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Following the Power Lines

WRVO | By Rachel Ward
Published November 30, 2011 at 7:41 AM EST

We're drilling for gas, planning pipes from Canadian tar sands, and pumping millions of dollars into green energy projects.  

But the energy mix that we'll end up with in New York State is still a work in progress. What do we want to see powering our toasters and laptops in the years to come?

We've posed those questions to a panel of experts, to find out what's being built, how the marketplace might shake out, and what the social and political ramifications are of how we produce and consume power.

WRVO News and the Innovation Trail hosted an hour-long discussion about energy and where it comes from. "Innovation Conversation: Following the Power Lines" is airing on Innovation Trail partner stations in December.  

Our guests were:

  • Jeff Brady, national correspondent and energy reporter, NPR
  • Pete Wilcoxen, director of the Maxwell School's Center for Environmental Policy and Administration, senior fellow in climate and energy, Brookings Foundation
  • Andrea Feldpausch-Parker, assistant professor in environmental communication, SUNY ESF
  • Jim Stapleton, manager of energy efficiency and large business programs, National Grid

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the live taping of this program. We had a lot of insightful questions from our audience.
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Rachel Ward
Rachel Ward joined NPR's Morning Edition in 2012. She works as a producer and coordinates coverage across shifts. She previously served as the founding editor of the Innovation Trail, a collaborative reporting project on the economy of upstate New York. Ward has covered business and the economy for WXXI in Rochester, N.Y., and has hosted broadcasts at WXXI, WOUB in Athens, Ohio, and WRUW in Cleveland, Ohio. She has an M.A. from Ohio University's Scripps College of Communication.
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