Global forces conspire to keep energy prices low, for better and worse.
Oil
Posted inMarch 2, 2015: Unite and Conquer
Latest: California fracking companies inject protected aquifers with wastewater
EPA found that state regulators allowed 2,500 to be contaminated.
Posted inFebruary 16, 2015: Chainsaw Diplomacy
Statistical realism
David Hughes crunches unpopular numbers for the shale oil boom.
Posted inFebruary 16, 2015: Chainsaw Diplomacy
The Latest: New Mexico fracking ban overturned
A win for industry in the nation’s first county to ban the practice.
Posted inFebruary 16, 2015: Chainsaw Diplomacy
Wastewater pipelines often leak in North Dakota
Breaches in pipelines that carry water away from the oilfields can have devastating consequences.
Posted inArticles
Fractivists target Denver to build support
A new campaign launches to stop fracking before it starts in and around Denver.
Posted inArticles
Fewer trade secrets for Wyoming fracking fluid
A court settlement will make it harder for companies to hide chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.
Posted inArticles
Plunging oil prices are saving Alaskan ecosystems — for now
The new governor shelves controversial roads, dams and other developments.
Posted inJanuary 12, 2015: What Are We Thinking?
Think of pollution as trespassing
Why take the ‘harms’ approach? Try this instead.
Posted inDecember 22, 2014: The Dust Detectives
Aerial photos of drilling at Pawnee grassland
Oil and gas development has been ongoing for decades in northeastern Colorado.
Posted inArticles
The oil boom hasn’t busted, but it’s straining at the seams
Oil patch communities and states are starting to feel the impacts of sliding prices.
Posted inArticles
Drilling the Arctic comes with a 75 percent chance of a large oil spill
Key findings from a new environmental analysis.
Posted inNovember 24, 2014: Transportation Transformation
Latest: New air quality requirements for Utah oil & gas
Operators must install low or no-bleed valves on tanks to curb venting into the air.
Posted inNovember 24, 2014: Transportation Transformation
Trains carrying oil raise tough questions in Northwest
As crude oil rail shipments increase, residents fear derailments and explosions.
Posted inArticles
Analyst challenges predictions for Western oil booms
North Dakota and Texas fields could be at a fraction of current productivity by 2040, says a new report.
Posted inNovember 10, 2014: Fallout
Will falling oil prices kill the shale revolution?
The current drilling boom is more sensitive to price fluctuations than its predecessors.
Posted inArticles
The Uintah Basin’s tricky oil and gas ozone problem
Can officials greenlight booming development and clean up the air at the same time?
Posted inArticles
Report warns of illegal drilling on federal land
Outdated rules and budget shortfalls make it hard to catch.
Posted inArticles
Extraction taxes are on the ballot
North Dakota and Nevada voters might learn something from Wyoming.
Posted inArticles
Offshore oil rigs can provide prime fish habitat
But will California’s platforms stay in the ocean once the oil runs out?