Entries by Keith Schneider

Exxon and Imperial Oil Forced To Go Around Sensitive Idaho River Valley

Push-back on the transportation of tar sands equipment through a wilderness corridor reflects civic resistance to North American fossil fuel boom.

New Generation Oil and Gas Lease Ensures Water Protection and Big Money

In Ohio, Circle of Blue’s senior editor finds mineral leases are being negotiated by an attorney representing the landowners.

Clean Energy Picture Dramatically Changed For Midwest, As U.S. Fossil Energy Boom Gathers Steam

With the price of natural gas falling thanks to innovating drilling solutions in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, investments in water-sipping energy models like wind and solar have dried up.

Fossil Fuel Boom Shakes Ohio, Spurring Torrent of Investment and Worry Over Water

Ohio’s shale oil and gas fortunes point up. By Keith Schneider and Codi Yeager Circle of Blue Photo © Codi Yeager/Circle of Blue The site of a proposed $US 3 billion natural-gas-to-liquids plant near Wellsville, Ohio, heralds what many say is the state’s most significant investment in oil and gas development in decades. But the […]

State of the Union: New Economics of Energy Production Tilts Obama’s “All-of-the-Above” Strategy One Way

In the era of deficit and disinvestment, water-intensive fossil fuel production is overwhelming the water-sipping clean energy sector.

Water Law: Public Trust May Be Fresh Approach to Protecting Great Lakes

Canadian and American advocates join to promote big oversight idea of the “commons.”

Building China’s 21st-century Megacity: Shanghai’s Experiment with Water and Nature

A new community on the Yangtze River has, so far, been more successful at attracting ducks than people. But city officials have their sights set high for Lingang Port City, which they say could be home to nearly a million people by 2050. Cleaner water will be a big help.

Coal Conversion in the Rust Belt: Will It Be a Diamond for Small Ohio River Town?

An energy company has plans to withdraw water from the Ohio River, the potential site for a coal-to-liquid fuels conversion plant, which would be the first of its kind in the United States and the sixth in the world. Though it will bring jobs to the region, the proposal is facing strong opposition from environmental groups.

Double Choke Point: Demand for Energy Tests Water Supply and Economic Stability in China and the U.S.

The cords of energy demand and water supply are tightening around the world’s two largest economies.

China’s Other Looming Choke Point: Food Production

The Yellow River Basin is the center of a contest over water, energy, and agriculture.

Water Needs Curtail China’s Coal Gasification For Fuel, Yet Conversion To Chemicals Pushes Ahead

Though coal-to-liquids has been suspended due to water scarcity, the process uses 50 percent less water per unit of end product compared with coal-to-chemicals processes which have been given the go-ahead in hopes of slowing petroleum imports.

Circle of Blue’s China Tour Finds Strong Reception for Water-Energy Choke Point Warning

Circle of Blue and the Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum present at 17 events in 4 cities over 16 days.