EPA chief Scott Pruitt announced the demise of the Clean Power Plan.

Revoking the Clean Power Plan Isn’t Environmental Surrender

On Monday, Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, announced that the EPA would set about repealing the Clean Power Plan. The end of the Obama-era policy has been a long time coming, but its final death rattle has triggered a wave of anti-energy protests from both private organizations and state governments.

While these protests boil up, however, individual states have taken it upon themselves to pioneer their own environmental future. You know, rather than moan and groan in idle.

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A Tale of Two Counties: Colorado’s Mesa and Boulder Communities Show the Diversity of Fracking

Colorado is the front line for fracking in the United States. In a country that seems evenly divided on the practice of hydraulic fracturing, Colorado is a good microcosm of the argument. The state is rich in shale and oil reserves, which means fracking is a particularly relevant topic. More importantly, however, Colorado is home to an incredibly diverse array of people who represent an equally diverse amount of perspectives.

And as any Colorado resident can tell you, the people who live there are also not shy about voicing those opinions. In the wake of a federal court ruling that has revoked a series of Obama-era regulations that banned fracking on federal lands, two Colorado counties are working quickly to make sure that their voices are heard.

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, via Wikimedia Commons

Venezuela’s Switch to the Yuan: Scary or Just Sad?

If the United States government believed that Venezuela would crumble in the wake of a fresh round of sanctions, it was sorely mistaken. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro responded to the sanctions by taking a drastic action on Friday, when the nation published its oil prices in the common currency of China, the yuan.

In case the decision wasn’t a direct enough stab at the US, Maduro doubled down on the decision by calling it an attempt to free Venezuela from the “tyranny of the US dollar.” It’s a bold move from a country that does a whole lot of oil and gas business with the United States. Maduro’s shift is enough to make some industry experts stop and take notice.

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Jonah Energy’s NPL Natural Gas Development Project Inches Toward Completion

The Wyoming Bureau of Land Management is now allowing public comment on Jonah Energy’s next ambitious undertaking, the Normally Pressurized Lance natural gas project. The proposed development could help stimulate the state’s economy with a plethora of new jobs and an infusion of cash.

As every new oil and gas project must, however, Jonah Energy’s NPL project is drawing criticism from anti-fracking protestors.

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A Pocket Guide to the Unrest in Venezuela and What It Means for US Oil and Gas

On July 31, the Trump administration responded to growing political turmoil in the South American country of Venezuela by initiating a series of sanctions against President Nicolás Maduro. Once a cherished trading partner for the United States, Venezuela is now looking at a period of political and economic strife for the foreseeable future.

But what exactly is going on in Venezuela? And what does the chaos mean for the United States oil and gas industry?

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