Joe Wertz
Joe was a founding reporter for StateImpact Oklahoma (2011-2019) covering the intersection of economic policy, energy and environment, and the residents of the state. He previously served as Managing Editor of Urban Tulsa Weekly, as the Arts & Entertainment Editor at Oklahoma Gazette and worked as a Staff Writer for The Oklahoman. Joe was a weekly arts and entertainment correspondent for KGOU from 2007-2010. He grew up in Bartlesville, Okla. and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.
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Scientists are getting more and better data on our changing climate. Now, there's a push to use it to help people cope with the extremes we know are coming.
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The 100th meridian has long divided the U.S. into an arid West and more humid East. Research suggests a warming climate is pushing that boundary east, shaking up agricultural economies along the way.
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When Scott Pruitt served as Oklahoma's attorney general, he took over a major pollution lawsuit brought by his predecessor. Critics accuse Pruitt of inaction on the case, which remains unresolved. -
Superfund was initially paid for by taxes on crude oil, chemicals and the companies that created the toxic waste sites. But those taxes expired in 1995, leaving states strapped to find the money. -
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt wants to clean up toxic Superfund sites faster. Cleanup in some places has dragged on for decades.
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This year could see a wave of state tax hikes on gasoline and diesel. Oklahoma is one of about a dozen states seriously considering increases. -
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 hit Oklahoma on Saturday morning. StateImpact Oklahoma reporter Joe Wertz talks about earthquakes and their connections to oil and gas production.
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In 2014, after disastrous spills and opposition from environmentalists, the EPA imposed new rules on the storage of coal ash. Two towns are pushing back against different ways of storing the ash. -
New research raises alarms about quakes near Cushing, Okla., home to the country's largest oil hub. No damage has been reported, but operators at the hub are on alert.
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Oklahoma's earthquake boom is now a national security threat. No damage has been reported, but operators at the hub are on high alert for a disruption that would ripple through the U.S. energy market.
