U.S. officials tout cleaner fossil fuels, nuclear power at international talks

Nov 14, 2017
At the United Nations climate talks in Germany, White House officials are talking about plans to make fossil fuels cleaner or more efficient, and to expand nuclear power, as approaches to reducing emissions. While the rest of the world may be more into discussing renewable energy, the focus of the current U.S. delegation would reduce […]

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has business connections to Russian president's family

Nov 6, 2017
Documents made public as part of a data dump being called the Paradise Papers show that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has dealings with Sibur, an energy company with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, through his investment in a shipping company called Navigator Holdings.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross delivers remarks during an event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 4 in Washington, D.C. 
Win McNamee/Getty Images

Russia boosts soft power with energy investments

Nov 2, 2017
Venezuela’s state-owned oil company must make a $1.2 billion payment to creditors tomorrow as it risks defaulting it’s debt. Russia’s state-owned oil company Rosneft has made billions of dollars in loans to cash-strapped Venezuela and is likely to step in again. This is part of a strategy for making energy investments in unstable countries where […]

A move from natural gas to electricity for homes

Oct 17, 2017
Natural gas used to be hailed as less polluting, but experts now urge a change to clean electrical energy generated by wind and solar power.
The National Electric Manufacturers Association (NEMA) once issued medallions like this one to promote the all-electric home and spur demand for electric appliances. 
Photo courtesy NEMA

If there has been a war on coal, Obama’s Clean Power Plan was never the main front

Oct 10, 2017
The Environmental Protection Agency has started the process to repeal the Clean Power Plan, an Obama-era measure to reduce emissions from power plants. In his announcement, Scott Pruitt characterized the repeal as an end to a “war on coal.” But in the real world of energy markets, not a whole lot is expected to change. […]

Wind power cuts into Nebraska's increasing use of coal

Aug 8, 2017
Nebraska is the only state in the lower 48 using more coal for generating electricity than it did a decade ago.
 Caterpillar front-loading machinery operates on mounds of coal.
Luke Sharrett/Getty Images

Big cuts ahead for energy innovation programs

Jul 10, 2017
Funding for the much-lauded ARPA-E innovation program, which funds energy projects with serious potential, will be removed.
Aaron Palumbo looks into a furnace he helped develop in a lab on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder. His company, Big Blue Technologies, received a $3.6 million ARPA-E grant in 2014.
Dan Boyce for Marketplace

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So you're ready to install solar

Jun 22, 2017
Here's what you need to do next.
A man brooms in front of a house with solar panels on the roof. 
Patrick Stollarz/ Getty

Energy secretary details steep budget cuts to Congress this week

Jun 20, 2017
Department of Energy head Rick Perry has a history of developing renewable energy, especially wind power, as governor of Texas. He voiced support for wind and solar power expansion in his confirmation hearings and elsewhere. But the budget on the table for DOE includes drastic cuts to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, […]

It could hit 120 degrees in Phoenix during the Southwest’s heatwave. Can the power grid keep up?

Jun 19, 2017
It’s likely that the heat wave California, Arizona and Nevada has been experiencing is going to hit its peak this week. Temperatures could reach as high as 120 degrees in Phoenix. Across the region, the air conditioning will be roaring. But will the power grid be able to keep up?  Click the audio player above […]