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Environment

The New Power Brokers

West Virginia’s Natural Gas Industry

Coal, long West Virginia’s most dominant industry, is ailing. Natural gas is taking over, as a powerful economic and political force. Is the state making the same mistakes again with a different fossil fuel?

24 stories published since 2018

Joe Manchin’s Price for Supporting the Climate Change Bill: A Natural Gas Pipeline in His Home State

by Ken Ward Jr. and Alexa Beyer, Mountain State Spotlight,

Federal Regulators Are Rewriting Environmental Rules So a Massive Pipeline Can Be Built

by Ken Ward Jr.,

When Fracking Companies Own the Gas Beneath Your Land

by Mayeta Clark,

A Resolution Condemning Pipeline Challengers Passed Easily. A Pipeline Lobbyist Wrote It.

by Kate Mishkin, The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

Fracking Companies Lost on Trespassing, but a Court Just Gave Them a Different Win

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

Court to Big Fracking Company: Trespassing Still Exists — Even For You

by Kate Mishkin and Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

Residents Say Natural Gas Production Is Marring West Virginia. And the Legislature Isn’t Doing Anything About It.

by Kate Mishkin, The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

A Guide to Every Permitted Natural Gas Well in West Virginia

by Al Shaw, ProPublica, and Kate Mishkin, The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

Large Natural Gas Producer to Pay West Virginia Plaintiffs $53.5 Million to Settle Royalty Dispute

by Kate Mishkin and Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

Powerless: What It Looks and Sounds Like When a Gas Driller Overruns Your Land

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail, Al Shaw and Mayeta Clark, ProPublica,

He is West Virginia’s Speaker of the House — and a Lawyer for Natural Gas Companies

by Ken Ward Jr. and Kate Mishkin, The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

Century-Old West Virginia Leases Yield Paltry Gas Royalties. A Suit Could Cut Others’ Payouts to a Trickle, Too.

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

West Virginia’s Natural Gas Industry Keeps Pushing to Whittle Away Payments to Residents

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

“Jobs Alliance” Backed by Coal Giant Loses Bid To Stop West Virginia Natural Gas Plant

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

Another West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Declines to Step Aside in Another Natural Gas Case

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

Another Court Ruling Against a West Virginia Pipeline, Then Another Effort to Change the Rules

by Ken Ward Jr. and Kate Mishkin, The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

“Jobs Alliance,” Funded by Trump Backer, Tries to Block Gas Plants That Would Bring Jobs to West Virginia

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

Natural Gas Industry Again Beats a Tiny West Virginia County That Wanted to Control Its Destiny

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

How One West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Gave Natural Gas a Big Victory and Shortchanged Residents

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

What Happens When a Pipeline Runs Afoul of Government Rules? Authorities Change the Rules.

by Kate Mishkin and Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail, and Beena Raghavendran, ProPublica,

West Virginia Paid for a CEO to Go on a Trade Delegation to China. Turns Out, He Was Promoting His Company’s Interests, Too.

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

One West Virginia County Tried to Break Its Dependence on the Energy Industry. It Was Overruled.

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

The Coal Industry Extracted a Steep Price From West Virginia. Now Natural Gas Is Leading the State Down the Same Path.

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

Covering West Virginia’s Long History of Broken Promises

by Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette-Mail,

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