Stateline Headlines

A new economic power for Wyoming?

Wyoming wind for sale?

Wyoming lawmakers grappling with 1,200 orphaned coalbed methane wells

State of Wyoming oil and gas lease auction brings in $10.4 million

Water testing rules for Wyoming oil and natural gas drillers outlined

Feds: Budget cuts to make wildfire season tougher; Wyoming braces for late-summer concerns

Western lawmakers push to restore mineral funds

Gov. Matt Mead unveils Wyoming energy strategy

Saving mineral funds is an uphill battle for Wyoming

Wyo rig count drops by one

Legislation Would Take State Mineral Revenue off Chopping Block

Proposals in Congress would save tens of millions of dollars in mineral payments to states from sequestration’s sweeping cuts.

Wyoming U.S. Sen. Enzi pushes back release of mineral payments bill

More cuts to Wyoming Game and Fish on the way?

Wyoming goes slow on leasing 'potentially massive and lucrative' lithium find

Department of Energy gives University of Wyoming $200k for smart-grid technology

Wyo. Sen. Enzi: Bill protects states' cash from feds

Wyoming Game and Fish gets new deputy director

Senators from Wyoming, New Mexico seek to restore minerals payments

Wyoming goes slow on leasing 'potentially massive and lucrative' lithium find

Steam proposed to extract central Wyoming oil

Oil company sues Wyoming counties over taxes

Wyoming Game & Fish considers new fishing regulations(2)

Wyoming Game & Fish considers new fishing regulations

Some tout Wyoming hydropower as Congress considers bills

Wolf Comeback Has Wyoming Officials Howling

Gray wolves roam the Northern Rockies by the hundreds just eight years after federal wildlife officials reintroduced them into a habitat where they had been hunted into near extinction. Many Westerners still consider wolves a threat, however, and Wyoming is refusing to back down on its plan to allow the unregulated killing of wolves outside of national parks.

States Call For Block Grants in 2002 Farm Bill

Wyoming agriculture director Ron Micheli doesn't believe a "one-size-fits-all farm bill" works for every farmer and rancher in his state, much less the whole country. So he has joined with other state agriculture officials to recommend that Congress adopt a limited block grant approach to doling out federal agriculture dollars.

Summary of the Wyoming State of the State Address

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, called on the Republican-led legislature to use a "conservative" approach while drafting this year's budget.

Wind Tax Debate Not Over in Wyoming

TODAY'S TAKE: A first-in-the-nation tax on wind energy production in Wyoming is being cited by the industry as one reason why it is looking elsewhere to do business.

Wyoming Governor Explains Threat to Sell Grand Teton Land

In a Stateline Q&A, Governor Dave Freudenthal discusses why he thinks the U.S. Interior Department should agree to exchange state-owned land inside the famous national park for federal land elsewhere in the state to help finance public education. Also: See Stateline's series on developing state lands.

What Do Record Low Natural Gas Prices Mean for States?

Newly abundant and cheap natural gas has slashed home heating bills for many Americans. But in some states, the continued price drop has thinned state budgets and shifted energy production.

Fresh Air in Wyoming

Outgoing Governor Dave Freudenthal and the Wyoming Legislature have agreed on a bipartisan plan to enact the nation's first tax on wind-energy production. So why don't other wind-state governors agree?

Wisconsin conservation groups hope to ward off stewardship program cuts

Wisconsin Supreme Court Retains Conservative Tilt

The Wisconsin high court’s perceived conservative tilt will remain after a justice was re-elected in Tuesday’s vote.

Perrier Bid For Wisconsin Water Steams Environmentalists

The Perrier Group of North America is once again asking Wisconsin for permission to bottle pristine Badger State water. However, as state officials are discovering, Perrier, environmentalism and Wisconsin politics can make for a volatile mix.

On the Record: Wisconsin DNR Secretary George Meyer

Logging. Breweries. Large dairy farms. These are a few of Wisconsins favorite things. Perched between two of the worlds largest bodies of fresh water, the Badger State has as long a tradition of capitalizing on its natural resources as it does of backing the kind of progressive politics that led then-Sen. Gaylord Nelson to inaugurate Earth Day in 1969. Stateline.org caught up with the man currently in charge of balancing these interests at the first annual meeting of the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors (ACRE), where he came to talk about the states role in protecting the environment.

Wisconsin Gives Electric Deregulation Debate Different Twist

Like many other states, Wisconsin is considering restructuring its electric utility system. But its debate has some different wrinkles. A deregulation plan pushed by Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson would likely mean higher electric bills for households and businesses in the short run. And as Jeff Mayers of the Wisconsin State Journal reports, this makes for some strange political bedfellows.

Two W.Va. officials challenging EPA clean-air rules

Tomblin celebrates new gas pipeline law

Coal States Fear for Future of the Industry

This is an unsettling time for states whose economies revolve around coal. But the future may not be as bleak as doomsayers predict.

Summary of the West Virginia State of the State Address

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III (D) told the Democrat-controlled Legislature Jan.13 that the state's new budget will be "slender," but that West Virginia has weathered the Great Recession better than dozens of other states that suffered deep budget deficits.

Governors Talk Energy with Obama

TODAY'S TAKE: President Obama on Wednesday (Feb. 3) told a group of 11 governors - including those from coal-friendly states - that the United States must move aggressively toward a clean energy economy.

Predator fish in cross hairs

State Sen. Don Benton for environmental post? Really?

Advocates for Climate Action Urge Insurers to Join Up

Some are pushing the insurance industry to not only to crank up the volume on its longstanding calls for hardier building and safer land use in disaster-prone areas, but also to push for cuts to the carbon emissions.

Hazardous Chemical Crackdown Gains Momentum in States

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT BEAT: In the absence of up-to-date federal legislation, states are writing their own rules about which chemicals are safe when contained in common products.

States Struggle to Update Toxic Chemical Regulation

Unchanged for 35 years, the U.S. Toxic Chemicals Safety Act has left federal regulators without the tools to investigate many chemicals that could endanger human health. That burden has fallen to states, which have enacted a patchwork of regulations that environmentalists, policymakers and industry leaders all consider inadequate.

Should a 'Green' State Ship Coal to China?

There's a huge demand for coal in right now in Asia, and states in the American West have plenty of it. But more use of coal anywhere in the world adds to greenhouse gas emissions. One state is arguing over whether to treat the concern about overseas coal shipping seriously.

Cuccinelli stresses continued reliance on coal

Va. uranium mining foes join forces

State regulators set hearing on Dominion rate hike request

Terry McAuliffe sought to create jobs with biofuel venture in Southside Va.

State sets hearings on stormwater regulations

Virginia Uranium Legislation Fails, But Fight Not Over

An effort in the Virginia legislature to lift the state’s 31-year-old moratorium on uranium mining has failed, dealing a blow to supporters of a plan to tap the country’s largest known uranium deposit. But the debate is far from over.

Virginia Weighs an End to Its 31-Year-Old Uranium Mining Ban

In Virginia, home to one of the world’s largest deposits of uranium, state lawmakers must decide whether to overturn the state’s 31-year-old ban on mining.

Music Trail Could Help Struggling Virginia Towns

Hollywood has its Walk of Fame, the world's most famous sidewalk. Southwest Virginia soon could have a music trail with highway markers to make it easier for visitors to follow the birth of country music in the Appalachian Mountains. State lawmakers look to tourism to help shore up a local economy suffering from the demise of coal mining and the loss of jobs to workers overseas.

States Scramble to Regulate Fracking

As natural gas drilling expands throughout the country, states are trying to balance economic and environmental interests. Finding agreement isn’t easy.

Vermont AG Won't Press Charges Against Nuclear Plant Officials

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT BEAT: Despite "untrustworthy" behavior, no perjury case against Vermont nuclear plant executives ... Federal offshore drilling bill seeks revenue for Virginia state government ... Iowa governor proposes new Missouri River management group and more energy and environment news.

Vermont Senate Blocks Nuke Plant License

TODAY'S TAKE: Vermont senators became the first state lawmakers in the country to vote for shutting down a nuclear power plant Wednesday when they denied a 20-year extension to the Vermont Yankee facility, scheduled to close in 2012. In most states, decisions over nuclear power plants are handled by state regulators or the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, not state legislators.

The right decision

Suit: Make EPA force Utah to cut winter pollution

Public input invited on Utah tar sands mining proposal

Nevada to Utah: Take a hike

House passes Ute tribe land swap

Dirty skies

Utah board wants Herbert to reconsider Snake Valley water deal rejection

Analysis shows where Utah stands with greenhouse gas emissions

Our lost civilization

Utah’s oil shale, tar sands in for a bumpy ride

Summit to explore Utah’s water fate

Utah 2013 hunting permit numbers: Some rise, some fall

Rights vs. risk: Living near canals and areas of danger in Utah

Tensions Rise Amid Demise of Utah-Nevada Water Pact

Will Las Vegas’ thirst spark a water war between Utah and Nevada?

In the West, GOP Governors, Skeptical of Cap-and-Trade, Will Watch California

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-- Stateline asked several Republican governors about the role of climate change in energy policy in the West, asking them to weigh in on California’s new experiment with large-scale carbon trading.

Sagebrush Stirrings

Western states are launching a new round in their periodic challenge to Washington over the use of federally owned land. Authors of the challenge say they mean their effort to be more than a symbolic gesture. Others are skeptical that it will have much effect on federal policy.

Budget talks still snagged on school, water funding

Cause of Texas fertilizer plant fire may never be known

Central Texas water fight could have statewide implications

Bill would let natural gas-based ethanol qualify as renewable

After West disaster, little discussion on soil issues

Budget deal would fund water projects

West plant blast focus of criminal investigation

Texas dotted with residents vulnerable to fertilizer plant accidents

After West blast, chemical stockpiles scrutinized

What is near ammonium nitrate sites in Texas

No solution yet for water project funding

Groups protest bill ending compliance history

Texas groundwater levels suffer sharp drop, study finds

State monitors health of Coastal Bend ecosystem

Texas hopeful for another quiet wildfire season

Texas has much at stake in voting rights ruling

States Embracing Use of 'Green Power'

Demand for "green power" -- electricity generated by renewable energy sources such as wind and water -- is slowly rising. The movement owes its momentum to state policies. Texas, for example, recently passed an electric utility deregulation law stipulating that a certain percentage of Lone Star electricity must be made with green power. For more information, click on

Copper Thefts Trigger Widespread Crackdown

Copper is a hot commodity these days, leading 20 states this year to enact laws to protect homeowners and businesses from criminals stealing gutters, cables and other scrap metals.

Persistent Drought Threatens Texas Oil Industry

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT BEAT: Many energy producers in Texas are dependent on the drilling technique called fracking, which uses vast amounts of water. Right now, it's water that much of the state doesn't have.

Nuclear plant is no place for overconfidence

Kristi Noem: House will pass farm bill

President issues disaster declaration for seven South Dakota counties

Wind Subsidies Raise a Storm in Heartland States

Wind-energy has been a booming industry in many states the past few years. But the federal tax credits that have helped fuel that growth is likely to disappear in a few months.

Radioactive Waste: A Political Hot Potato

Its dij` vu all over again: A Republican rules the White House and the U.S. Department of Energy is pushing for plutonium shipments to a state that doesnt want them, where a Democratic governor is threatening to use armed state troopers to block the shipments.

WORTH NOTING: South Carolina's Shampoo Specialists

The Palmetto State cleans up a law requiring hairstylists to get more training than cops. Frog legs are frowned upon by Florida health officials. And an aide to Utah's lieutenant governor gets way ahead of his boss. In case you missed those stories this week, "Worth Noting" fills you in.