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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

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

When Fracking Companies Own the Gas Beneath Your Land

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

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

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

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

A Guide to Every Permitted Natural Gas Well in West Virginia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Covering West Virginia’s Long History of Broken Promises

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