Series Archives

The Homer City Generating Station in Indiana County, Pennsylvania is installing pollution controls that will reduce dangerous emissions of sulfur dioxide and mercury by more than 90 percent. Photo: Reid Frazier

How a Pennsylvania Power Plant is Cleaning Up its Act

Reid Frazier·December 18, 2015

New EPA pollution standards have led many coal-fired power plants to close their doors in recent years. But one Pennsylvania power plant is cleaning up its act in order to survive.

Energy Future of Coal

Robert Blackwell is an internet-of-things engineer who currently designs smart devices for a pool company. He's been interested in Pittsburgh's sewer problem for years and has an idea for a device that could be a cheap fix. Photo: Lou Blouin

Could Rigging Your Toilet Up to the Internet Keep the Rivers Cleaner?

Lou Blouin·November 6, 2015

Internet-of-things engineer Robert Blackwell says his idea to rig your toilet up to the internet could keep raw sewage out of Pittsburgh's Three Rivers.

Citizen Q Technology Water

In Boone County, Less Coal, Less Money, Fewer Miners

Ashton Marra·September 11, 2015

Many places are feeling the pain of the coal industry's decline. But in Boone County, West Virginia, they've lost more coal jobs than any other county in the nation.

Energy Future of Coal

Miner Kent Parrish stands in a coal shovel at a roadside viewing platform for the Eagle Butte coal mine outside of Gillette, Wyoming. Photo: Leigh Paterson / Inside Energy

From West Virginia to the West: A Coal Miner’s Story

Stephanie Joyce·September 11, 2015

Third-generation coal miner Daniel Kent Parrish chased a job 1,700 miles across the country to Wyoming—where coal is still king.

Energy Future of Coal

The electric-generating facility under construction in Kemper County, Mississippi is a next-generation coal-fired power plant that will use carbon capture technology. The plant, which will cost $6.1 billion, is scheduled to open in 2016. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Even in the New Energy Economy, Coal May Have a Future

Reid Frazier·September 11, 2015

Many in the coal industry see the EPA's Clean Power Plan as a death knell. But the new regulations actually leave plenty of room for coal—if the industry is willing to evolve.

Climate Change Energy Future of Coal

Homer City power plant in Indiana County, Pennsylvania generated enough electricity in 2014 to power a million homes. Photo: Reid Frazier

Federal Air Rules Bring ‘New Normal’ for Coal

Reid Frazier·September 11, 2015

Bringing coal plants in-line with federal air quality rules is costing the coal industry billions. But environmentalists say the rules will save lives.

Climate Change Energy Future of Coal

The Intermountain Power Plant is a coal-fired power plant in Delta, Utah and provides 80 percent of its electricity to the city of Los Angeles. Photo: Matt Hintsa via Flickr

Inside Obama’s Clean Power Plan

Reid Frazier·August 6, 2015

Earlier this month, President Obama released the widely anticipated Clean Power Plan, calling it the single most important step America has ever taken in the fight against climate change.

Climate Change Energy Future of Coal

A Houseboat Escape on Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers

Lou Blouin·July 24, 2015

A Pittsburgh couple gave up their lives in corporate America to run a two-boat, houseboat bed and breakfast on the Allegheny River.

Our Three Rivers Recreation

Rob Walters, Three Rivers P.I.

Lou Blouin·June 19, 2015

Rob Walters isn't a vigilante. But he doesn't mind the term "P.I." And every week he's patrolling Pittsburgh's Three Rivers in a flat-bottom boat, just to make sure everything is as it should be.

Our Three Rivers Water

In Coal Country, What’s Next for Miners?

Catherine Moore·April 10, 2015

Layoffs and mine closings are becoming more and more common in parts of West Virginia and Kentucky, where the coal industry is having a hard time competing in a new energy future.

Energy Future of Coal

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Series

How a Pennsylvania Power Plant is Cleaning Up its Act

Could Rigging Your Toilet Up to the Internet Keep the Rivers Cleaner?

In Boone County, Less Coal, Less Money, Fewer Miners

From West Virginia to the West: A Coal Miner’s Story

Even in the New Energy Economy, Coal May Have a Future

Federal Air Rules Bring ‘New Normal’ for Coal

Inside Obama’s Clean Power Plan

A Houseboat Escape on Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers

Rob Walters, Three Rivers P.I.

In Coal Country, What’s Next for Miners?