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Moving wind power further offshore could change the renewable equation

Jul 27, 2017
Wind energy provides more than 5 percent of the nation’s power, but the U.S. still lags behind other countries when it comes to offshore wind. Efforts to build it up face opposition from people who fear wind turbines will mar their ocean view and drive down property values or tourism. A bill now in Congress […]

Counting up American coal jobs: What's the real total?

Jun 15, 2017
Here are the numbers behind the much-discussed coal industry in the U.S.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks with coal miners at the Harvey Mine in Sycamore, Pennsylvania, in April.
Justin Merriman/Getty Images

More than 10 percent of US electricity is coming from renewable sources

Jun 2, 2017
The U.S. Energy Information Administration published data this week showing that more than 10 percent of U.S. electricity came from renewable sources like wind and solar in the first quarter of this year. That’s well above what the federal agency predicted years ago. What happened? Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

Wind energy brings Comanche County, Texas, a bit of hope

May 8, 2017
West Texas has always been a vast, desolate, windy place. Now the skies are filling up with turbines.
Pattern Energy said its wind farm, like the one above, will bring Comanche County $80 million over the next 25 years.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Nuclear energy firm Westinghouse files for bankruptcy

Mar 29, 2017
Westinghouse Electric Company, the nuclear energy firm based in Pittsburgh, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday. Westinghouse is owned by the Japanese company Toshiba and has been running several years late and billions of dollars over budget in its construction on several nuclear reactors in the southern United States.  Click the above audio player to […]

Portable solar units fill the electric charging void

Mar 27, 2017
It could take years to build up electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Meanwhile, options exist.
The EV Arc is a solar array that charges electric vehicles, providing as much as 220 miles' worth of electricity each day.
Jed Kim/Marketplace

Sunshine seems a better business bet to Nevada than coal

Mar 20, 2017
Despite the Trump administration’s push for coal and other fossil energy, Nevada just went dramatically in the other way. On the day after it pulled the plug on a coal-fired power plant, it cut the ribbon on a new solar energy farm. Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

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Market forces help stabilize CO2 emissions for third year

Mar 17, 2017
The plateau in emissions comes amid global economic growth.
"The switch from coal to gas really happened because of the shale gas revolution and because of markets,” said Laura Cozzi of the International Energy Agency. Above, a coal power plant from American Electric Power in New Haven, West Virginia.
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Why two American billionaires are betting on renewable energy

Feb 8, 2017
Philip Anschutz and Warren Buffett, two of America’s richest moguls, see a greener future for the electric grid.
Philip Anschutz plans to build wind turbines in Wyoming, like these turbines near Palm Springs, California, and sell electricity to the California market.
David McNew/Getty Images

We're going to be pumping oil for a long time

Nov 16, 2016
The question isn't when we will we run out of oil, it’s "when will we stop needing more and more oil?"
Gas containers featuring the Total corporate logo at the Total Refinery in Antwerp, Belgium.  
Mark Renders/Getty Images