Energy & Fuel

"When rancher Clint McRae first saw the swirling green and white ponds of arsenic, boron, mercury and lead-containing sludge 10 miles from his property, it was in a photography show at the Montana statehouse. He first thought they were abstract art, but quickly realized some were aerial photos of the ash slurry left over from burning coal at southeastern Montana’s Colstrip Steam Electric Station."

"Gazprom has requested permission from the Crimean authorities to develop oil and gas fields, Crimea's first Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliev said Tuesday."

"The windy plains of Kansas could be a treasure trove in the nation's effort to harness clean energy, but a major proposal to move wind-generated electricity eastward is running into a roadblock: Farmers who don't want high-power transmission lines on their land."

"Paris enjoyed a rare reprieve from traffic jams Monday as a draconian clampdown on cars, aimed at banishing stubborn levels of smog, took effect."

"DE KALB, Miss. — Looming like a spaceship over pine and sweet-gum forest, the high-tech power plant under construction in rural Kemper County is a $5 billion wager on an energy future that includes coal."

Duke Energy lobbyists asked the GOP-controlled North Carolina legislator for a legal loophole protecting it from having to clean up coal-ash pollution, after environmentalists sued to force clean-up. The legislature obliged, and GOP Gpovernor Pat McCrory signed it.

"Amid calls to free up crude oil exports from the United States, debate is brewing among the refining industry over whether to support or oppose the proposal."

"NARAHA, Japan — 'Out of work? Nowhere to live? Nowhere to go? Nothing to eat?' the online ad reads. 'Come to Fukushima.'"

"Last month, Tesla Motors, the maker of high-end electric cars, announced plans to open the world’s largest battery plant in 2017. The goal is to overcome what it calls the biggest obstacle to meeting increased demand for its vehicles: a reliable supply of the advanced batteries that power them."

"The deadly explosion that ripped apart two buildings in New York's East Harlem on Wednesday morning brings new attention to a risk experts have been warning is especially great beneath the oldest U.S. cities: natural gas leaks."