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Leigh Paterson

Latest Stories (7)

Could drilling rigs pop up in Bears Ears National Monument in Utah?

Dec 4, 2017
With the Trump administration poised to shrink Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, oil and gas companies are eyeing the fringes.
The Bears Ears are two buttes in southeastern Utah considered sacred by Native American tribes. 
Courtesy of Brian Malone/Fast Forward Films

What happens to a neighborhood when oil and gas companies move in next door?

Nov 2, 2017
Residents of Broomfield, Colorado are fighting to keep oil and gas drilling out of residential areas.
A drilling rig near homes in Erie, Colorado. 
Leigh Paterson/ for Marketplace

Trump talks energy in anxious oil country

May 26, 2016
In North Dakota, oil workers worry about low prices and rising pressure from climate change.
People watch as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally on May 26, 2016 in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Wyoming's powerful coal industry is facing a downturn

May 16, 2016
Hundreds have been laid off.
A large surface coal mine near Gillette, Wyoming.
PDTillman/Wikimedia Commons

Cleanup concerns raised as coal companies decline

Dec 30, 2015
Many have "self-bonded" their costs for reclaiming mines if they should go under.

In oilfields, salaries that boomed suddenly bust

Sep 14, 2015
Young workers are often left without savings when they lose their jobs.

Oil wells produce even more water than oil

Mar 3, 2015
Huge amounts of wastewater must be disposed of, much of it in deep wells.