At least one person has died and a dozen people have been injured as a fast moving storm system made its way across the Texas Panhandle and into Oklahoma earlier this week. Weather services classified the storm as a derecho – a large, fast-moving, violent thunderstorm paired with exceptionally strong winds.
By Jeff Deyette Despite the Trump administration’s ongoing attempts to prop up coal and undermine renewables—at FERC, EPA and through tariffs and the budget process—2018 should instead be remembered for the surge in momentum toward a clean energy economy. Here are nine storylines that caught my attention this past year and help illustrate the unstoppable […]
Four U.S. states generated 30 to 37 percent of their energy from wind power in 2017. That’s just one of the findings of the Department of Energy (DOE)’s annual Wind Technologies Market Report, released August 22. Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota were the leaders in terms of how much wind contributed to their state’s […]
On Monday, Oklahoma became the first state to be granted a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to dispose of its own coal ash, The Associated Press reported. The move displaces the federal government as the body responsible for coal ash disposal in EPA head Scott Pruitt‘s home state. Coal ash is the residue […]
Raw crude oil spewed from a ruptured Sunoco pipeline in Oklahoma on Thursday. The Oklahoma City Fire Department and hazmat crews responded to the situation after receiving reports of a “yellow liquid” shooting into the air near an oil and gas well site in Edmond, a suburb outside of Oklahoma City. Officials briefly closed off […]
A 4.3 magnitude earthquake that rattled Northern Oklahoma early Monday morning was the fourth temblor to strike the region in the past 24 hours. In fact, a dozen-plus earthquakes, ranging from magnitudes of 2.5 to 4.6, have been recorded in the Sooner State since Friday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There have been 8 […]
Two 4.2-magnitude earthquakes struck near Enid in northern Oklahoma Sunday at 5:17 p.m and 9:40 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). They are the largest recorded this year so far and even felt in neighboring Kansas. The large quakes were followed by two smaller ones around the same area early Monday. The first […]
The Wind Catcher Energy Connection project, which includes a massive 800-turbine wind farm under construction in the Oklahoma panhandle, is getting closer to lift-off. Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), a subsidiary of major utility American Electric Power, announced this week a settlement with various parties, including Walmart, allowing the $4.5 billion project to move forward. […]
The alarming string of earthquakes that have shaken Oklahoma for years has long been tied to the large volume of fracking wastewater dumped into the state’s injection wells. And while state regulators have taken numerous measures to reduce wastewater disposal volumes to prevent such “induced” earthquakes, they might want to consider another measure—restricting how deep […]