Geothermal Is Growing & Prairie Dog Wars

Tapping into the Earth for energy…

This is the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

Geothermal power plants turn heat from under the Earth into electricity. It’s a way of making power with practically no pollution. And according to a new report, there are more companies investing in this kind of energy. Mark Brush is here and Mark you had a look at this report…

Yeah - It was put out by the Geothermal Energy Association. And they found the number of geothermal power plant projects being developed jumped by 46% compared to 2008.

So what’s driving this?

They say it’s a combination of federal stimulus money. And the fact that some states mandate that power companies provide a certain percentage of renewable power. And heat from the Earth is certainly renewable.

I asked Karl Gawell where these kind of power plants work best. He’s with the Geothermal Energy Association:

“Well, the best reservoirs right now tend to be in the western United States. And in areas where the heat of the Earth actually comes closer to the surface of the Earth. But, you know, the potential is nationwide.”

Gawell says we don’t have good technology to find new heat reserves under the Earth. And until we invest in better exploration technology – we just won’t know where to find a lot of these hot spots.

O.k. – thanks Mark

You’re welcome.

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This is the Environment Report.

We often hear stories about the government trying to get farmers and ranchers to do things that are better for the environment. But Devin Browne has a story about a rancher trying to do something better for the environment and getting in trouble with the government:


DB: In western kansas, people are suing each other, threatening each other and poisoning animals. But, the really don’t agree on what it is they’re fighting ABOUT.

But it all centers around prairie dogs.

(fade up prairie dog ambi, barking, run under tracks)

DB: Prairie dogs are about a foot tall, in the squirrel family, though technically rodents.

Ranchers hate them because they eat grass that’s meant for cows. But biologists love them -- because where there are prairie dogs there are also all the other animals that need them for food or shelter -- hawks, foxes, badgers, owls, and maybe most importantly -- the black footed ferret, one of america’s most endangered mammals.

LH: it’s been said that prairie dogs are the most important animals on the plains and i agree with that. (:6)

(fade out prairie dog barking here)

DB: at the center of all this controversy is Larry Haverfield He’s a bearded guy in bib overalls, a born & bred kansas rancher. Four years ago he stood up at a county meeting and said he liked prairie dogs. And he wasn’t going to kill them anymore.

That’s just not normal around here. Everybody kills prairie dogs. It’s the law… litereally.

His neighbors are petitiioning the government, filing lawsuits… and threatening Haverfield. It’s gotten ugly.

again, larry haverfield.

LH: well, they've threatened to come in on us, and they have, we haven't paid all the bills yet either. (:07)

DB: when he says come in on us -- he means exterminators have come onto his property to prairie dogs. They were sent there by the county while Haverfield’s not home; when he and his wife are in court, in topeka, battling lawsuits. And then Haverfield is billed thousands of dollars for the poisoning.

An old law, from 1901, says that the government can poison varmints on your land & then bill you if you don’t kill them yourself.

DB: haverfield says it’s not just the prairie dogs that are affected by the poisoning. The endangered black footed ferrets eat prairie dogs to survive. And the federal government has re-introduced the endangered ferrets on his land since he’s got prairie dogs. You can’t legally poison black footed ferrets.

But the ferrets didn’t stop the county.

Now, ranchers such as Cameron Edwards say they’re worried having these ferrets around will mean the federal government will limit what they can do on their property.

CE: our question is, what will be able to do with our land when the black footed ferret becomes established? and we poison prairie dogs and it accidentally poisons a ferret? does that leave us open for a lawsuit? scares us to death. (:13)

While the ranchers worry about the federal government telling what they can or cannot do on their property, they don’t see the irony… as Haverfield fights lawsuits trying to defend his actions on his property… letting wildlife live.



And that’s the Environment Report. I’m Rebecca Williams.