Blue Highways #2: Energy Frontiers

From: Eric Mack
Series: Blue Highways
Length: 29:04

This on-the-road magazine special looks at our sources of energy - present and future - beginning with our Virginia producer who traces her household electricity to its source, a mountaintop removal coal mining operation. Then we head to Alaska to look at two controversial projects - a proposed miniature nuclear power plant and a land swap that some call the 'back-door to ANWR.' Finally, it's off to southern New Mexico to visit the fully-off grid and nearly fossil fuel free Funky Butte Ranch. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: Blue Highways #2: Energy Frontiers
From: Eric Mack

Logo2_small This half-hour features stories from the future of energy in America, from off-grid adventures in New Mexico to proposals for more drilling and a nuclear reactor in Alaska that are meeting opposition. We start with one producer's quest to trace the electricity that powers her Virginia home back to its source, which happens to be a mountaintop removal coal mine. Lydia Wilson looks at the true costs of mining in Appalachia. Then we head North to Alaska to visit two tiny remote villages that could play a big role in the country's energy future ? something that has many of the locals pretty upset. Finally, author Doug Fine gives Eric a tour of the Funky Butte Ranch, his off-grid home, and talks about his quest to break free from fossil fuels. For more information on Blue Highways, visit bluehighwaysradio.org or write drive@bluehighwaysradio.org.

More from Eric Mack

Winds of Change - Wind Power and Campaign 08 (05:18)
From: Eric Mack

A look at the challenges of wind power development in rural areas, and what the election could mean for the future of wind.

Blue Highways Day Trip #3 - Where Have All the Artists Gone? (05:00)
From: Eric Mack

In recent years, many artists have been heading for the hills, or the desert or the prairie. Thousands of artists of all ages have been leaving big cities for smaller, out ...

Blue Highways Day Trip #2 - Iraq Audio Diaries (05:00)
From: Eric Mack

We found one National Guard Chaplain from upstate New York who kept an audio diary in Iraq. His family also kept a diary back in Saranac Lake, NY.

Blue Highways Day Trip #1 - The REAL Health Care Crisis (05:01)
From: Eric Mack

There's lots of talk about the health coverage crisis - but the real crisis is that there aren't enough doctors to go around - a report from North Dakota.

Blue Highways #1: Iraq's Forgotten Home Front (w/ news hole) (23:01)
From: Eric Mack

This on-the-road magazine special looks at the affects of the war on health care and families at home.

Blue Highways #1: Iraq's Forgotten Home Front (28:57)
From: Eric Mack

This on-the-road magazine special looks at the affects of the war on health care and families at home, plus a feature on the flight of artists from the city.

Coal and Climate – We Shall Remain (29:00)
From: Eric Mack

Just in time for the global climate summit in Copenhagen and the debate on a climate and energy bill in Washington, this half hour special from High Plains News takes a look ...

Biodiesel sees rapid growth in face of high petroleum prices (07:53)
From: Eric Mack

High oil prices and a federal tax credit are fueling biodiesel's growth both at retail pumps and in big fleets

Friday Sans Fairview (03:34)
From: Eric Mack

Nightlife in an eccentric Alaskan village continues despite the closing of a historic venue

Religious Interference (05:26)
From: Eric Mack

Local community broadcasters in Alaska are losing listeners to national religious broadcasters.

Piece Description

This half-hour features stories from the future of energy in America, from off-grid adventures in New Mexico to proposals for more drilling and a nuclear reactor in Alaska that are meeting opposition. We start with one producer's quest to trace the electricity that powers her Virginia home back to its source, which happens to be a mountaintop removal coal mine. Lydia Wilson looks at the true costs of mining in Appalachia. Then we head North to Alaska to visit two tiny remote villages that could play a big role in the country's energy future ? something that has many of the locals pretty upset. Finally, author Doug Fine gives Eric a tour of the Funky Butte Ranch, his off-grid home, and talks about his quest to break free from fossil fuels. For more information on Blue Highways, visit bluehighwaysradio.org or write drive@bluehighwaysradio.org.