In this week’s episode, host Daniel Raimi talks with Robert Godby, an associate professor of economics at the University of Wyoming. Wyoming is the subject of their conversation: It’s been a major energy-producing state for over a century and is the nation’s largest producer of coal by far. But energy production in Wyoming has declined substantially in recent years, raising major challenges for the state’s economy and public revenues. And with the need to reduce emissions much further, the outlook for Wyoming’s energy future is highly uncertain.

References and recommendations:

“The Grid: The Fraying Wires between Americans and Our Energy Future” by Gretchen Bakke; https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/grid-9781632865687

“Short Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the American States” by Leah Stokes; https://www.leahstokes.com/book

“Decommissioning Orphaned and Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells: New Estimates and Cost Drivers” by Daniel Raimi, Alan Krupnick, Jhih-Shyang Shih, and Alexandra Thompson; https://www.rff.org/publications/journal-articles/decommissioning-orphaned-and-abandoned-oil-and-gas-wells-new-estimates-and-cost-drivers/