with local officials before applying for a large-site drilling permit from the state. Matt Richmond reports that some towns in Colorado are already way ahead of the state on this.
Since the 1970s, US oil producers have been banned from exporting crude oil - the ban was originally put in place in the name of national energy security. Now, with oil prices WAY down, Congress is debating ending that ban. It’s an issue that divides Congress AND the oil industry itself. For Inside Energy, Marfa Public Radio’s Lorne Matalon in west Texas lays out the pros and cons of the debate.
The EPA is expected to released tougher standards for ozone emissions Thursday, and opinions in Colorado remain sharply divided.
Oilfield services company Halliburton is agreeing to pay out more than $18 million in overtime wages to about 1,000 employees nationwide.
Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce tells us it’s one of the largest wage violations discovered by the US Department of Labor in years.
When energy booms bust, the public is often left responsible for the cleanup. That’s because while most states and the federal government make companies put up at least some money in advance to pay for any mess they leave behind, it’s often not enough. In Wyoming, the recent bust of the coal bed methane industry has left the state responsible for plugging thousands of wells, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. Now, with both oil and natural gas prices in a slump, Wyoming Public Radio’s Stephanie Joyce reports for Inside Energy on whether history is bound to repeat itself.
In a joint press conference with President Obama today, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a commitment put a price on carbon emissions. The plan is a cap and trade program which would effectively make china the world’s biggest carbon market. It is a key part of joint efforts by theUS and China to find cleaner ways to burn and use coal. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson recently traveled to one of China’s main coal producing provinces, to see what the country is doing to clean up coal.
The greater sage grouse is not heading to the Endangered Species List, for now.
Our Inside Energy reporter Dan Boyce says US Interior Secretary Sally Jewell made the long-awaited announcement Tuesday from Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.
Cybersecurity experts like to divide the world into two categories: Those who have been hacked, and those who have been hacked but just don’t know it yet. As the electric grid gets digitized, it becomes increasingly vulnerable to hackers. We know hackers are getting onto the grid -- so how big of a threat do they really pose? Inside Energy’s Jordan Wirfs-Brock reports.
Pope Francis' visit to the US is sure to touch on his recent calls for serious action on climate change. Is that something coal country Catholics want to hear?
Alexander, North Dakota, didn't have football for 28 years. The Bakken oil boom has changed all that.
With oil prices in the tank, oil workers can go from making a six figures to nothing, overnight. When they’re working, a 60 thousand dollar truck, for example, might be a reasonable purchase and maybe even a business expense. But the oil industry isn’t like most businesses. Our Inside Energy reporter Leigh Paterson looks at the challenges to budgeting in a boom and bust economy.
Sand is a key ingredient in hydraulic fracturing, but breathing in too much of it can be deadly. Many companies in the industry have responded by changing the way they handle frack sand. Reporting for Inside Energy, Anna Boiko-Weyrauch of Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting explains that the industry is the latest to confront the problems sand can cause for workers.
As a member of the American public, you own coal. Yes, coal. The black rock we burn for electricity. Many of the country’s biggest coal deposits are on federal land- land that belongs to the American public. So, when companies mine that coal, they make payments, called royalties, to the federal government and to the states. Those royalty payments, which many say are far too low, are at the heart of a conflict that pits coal against climate. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
Methane is one of the key components of natural gas. It is also a greenhouse gas that is around 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. And Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled the first-ever federal regulations to limit those emissions from oil and gas production. Our Inside Energy reporter Leigh Paterson has more.
Energy, is full of mysteries. Big ones, like, What’s the deal with fracking? And personal ones. Are home solar panels worth the money? This time we tackle the age old question: what’s better to beat the heat when you’re driving -- AC or windows down? We sent Inside Energy’s Catherine Roberts out to find the answer.
Major power outages have doubled every five years since 2000. That’s according to research from our Inside Energy team.
Electric reliability is even a concern in the places often thought of as most secure--our military bases.
Dan Boyce tells us the military has been experimenting with small, independent electricity systems as a way to increase reliability, in the name of national security.
The ability to store energy could revolutionize the way we make and use electricity. But for many utility companies and regular folks, energy storage is still way out of reach. That because it is expensive, sometimes more expensive than building out old-fashioned infrastructure like power lines and power plants. At what point will that change? Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson looks at storage experiments in Wyoming and Colorado for the answer.
Pope Francis made international headlines last month by calling on the world to proactively address human-caused climate change.
The document, a so-called encyclical, is one of the most important statements a pope can issue.
Shortly after the its release, our Inside Energy reporter Dan Boyce sat down with Paul Etienne, Catholic Bishop of Cheyenne.
His diocese covers the entire state of Wyoming, the nation’s largest coal producer.
In this interview, Etienne says the encyclical is an explicit call to action, for Wyoming’s faithful and non-faithful alike.
The massive expansion of domestic oil and gas production over the last five or so years is rippling across the economies where that drilling is taking place.
Think about it, more oil workers need more welders, more restaurants, and the topic of today’s story -- more clothes.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce tells us about the hot new market in flame resistant clothing.
Our electricity system is changing rapidly around us. New sources of renewable power are meeting technologies that can crunch unprecedented amounts of data. It’s all leading to a major shakeup for how utilities do business. In this next installment in our series on the US electricity grid, Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce takes us to Fort Collins, Colorado for a peek into our utility’s possible future.
The Environmental Protection Agency is putting the finishing touches on its Clean Power Plan to reduce carbon emissions, but warnings against it are getting louder. Many who deal in the energy sector- grid operators, lawmakers, and especially the coal industry- are piling on to the idea that transitioning away from coal to renewables and natural gas will destabilize our power grid. In the latest installment of our series Blackout: Reinventing the grid, Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
You probably have a pretty good idea of what you last paid for a gallon of gas, right? OK, now, how much are you paying for a kilowatt hour of electricity? Perhaps a more difficult question.
As we place more and more demands on our electricity system, there’s evidence reliability is going down.
As part of our ongoing series about the US power grid, Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce says public knowledge about the grid is pretty limited.
A listing of the greater sage grouse under the endangered species act could deeply affect the industries making up the backbone of the Western economy.
Think agriculture, oil and gas and mining.
So, nearly a dozen states are working to save the bird from listing and nowhere is more important than Wyoming, where nearly forty percent of the entire sage grouse population lives.
Our Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce tells us about an unprecedented collaboration of stakeholders working to protect both industry and sage grouse.
Low Oil Prices and the Surprisingly Exciting World Of Mineral Auctions by Inside Energy
Energy producing states get an annual budget boost from revenue known as severance taxes. These are collected from companies that extract oil or gas, coal or other minerals. Inside Energy reported recently that North Dakota has voted to lower the severance tax rate charged to oil companies. In Colorado half of the severance tax revenue is supposed to go back to the cities and counties most impacted by energy development. But each year, how much goes where can be a battle. Colorado lawmakers just voted to take 20 million dollars of severance tax revenue away from communities and put it into the general fund. As KUNC’s Stephanie Paige Ogburn reports, the move is not sitting well with people in the oil patch.
Wyoming has long been one of the whitest states in the country, but over the last few years its black population has more than doubled. African Americans still make up a tiny percentage of the state’s population but the substantial shift is largely a result of the oil boom of the last few years. People from other, more diverse regions moved in to fill the huge and immediate need for employees. But with oil prices so low, rig count is down and layoffs are looming. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
For a week each year, a hotel in Houston, Texas becomes the center of the world of energy.
Energy executives from around the globe as well as top government officials descend on the city for the annual IHS CERA (sare-uh)week conference.
Our Inside Energy Team was also there for the event, which drew to a close on Friday. Dan Boyce reports.
A chicken-sized game bird native to western sagebrush has become the subject of the biggest conservation project in U.S. history.
The effort to keep the greater sage grouse off the endangered species list stretches across 11 states from North Dakota to California, and has become a complex balancing act between saving critical ecosystems and protecting the region’s key industries.
Biologists list energy development as one of the primary threats to the sage grouse and as our Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce tells us, the biggest threat arguably comes from a source thought of as one of the greenest.
Over two decades ago, Wyoming surpassed Kentucky as the country’s number one coal producing state and has kept that title ever since. The steady and sharp increase in demand for the state’s comparably cleaner coal wasn’t due to obvious factors, like market forces or labor costs. It was brought on largely by federal environmental regulations. And now a series of new regulations are changing the industry even more. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
As the Appalachian coal industry has disappeared, coal has moved west, to the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. That state now produces 40 percent of the nation's coal and that production has left an impact on the land.
Faced with competition from natural gas and increasing federal regulations, the coal industry is going through tough times. Layoffs and mine closings are becoming more and more common, especially in in parts of West Virginia and Kentucky. As part of Inside Energy's series on the Future of Coal, reporter Catherine Moore went to find out what’s next for those most heavily impacted by the coal industry’s problems.
Oil and gas production in many parts of the country continues to exceed the pipeline capacity, despite a drop in oil prices. But a boom in pipeline construction means conflicts between landowners and big oil and gas companies. In Pennsylvania, an Oklahoma-based company recently filed a formal application with federal regulators to build a large interstate natural gas pipeline through 10 counties in the state. The pipeline has sparked intense opposition from communities, who are afraid they will lose their land. StateImpact Pennsylvania’s Marie Cusick reports.
Coal is in a long decline in Central Appalachia(APP-ah-LATCH-uh). Even though coal mining jobs are disappearing there—the imprint of coal on the landscape is everywhere. More than a million acres of strip-mined land -- an area the size of Rhode Island -- are now deforested. Inside Energy is collaborating with Allegheny Front in Pennsylvania, and West Virginia Public Broadcasting on a new series on the future of coal. In our first story, Reid Frazier reports from Eastern Kentucky.
With oil prices now at a six year low, oil companies have been idling hundreds of drilling rigs. For the wells that remain active, the key is getting more out of less...which is tricky because when you drill for oil, only around 5 percent of what’s underground is actually recovered. That’s according to the US Energy Information Administration. So at any given well, more than 90% of the oil is generally left underground! Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports on how these days - with prices so low - producers are using below ground technology to chase oil thousands of feet below the earth’s surface…
The drop in the price of crude oil means thousands of people are losing their jobs in oil fields nationwide. There’s renewed focus on an ongoing problem in the oilfields---the theft of oil, tools, piping and copper wire by laid off or disgruntled workers. The issue is so severe in Texas that the FBI has a team working full-time to stem the flow of stolen oilfield equipment. For Inside Energy, Lorne Matalon of Marfa Public Radio reports.
It’s no secret that America’s roads are in trouble.
Our highways, interstates and bridges are crumbling and there's an estimated $90 billion dollar annual shortfall in funding to make the fixes.
So, now would be a good time to raise gas taxes, right?
That’s the main funding source for road infrastructure, has been for decades. Wyoming, and Iowa have raised theirs in recent years, other states are considering it.
But, Dan Boyce tells us gas taxes are not a long-term solution.
A Colorado task force tackling controversial oil and gas issues has wrapped up it’s work, sending nine recommendations to the desk of Governor John Hickenlooper. Industry is hailing the process as a collaborative success. Others say the body did not go far enough. Dan Boyce with our Inside Energy team tells us the group has been meeting for five months.
As Inside Energy reported yesterday, a Colorado based oil company has asked Nebraska regulators to approve its plans for a wastewater injection well. They hope to bring in as much as eighty truckloads a day of wastewater from fracking wells in Colorado and Wyoming. In today’s story, Bill Kelly of NET News in Nebraska reports that a deeper look into the finances of the company behind the application is causing concern.
The American landscape is dotted with over 100,000 deep injection wells..They’re a key part of our energy infrastructure. Without them, you probably wouldn't be able to fill up your tank. Because for every barrel of oil that comes out of the ground, salty and sometimes chemically-laced fluid comes up with it. This so-called produced water has to go somewhere - and much of it injected back into the earth. In the first of a 2 part series, Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports on one company’s bid to get in the game.
Falling Oil Prices Leave Petroleum Engineering Students Out In The Cold by Inside Energy
Between Energy Development And The Ravens That Follow It, Sage Grouse Are In Peril by Inside Energy
The fracking boom has generated controversy across the country. In Pennsylvania, there have been reports of pipe bombs, charred debris, and gunshots fired at gas sites. But most of the opposition is non-violent. Still, law enforcement agencies have started to work closely with the oil and gas industry to monitor threats to infrastructure and, at times, to keep an eye on activists. It’s going on in drilling hot spots around the country—places like Pennsylvania, Texas and the Rockies. From StateImpact Pennsylvania, Marie Cusick has this report for Inside Energy….
Time is running out for a Colorado Task Force charged with easing tensions around oil and gas drilling in the state.
The task force was created late last year as part of a deal to avoid a handful of competing oil and gas ballot measures.
Members are hoping to settle on policy recommendations for the Governor and the legislature during two days of meetings next week.
But, Dan Boyce with our Inside Energy team tells us addressing the concerns of those most affected by drilling may be a tall order.
Every day, we use a lot of digital data - from checking facebook to sending email. It all seems kind of intangible but this data actually exists on a server at one of the millions of data centers across the country. Over the next few months we'll be exploring the connection between energy and our digital information. To start, Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson takes us to an experimental Wyoming data center that is fighting energy waste… using waste.
Wyoming Schools: Well-Funded But Dealing With Transient Kids On The Oil Patch by Inside Energy
The Houston-based oilfield services giant Schlumberger reported better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings in 2014, but laid off 9000 employees in response to falling oil prices.
Companies have been borrowing more and more to drill in America’s oil fields.
Some estimates have oil and gas industry debt jumping more than 50 percent over the last five years, long before the dramatic slide in oil prices of the last six months.
Our Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce tells us that is now making it a lot harder to pay off those mounting debts.
When you think about the biggest energy users in our country, transportation and power plants come to mind. And then there are buildings. They account for one-fifth of our energy use. And much of that energy is pure waste, leaking from walls with poor insulation and lights left on when no one is around.
Energy efficiency is one of the few issues with wide support from Republicans and Democrats, as well as private industry. Our Inside Energy reporter Jordan Wirfs-Brock brings us the latest in a series on energy policy and what is likely under the new GOP-controlled Congress.
With the Republicans in the majority in both the House and Senate in Washington, there will be changes in energy policy in the next few years.
Republicans are pledging to approve the Keystone XL pipeline and to delay or derail the Obama Administration’s clean air proposals.
Energy issues will likely be a source of upcoming strife, but they also provide opportunities for compromise.
Our inside energy team is exploring what the new GOP majority means for energy policy in a series of stories. Reporter Dan Boyce starts us off with hydropower.
Why Republicans Still Care About Keystone XL, When Some Oil Companies Don't by Inside Energy
With the Republican’s sweep of November’s midterm elections, they’re taking over key Senate committees dealing with energy. High on their agenda - blocking or delaying the Environmental Protection Agency’s controversial carbon emissions plan. For our series on the GOP and energy, Leigh Paterson with our Inside Energy team reports on what’s at stake for American coal, from the nation’s top producing state.
If you ever take Highway 59 between Douglas and Gillette, you might have noticed that recently there are more state troopers giving out more citations. In addition to this increased police presence, Governor Matt Mead has proposed nearly 22 million dollars in safety upgrades. Why? Because since 2010, accidents on this section of Highway 59 have nearly doubled. But lawmakers are just now taking action. For Wyoming Public Radio Leigh Paterson reports.
The Environmental Protection Agency has announced the first-ever set of national rules to regulate the disposal of coal ash but the agency chose not to classify it as a hazardous material. For Inside Energy, Leigh Paterson reports.
If you move to Wyoming, or North Dakota, or any energy boom state to work in oil or gas production you probably know to expect long hours and a big paycheck. And you may even know enough to expect to be sleeping in your car. Housing is a perennial issue in boomtowns, one that pits the needs of energy workers against the interests of long term residents. As Wyoming Public Radio’s Miles Bryan reports, it’s not an easy fix. He has the story of how the boom is playing out, in this tale of two Wyoming towns.
When you think of oil and gas towns, most people visualize a lot of transient workers, increased crime, and RV parks. Maybe not the most family oriented-of places. But plenty of oilfield workers do move to town with their families. Wyoming Public Radio’s Melodie Edwards reports that the challenge is finding them adequate housing.
For a small business owner an energy boom can be a blessing. What could be better for a restaurant or clothing store than lots of customers with cash to burn? But when wells close and energy workers head out of town, the businesses that remain have to figure out how to survive. That’s what happened in Wyoming in the last oil bust in the early 80s. Wyoming Public Radio’s Miles Bryan has more.
As the fight against the EPA's carbon emissions plan heats up, Wyoming lawmakers dig in. Leigh Paterson, with our Inside Energy team reports that Wyoming's Governor Matt Mead repeats his belief that the Clean Power Plan is just too flawed to work with.
Working in the oil and gas industry is dangerous - Inside Energy reported earlier this year that these jobs are in fact six times more dangerous than the average American job. A new training center opening up in central Wyoming next fall is designed to address those risks -- by training students as young as 16 on the heavy equipment used in the oil and gas fields. The Wind River Job Corps Center is the first in Wyoming, and the first in the nation to focus on energy. Leigh Paterson with our Inside Energy team reports.
The oil and gas boom in energy states has brought jobs, money, and plenty of workers. But also, a tremendous increase in traffic and accidents. It is a multi-state trend that is proving difficult to predict and prevent. Leigh Paterson, with our Inside Energy team reports from a tiny town on Wyoming’s Highway 59 that has found itself stuck in the middle of the boom.
Americans are continuing to see relief at the pump, as gas prices keep slipping to levels not seen in years.
That’s due, in part, to US oil flooding the market, much of it produced through the controversial technique known as fracking.
Over the next few months, our Inside Energy team will be examining the financing behind the country’s energy boom…
In this first story, Reporter Dan Boyce looks into how that financing may impact you, through your investments.
The oil and gas industry dodged a bullet this year in Colorado. A last minute compromise avoided a series of ballot measures that could have seriously restricted the industry’s ability to operate in the state.
But, many Colorado communities are still leery about the drilling they see right outside their door.
Dan Boyce with our Inside Energy team tells us oil companies are working hard to polish their public image, both through messaging and improving their techniques.
Climate change is a controversial topic in this election cycle, especially when it come to teaching it in school. So far only 12 states have adopted a new set of science education standards that include human impacts on global warming. For Inside Energy, Leigh Paterson reports on how climate change in the classroom is playing out on the Wyoming campaign trail.
The country needs trained petroleum engineers.
And students are flooding into mining schools and tech programs around the country looking for a way to cash in on the nation’s energy boom.
The trouble is those high paying jobs are also luring would-be teachers and even current teachers away from academia and into the oil fields.
So that’s fewer and fewer professors facing ballooning class sizes.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce looks into how schools are trying to cope.
The United States on the verge of becoming the world’s top producer of oil – that’s according to the International Energy Agency. This is thanks to the drilling and hydraulic fracturing in Texas and North Dakota. But this oil boom is also leading to a boom in toxic oil field waste. There is a lot of it. And some of it ends up in massive open pit disposal pits. There is growing concern over the environmental danger that these pits pose to air quality. A recent eight-month investigation by InsideClimate News and the Center for Public Integrity uncovered a lack of oversight by state and federal regulators over these giant pools of oil field muck. We get more from Texas Public Radio’s David Martin Davies.
The US Senate majority is up for grabs. And the Colorado Senate race is one of the most competitive in the country.
The outcome could impact energy policy in the state, and, ultimately, the nation.
This high stakes contest is attracting a lot of attention, and money.
And while energy is a key political issue here, the campaign ads overwhelming the airwaves often gloss over the topic, even if energy interests are behind the ads.
Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce and Katie Kuntz with Rocky Mountain PBS I-News have the story.
Gov. Jack Dalrymple on Worker Fatalities in North Dakota's Oil and Gas Industry by Inside Energy
Dark Side of the Boom: What Makes North Dakota Oil And Gas So Dangerous? by Inside Energy
There are now over half a million oil and gas workers nationwide. And as the industry has grown, so have the number of fatalities. In 2013, 112 oil and gas workers died on the job. Today Inside Energy begins a series of stories we call DARK SIDE OF THE BOOM, using brand new data analysis to look at fatality rates in America’s oil and gas fields. In part 1, Prairie Public’s Emily Guerin explores the history of another hazardous industry: mining.
Communities in Colorado are engaged in a political battle with the state to get more local control over oil and gas drilling.
It’s a battle many thought was heading to the ballot this November--until a last minute compromise stopped this initiative effort in its tracks.
The democratic governor’s office declared the compromise a victory, but Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce says many on the environmental left are furious.
If you live right next to a drilling rig, or your kids go to school beside a fracking site, or your county is suddenly littered with well pads -- are there health risks?
That’s a question that’s been asked from Pennsylvania to North Dakota, from Colorado to Texas as more and more people find themselves and their towns in the midst of an unprecedented energy boom.
In this second part of a series on public health risks, Inside Energy reporters Jordan Wirfs-Brock and Leigh Paterson clarify the confusion and describe a new scientific effort to help communities make informed decisions about this booming industry.
Energy rich states produce billions of barrels of oil and gas but are also home to some of the best renewable resources in the country. Earlier this month a massive wind farm got the green light from the state of Wyoming. If the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project gets federal approval, it would become the largest in the country. But for now, there is no way to transport the electricity it would generate, and no buyers at the other end. For Inside Energy, Leigh Paterson reports on why transmission gridlocks are keeping so much Western wind at bay.
North Dakota is in the middle of a historic oil boom, producing over one million barrels of oil each day. And it’s producing a whole lot more of something else: saltwater, a waste product of drilling. The state has strict requirements for getting rid of the waste water. But as more and more wells are drilled, salt water spills have increased dramatically. Prairie Public’s Emily Guerin reports FOR INSIDE ENERGY…
With oil and gas development practically at people's doorsteps, there are a lot of questions about the health impacts. But there is a lot of confusing information out there. Like does fracking cause cancer, migraines, asthma? This sort of Information would help people decide how to vote, where to live, and how to best care for their health. But its elusive, and we’re here to talk about why.
Larry Baxter of Sustainable Energy Solutions, describes Cryogenic Carbon Capture as "the biggest, worst blizzard you've ever been in. CO2 flakes everywhere." He says this technology could help stop climate change but is is nowhere near to becoming part of our energy landscape.
Putting up solar panels may be a good thing for the environment, but these days it’s also a smart financial move.
The cost of solar power is falling rapidly--down 60 percent in just the last three years.
Solar is changing the way we get our electricity - and that means traditional utilities are being forced to adapt.
We continue our Solar Challenge series.
Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce begins with a Boulder, Colorado couple on a particularly hot and sunny day.
Inside Energy reporters Jordan Wirfs-Brock and Dan Boyce discuss Jordan's new grid outage database, which details 15 years of blackouts in the U.S.
When we flick on our light switch, we don’t often think about how that electricity is getting to us.
Well, whether we do or not, turns out there are some dramatic changes facing the way power is delivered in the U.S.
Renewable energy, climate change, national security--these are shaking up our country’s traditional GRID--the network of transmission lines bringing electricity to your home.
Our Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce starts off a series of stories on this issue in a small Colorado town with a surprising challenge.
This week, the Governor of Colorado announced he would convene a special task force to work on resolving conflicts between residents and the state’s oil and gas industry.
It’s not plan A to address a feud over fracking. It isn’t plan B. It’s more like plan C for Colorado.
And it has made the political establishment here breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce reports.
The Colorado Governor’s office has announced a last-minute compromise to prevent a costly election battle this fall over oil and gas drilling in the state.
Our Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce tells us the Governor hopes a new task force is a better solution to the fracking wars than competing ballot measures in November.
In some parts of the country, coal might seem like an endangered species, threatened by shiny new energy sources and the president’s recent proposal to cut carbon emissions. But in Wyoming, coal’s culture runs deep. Miners there extract over one million tons of the hard black rock every single day. Inside Energy’s Leigh Paterson reports.
Hundreds of people gathered across the nation on Tuesday, in four different cities to give the Environmental Protection Agency a piece of their minds.
The subject: proposed new rules to cut carbon pollution from power plants 30 percent by 2030.
The rules, announced back in June, would be the biggest step taken by the US so far to combat the effects of climate change.
Public hearings are going on in Washington DC, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and the only hearing in the West-- in Denver.
Our Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce stopped by.
Farming and ranching have always been top industries in North Dakota. But now, oil has overtaken ag. Mining -- which includes oil -- is now worth $8.5 billion dollars. Agriculture is closer to 7. It’s a milestone for a state that had hardly any oil production 10 years ago. Inside Energy's Emily Guerin (GARE-in) reports, the change has created some tension.
North Dakota Pipeline Spills Over 1 Million Gallons of Saltwater Near Lake by Inside Energy
An increasing number of households in energy boom states can say they live right next door to oil and gas development.
Families are worrying about their health, and they’re complaining to public officials.
States are looking into these concerns in very different ways.
News recently broke in Pennsylvania that public health officials there have been told not to return calls with health complaints about oil and gas.
Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce looks at the range of public health response in the West.
A dozen or more trains carrying crude oil from the Bakken region are moving across northern Montana every week, skirting the edge of Glacier national park. More trains -- far fewer in number - pass through populated regions farther south.
Governor Steve Bullock released the route information this week, making Montana the latest state to buck railroads’ requests to keep the information out of public hands.
Inside Energy’s Dan Boyce reports.
The Obama Administration is spending a lot of time these days defending their so-called clean power plan - new regulations on power plants aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions. The idea is to make sure CO2 levels in 2030 are 30 percent lower than they were in 2005. To get there, the feds assigned each state a target emissions reduction rate. Some states have a lot to cut -- over 70 percent in Washington. Others much less -- in North Dakota, just 11 percent. Inside Energy reporter Emily Guerin wanted to know why.
Oil and gas booms can seem remote -- it’s not like they happen in your backyard. Unless they do. Take Laramie County, Wyoming, where a surge in well permitting is threatening to bring drilling closer to a large number of homes. Although Wyoming has a long history with oil and gas, it’s almost always been in rural areas. Wyoming Public Radio’s Stephanie Joyce reports for Inside Energy that some say the state is ill-prepared to deal with the issues that arise when communities bump up against drilling.
Colorado is quickly becoming ground zero for a political war over the future of fracking. Drill operations are pushing deeper into populated areas these days and some local governments and activists are supporting ballot measures that would give communities greater control over the industry. To avoid a political battle in November, Governor John Hickenlooper is rushing to craft a compromise bill right now that could be passed by a special session of the state legislature. But already, political spending both pro and con is washing over Colorado. Dan Boyce with our Inside Energy team reports.
The transport of crude oil by rail has spiked dramatically in recent years. From 2012 to 2013 the amount carried by the country's major freight railroads increased nearly 75 percent. That’s according to the American Association of Railroads. Amid growing public concern about safety, new federal regulations went into effect this weekend to make sure local emergency authorities are notified when some trains come through. Grace Hood of KUNC reports for Inside Energy.
Colorado is quickly becoming ground zero for a political war over the future of fracking.
Drill operations are pushing deeper into populated areas these days and some local governments and activists are supporting ballot measures that would give communities greater control over the industry.
To avoid a political battle in November, Governor John Hickenlooper is rushing to craft a compromise bill right now that could be passed by a special session of the state legislature.
But already, political spending both pro and con is washing over Colorado. Dan Boyce with our Inside Energy team reports.
It didn’t take long after the Obama administration unveiled new rules this week regulating carbon emissions from power plants for people to start naming winners and losers. Wyoming, the nation’s largest coal-producing state, and a huge coal consumer, was immediately billed as a loser. But, as Wyoming Public Radio’s Stephanie Joyce reports FOR INSIDE ENERGY, the reality is more complicated than that.
New EPA rules aimed at cutting carbon emissions are expected to be unveiled June 2nd. It’s a big deal. Coal generates nearly half of this country’s electricity and is the largest source of air pollution. The new rules are expected to spur the use of clean coal technology. At least that’s the hope of both the coal industry and some environmental groups. Marfa Public Radio’s Lorne Matalon has this report for ‘Inside Energy’ on a clean coal project in west Texas---one of two in the country.
In May of 2014, ground-breaking new regulations start taking effect in Colorado to cap methane emissions from oil and gas drilling sites.
Groundbreaking, because they’re the first ever in the country, and because of the rare collaboration between industry, environmentalists and state leaders which led to the rules.
Our Inside Energy reporter Dan Boyce takes a look.
The newly discovered abundance of domestic oil and gas is creating a shortage of something else-- the petroleum engineers who regulate drilling activities. They approve drilling plans and inspect wells after they’re completed to make sure they’re not at risk of contaminating water or blowing out. But as Wyoming Public Radio’s Stephanie Joyce reports for Inside Energy, these days there just aren’t enough regulators to go around.
A continuing energy boom in the Rocky Mountains and Northern Great Plains is reshaping the future of what’s powering America, and we’re launching a new reporting project to keep track of that.
There are a lot of uncertainties about the carbon cuts proposed this week by the Obama administration.
Will electricity rates go up? or not? Will the coal industry die a slow death? or not?
The move has created a tremendous amount of buzz among politicians, lobbyists and the energy industry.
But what does it all mean for you?
Well, we do know this carbon crackdown is arguably the biggest step this country has ever taken to combat the effects of climate change
--and depending on who’s talking, it signals anything from economic opportunity to catastrophe. Dan Boyce with our Inside Energy team takes a look.
The Obama administration wants states to cutback on carbon emissions - but doing that has always been a thorny problem. While carbon is a byproduct of almost everything we do, capturing and storing it is expensive. For years, the goal has been to figure out how to make that process cheaper. More recent efforts take a different approach. As Wyoming Public Radio’s Stephanie Joyce reports, focus has shifted now from STORAGE to USE.
Dramatic sea level rise... extreme weather... famine... drought. Those are just a few of the DIRE consequences scientists predict if we continue pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at current rates. POWER plants are among the largest emitters. On June 2, the Obama administration is scheduled to release new rules regulating carbon emissions from power plants. Utilities and trade groups are warning those rules will have some dire consequences of their own. Wyoming Public Radio’s Stephanie Joyce reports.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper speaks with Inside Energy Reporter Dan Boyce about the ongoing fight over local control of oil and gas development and his thoughts on heading off ballot measures to ban fracking with a special session of the state legislature.