CASPER, Wyo. - From their beautiful songs to their stunning colors, birds are putting on their best displays this time of year in Wyoming. It's the spring migration season, and many of the birds seen at backyard feeders and soaring across the sky right now are headed north to Canada's boreal forest. It's the largest intact forest on Earth, and it's a destination for literally billions of birds.

According to Dr. Jeff Wells, senior scientist with the Boreal Songbird Initiative, most of the flying is done at night, so people don't realize how massive it is.

"It's like a river of birds that flows north and splits up into smaller streams and tributaries as they're migrating," he said. "Tens of millions, hundreds of millions, that are moving daily."

About three billion of North America's land birds and 26 million waterfowl breed in the boreal forest. Locally, the horned lark moves through Wyoming. Some birds stay here to breed, although a study from the University of Wyoming two years ago found that horned lark populations have declined in areas with dense oil and gas development.

Wells said many birds also face development pressures even when they get to the boreal forest.

"It is an area that is under threat from mining, forestry, oil and gas, hydro, lots of different factors," he delared. "And it is being impacted by climate change."

Track your favorite birds' migration journey on the Boreal Songbird Initiative website.

The University of Wyoming study on songbirds, including horned larks, is at bit.ly/1270AeB.




get more stories like this via email

A new report questions the feasibility of power plants transitioning to hydrogen gas to run their turbines.

Despite claims that hydrogen is a "clean energy" solution for reducing carbon emissions in North Carolina, the research details significant challenges and uncertainties.

Report author Dennis Wamsted, an energy analyst for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said they found that hydrogen isn't a readily available option, because there isn't much infrastructure in terms of pipelines or storage, as well as a lack of supply.

"So, you have these three different parts of the infrastructure that would take an incredible amount of time to build," he said, "and would cost an incredible amount of money to construct."

He said energy companies would have to continue to use methane gas until they could make the transition.

In North Carolina, Duke Energy is among the companies proposing a hydrogen-capable gas plant in Person County. The proposal has faced pushback from environmental groups, who have said the move could expose customers to large financial risks and fossil fuel pollution.

Wamsted said hydrogen use also has environmental concerns because of the marginal benefits it provides in cutting emissions.

"So, if you were to substitute hydrogen into a gas turbine, and you say, you started out at 5% of hydrogen and 95% traditional methane gas," he said. "you essentially get no environmental benefit from that, because you get very little CO2 reduction."

Wamsted also warned that hydrogen-related power projects not only come with a high price tag, but may also burden ratepayers without a guarantee of success. He said this could get in the way of cheaper and more prevalent renewable energy alternatives - such as wind, solar and battery storage.

"We have the alternatives now, that we know the cost of and that are available," he said, "that we can use in the next five years or 10 years to build out as much green energy, renewable energy, as we possibly can."

The report calls on utilities to be more transparent with their data and asks state regulators to consider the true impact hydrogen would have, long-term.

Ohio lawmakers are asking Congress to address longstanding safety failures of class-one freight railroads, to prevent disasters like last year's massive train derailment in East Palestine.

House Resolution 8996 would require that rail companies employ a second crewman and implement a confidential reporting system, among other reforms.

At a recent hearing, U.S. Ohio Rep. Michael Rulli - R-Youngstown - said the East Palestine derailment has caused irreparable environmental and economic damage.

He said the legislation would require companies like Norfolk Southern to ensure hazmat expertise on board is shared with on-scene responders - which one of the chemical companies, Oxy Vinyl LP, did not do.

"Oxy Vinyl manufactured the chemicals on board the train in East Palestine," said Rulli. "They recommended not to vent and burn the contents of the train, but this recommendation wasn't shared with first responders until after the fact."

After the Norfolk Southern train derailed and exploded, known carcinogens - including vinyl chloride - were released into the air, soil and water.

East Palestine residents immediately reported experiencing nosebleeds, rashes, throat and eye irritation, vomiting, and difficulty breathing.

Many report lingering health problems, more than a year after the accident.

Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose said the agency has been supportive of the legislation, in addition to conducting inspections on high-hazard, flammable train routes.

"For over a year, the Department of Transportation has continued those calls," said Bose, "while concurrently taking important actions to make freight rail safer."

According to Federal data, there were 952 class-one train derailments in 2022, with about 77% occurring in railyards and 23% on mainline tracks.




get more stories like this via email

Only one in five Arizona voters said they have heard about President Joe Biden's effort to address climate change and expand clean energy.

One organization contends Arizona seniors have won big with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act as well as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, especially as the state continues to battle relentless heat and the effects of climate change.

Dora Vazques, executive director of the Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans, said older Arizonans experience greater risk when exposed to extreme temperatures, which has led to an increased demand for energy and price hikes.

"It is a crisis in that 'are we able to pay for those electricity bills?'" Vazques noted. "With this plan, there are a lot of incentives to weatherize your home. Weatherize meaning that you can have funding to put in new windows, to put in insulation; things that will help to protect you."

The Arizona Governor's Office of Resiliency is expected to take advantage of about $150 million in rebates to benefit Arizona homes.

Vazques pointed out older adults, who rely on Social Security to cover their expenses, are less likely to combat rising energy costs and are less able to afford repairs on dated equipment. Information on incentives is at homes.rewiringamerica.org.

While upfront costs for going electric tend to be higher than fossil-fuel dependent counterparts, Vazques noted the investments will save money in the long-term. He emphasized one of the biggest challenges is the lack of awareness among Arizona homeowners and renters about the help available to them.

"They need those upgrades to move away from gas appliances to electric appliances, to upgrade that cooler to an air conditioner," Vazques outlined. "This is a godsend for all of Arizona."

Vazques added clean energy investments will also help Arizona's economy. Biden's clean energy plan will bring more than $4 billion in clean energy investments to Arizona by 2030, according to Climate Power.


get more stories like this via email