Energy & Environment
A former Las Vegas lawman fought to rebuild after NM fire. He died before he could come home.
Donato Sena and his wife Maria Luisa spent a recent Monday afternoon loading furniture into the new mobile home placed on their land in Rociada, one of the areas hit hardest by New Mexico’s massive wildfire last spring. The task was tiring for the couple, both in their 70s, and came after months of struggle […]
President in stop at Pueblo wind tower factory touts ‘Bidenomics,’ blasts Boebert
Tony Salerno is a former steelworker who has worked at CS Wind’s sprawling wind tower factory outside of Pueblo for 10 years. Only a few years ago, he said Wednesday, the plant — the largest manufacturer of wind towers in the world — was struggling amid an uncertain outlook for the clean energy industry. “We […]
Deadly chronic wasting disease discovered in Oklahoma’s wild deer herd
The first appearance of chronic wasting disease in Oklahoma’s wild, free-ranging deer population is threatening the health of its herd. “We’ve only had two confirmed cases in the state, one in Texas (County) and one in Woodward County,” said Dallas Barber, big game biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. “It’s a disease that […]
Reliability v. sustainability: Inside the debate over the EPA’s proposed carbon rules
Electric reliability has been a hot topic lately — from congressional hearings to regulatory agencies and at the regional transmission organizations that run the electric grid in much of the country. The American electric grid is undergoing a major change, prodded by state and federal decarbonization policies, market forces pushing cheaper and cleaner forms of […]
Oklahoma AG’s office subpoenas agency for Winter Storm Uri records amid legal probe
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office has subpoenaed a state agency as part of an ongoing probe into “unlawful activity” related to price market manipulation during a weather emergency that saw energy prices soar to astronomical levels. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has 20 days to produce evidence related to Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s […]
Oklahoma officials want bowfishing limitations. Anglers fear it could cripple the sport.
Stephen Banaszak loves to hunt for fish with a bow. The Denison, Texas, resident holds state bowfishing records in Oklahoma and Texas. He guides customers on trips along the Red River and Lake Texoma, introducing them to the exciting and fast-paced action of bowfishing. Last month a group from Canada came to Oklahoma to go […]
Millions of rural Americans rely on private wells. Few regularly test their water.
FORT DODGE, Iowa — Allison Roderick has a warning and a pledge for rural residents of her county: The water from their wells could be contaminated, but the government can help make it safe. Roderick is the environmental health officer for Webster County in north-central Iowa, where a few thousand rural residents live among sprawling […]
Southeast Kansas town is almost out of water, and signs of crisis are everywhere
CANEY — It’s hardly a question of whether the water will run out for one town on the Kansas-Oklahoma border. It’s a matter of when. The stubborn drought that has hung over southeast Kansas for close to two years has brought Caney, a town of less than 2,000 people, within weeks of reaching the end of […]
An Omaha Nation school garden is teaching students valuable employment skills and life lessons
MACY, Neb. – A light rain sprinkles rows and rows of corn, beans, cucumbers, flowers. A man and a woman walk through the mud, their boots sloshing, as they stop periodically to point out and name specific plants, their faces beaming with pride. It’s a week before the big harvest, and Suzi French and Ricardo […]
Native lands lack clean water protections, but more tribes are taking charge
Across the roughly 1,300 square miles of the White Earth Indian Reservation in northwest Minnesota, tribal members harvest wild rice in waters that have sustained them for generations. They’ve been working for decades to restore sturgeon, a culturally important fish, and they harvest minnows and leeches to supply bait for anglers across the country. But […]
Lawmakers explore decline of Oklahoma wild turkey population
OKLAHOMA CITY — Predators, weather extremes, disease and habitat changes are threatening the survival of the state’s wild turkey population, experts told lawmakers during an interim study Monday. Lawmakers met at the Capitol to discuss the steady decline of the turkey and learn whether state legislation might help stem the loss while allowing for continued […]
Report: Biden to announce federal grants for two hydrogen hubs
In a visit to Philadelphia on Friday, President Joe Biden is expected to announce that two hydrogen hubs partially located in Pennsylvania will receive federal grants from the Department of Energy, Reuters reported Wednesday. The Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub, which includes parts of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey will receive a $750 million grant, Reuters […]