The Rural Blog

A digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, by the Institute for Rural Journalism, based at the University of Kentucky. Links may expire, require subscription or go behind pay walls. Please send news and knowledge you think would be useful to benjy.hamm@uky.edu.

The Rural Blog

PAGES

Sun and wind power surpass coal; it's a first for the two renewables combined without adding hydropower

Quick hits: Statewide News Collective launched; how to grow huge tomatoes; tips for buying and selling rural land

Coal prices highest in more than a decade as stockpiles dwindle after hot, dry summer boosted use of electricity

Markets, not politics, rule coal business; consumption and prices are up, especially in Central Appalachia, a sore spot

Owners of failed dam in rural Michigan bought it as a tax shelter, ignored needed fixes to save money

TVA must do more to generate clean energy, write energy analyst and former environmental reporter

Energy agency sides with coal and gas over other sources for electricity, says it's leveling the field; consumers will pay

Monthly use of renewable energy outpaced coal for the first time in April (a month of moderate temperatures), feds say

Signs of more drought ahead for Colorado River basin

Google building data centers on old TVA power plant sites

US and Mexico expand Colorado River Compact

Study for tribes argues for giving the Columbia River and its tributaries a more natural flow

Calif. dam investigators say visual inspections can't predict failure, and could be a nationwide problem

Dept. of Energy report: More use of renewables could threaten reliability of power grid

New U.S.-Mexico water-sharing agreement for Colorado River emphasizes preservation

States paying more attention to risky dams

Virginia approves re-purposing abandoned coal mines to generate hydroelectric power

Quebec-to-Queens power line will provide electricity to densely populated region

Feds measure potential hydroelectric power sources

Conflicting laws put Idaho placer miners, Forest Service at odds over land and stream use