Support our non-partisan non-profit newsroom 💜 Donate now

Streaming, housing, gas: How much did prices change in 2023?

Dec 29, 2023
Your monthly streaming bill and mortgage payment might have gone up, but gas and egg prices cooled down.
This has been “the least affordable year for homebuying on record," according to a report from Redfin.
bauhaus1000/Getty Images

Fossil fuels built Houston into an energy capital. Can it lead the clean energy transition?

Sep 13, 2023
With the aid of workers, technology and cash from the oil and gas industry, new companies offer a glimpse of a post-fossil fuels future.
An oil refinery in operation with the Houston skyline in the background. Fossil fuels continue to enrich the Texas economy, but some see the need to respond to the climate crisis.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

In West Texas, a budding pipeline fight highlights activists' changing tactics

Sep 1, 2023
Pipeline opponents across the U.S. have taken to emphasizing the projects' impacts on private property rights.
Opponents of the Saguaro Connector pipeline hosted a community meeting this summer in Van Horn, Texas.
Travis Bubenik

Uptick in gas prices could threaten consumers' confidence

Aug 10, 2023
Inflation at the pump is in the pipeline for August. It would likely show up right before the Fed’s September interest rate meeting.
The recent uptick in gas prices can largely be attributed to intense heat in oil refining areas.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

A fraction of oil and gas profits would fund methane emissions cuts, global energy agency says

Aug 7, 2023
IEA advises investing in facilities to reduce the potent greenhouse gas. The U.S. government is already funding such programs.
Methane, a greenhouse gas invisible to the naked eye, is one of the biggest contributors to global warming.
David McNew/Getty Images

California bill could penalize oil companies for price gouging

Mar 28, 2023
The law aims for transparency in a state known for high gasoline prices.
Prices at a San Bruno, California, gas station in October. Prices in the state are lower today but remain higher than in other states.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Residents of rural Alaska brace for heat-up in fuel prices

Jul 13, 2022
High gas prices threaten food security as well as people's ability to keep the lights on and protect themselves from the cold.
In rural Alaska, the gas that powers electricity-producing generators is delivered by barge or air. Brevig Mission residents expect prices to climb when the next delivery comes.
Tashka/Getty Images

It takes a long time to get from a federal drilling lease to actual oil

Jul 6, 2022
Companies have to evaluate their prospects, then come up with a budget and manage crew and equipment logistics.
While the Biden administration has reopened federal land and offshore sites to oil and gas leases, it can take months or years to actually start pumping oil. Above, an oil well in Garden City, Texas.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Could reopening idled oil refineries ease gasoline prices?

May 30, 2022
The idea is drawing attention, but analysts disagree on whether White House pressure on the industry would work.
The Biden administration is reportedly asking oil companies to bring shuttered refineries back online.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images