News and Media

A dedicated experts and staff run the day-to-day operations of the Institute, and manage its research outputs, training, and public engagement activities. For media or interview inquiries with the Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian or any other of the Payne Institute leadership, please contact Deputy Director Greg Clough at (303)384-2218 or gclough@mines.edu.

A path to US Tribal energy sovereignty 1/23/2025

A path to US Tribal energy sovereignty

The Payne Institute Native American Mining and Energy Sovereignty (NAMES) Initiative and co-writers look at Native American Tribal lands that are extraordinarily rich with energy and mineral resources. A rapidly changing energy system, increasing energy demand, and energy-related national security imperatives present Tribes with a generational economic opportunity. January 23, 2025.

People on the move in Indian Country 1/23/2025

People on the move in Indian Country

Payne Institute Native American Mining and Energy Sovereignty (NAMES) Director Dr. Richard Luarkie is featured in this article about the wave of job changes and board appointments across Indian Country. We are fortunate that Dr. Luarkie has joined the Payne Institute NAMES Initiative. January 23, 2025.

Sibanye Stillwater’s lessons about US mining sufficiency 1/22/2025

Sibanye Stillwater’s lessons about US mining sufficiency

Payne Institute Student Researcher Annie Welch, Critical Minerals Program Manager Clarkson Kamurai, and Energy Finance Lab Director Brad Handler write about how the economic challenges for Sibanye Stillwater’s U.S. Platinum/Palladium mining operations. The analysis offers an illustration of the limitation of recent Inflation Reduction Act tax incentives (45X). January 22, 2025.

US bets on new lithium extraction technology 1/21/2025

US bets on new lithium extraction technology

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange contributed to this article about how the US Department of Energy commits to $1.4 billion loan for small California firm. The progress in Arkansas demonstrates that the private sector already considers the Smackover region a good bet. Thus it makes sense for the US to offer a loan to a project at the Salton Sea, where investors have been more hesitant. January 21, 2025.

Mines professor assessing role of metals markets in energy transition 1/21/2025

Mines professor assessing role of metals markets in energy transition

Payne Institute Faculty Fellows Ian Lange and Nicole Smith help lead the federal subcommittee to examine role of critical metals in transitional energy sources. Lange sits on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Environment and Energy Markets Advisory Committee to define thecritical minerals issues and help them understand where they might want to make suggestions or change things from a policy perspective. January 21, 2024.

Simple ways to save money and stay warm 1/17/2025

Simple ways to save money and stay warm

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Paulo Tabares-Velasco is featured in this article about how the arctic cold weekend will no doubt reveal the parts of your home that are too drafty, especially where you have a window that is not well sealed in the corners of the border, where you can see light coming through or you have a single pane that is basically just one glass, those windows lose a lot of heat. January 17, 2025.

Electrification of the joint force: Challenges and opportunities for competition in the Pacific and Arctic theaters 1/17/2025

Electrification of the joint force: Challenges and opportunities for competition in the Pacific and Arctic theaters

Joshua D. Simulcik, Fabian E. Villalobos, and Payne Institute Director Morgan D. Bazilian write about how the US Department of Defense will have to find ways to expand the portfolio of its energy sources, continue to refine its supply chains and delivery mechanisms for energy services, improve efficiency across systems, and maintain a focus on costs to increase growing demand for energy services on the battlefield. January 17, 2025.

A new frontier in the voluntary carbon market: Old, leaky oil wells 1/16/2025

A new frontier in the voluntary carbon market: Old, leaky oil wells

Payne Institute Energy Finance Lab Director Brad Handler contributed to this article about how over the last two years, developers have generated roughly 5 million carbon credits from cleaning up orphaned oil and gas wells. If disused wells remain unplugged — the term of art for closing them up with concrete and remediating the environment around them — they can leach toxic chemicals and spew planet-warming methane into the air. January 16, 2025.

Global Temperature 1/14/2025

Global Temperature

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Nathan Lenssen contributed to this article about how earth’s temperature can vary significantly over relatively short distances. However, within a small distance, temperature readings will remain remarkably consistent. January 14, 2025.

In a First, the E.P.A. Warns of ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Sludge Fertilizer 1/14/2025

In a First, the E.P.A. Warns of ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Sludge Fertilizer

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Christopher Higgins contributed to this article about how levels of PFAS in sewage sludge used as fertilizer can pose risks that sometimes exceed safety thresholds “by several orders of magnitude,” the agency said. Historically, he said, sludge had been applied at concentrations greater than the levels now deemed risky by the E.P.A. January 14, 2025.

California Wildfires: Rapid Monitoring of Flames and Damage from Space

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Researcher Associate Mikhail Zhizhin looks at how the impact of wildfires in California has been both devastating and transformative. Recent reports from major media outlets highlight the escalating scale of destruction, with the Palisade Fire near Malibu and the Pasadena Fire serving as stark examples. January 13, 2024.

The 2025 Economic Report of the President

A Payne Institute article from Fellow Alex Gilbert, Director Morgan Bazilian, and Samantha Gross titled “The Emerging Global Natural Gas Market and the Energy Crisis of 2021-2022” was cited in the 2025 Economic Report of the U.S. President. January 10, 2025.

Satellite Analysis of the Los Angeles Fires

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Director Christopher Elvidge, Research Associate Mikhail Zhizhin, and Director Morgan Bazilian look at the deadly fires in and around Los Angeles, USA. The situation is rapidly evolving, of course. What we display here is an important tool in both analyzing and fighting these fires using our VIIRS Nightfire Data Product. January 9, 2025.

Mines professor working to slow methane leaks in natural gas production

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Dorit Hammerling co-founded Energy Emissions Modeling and Data Lab (EEMDL) to directly implement processes to detect and stop natural gas leaks, and to provide accurate data and modeling on the greenhouse gas emissions occurring across energy supply chains. January 9, 2025.

BP’s largest terminal in Azerbaijan hit gas-flaring record in 2024

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group provided the flaring data for BP’s largest terminal in Azerbaijan, Sangachal, which flared record-breaking amounts of gas in 2024 with their VIIRS Nightfire service. This data is based on Suomi NPP satellite imagery gathered by NASA/NOAA/US Defence Department, which uses infrared imaging to detect gas flaring. January 9, 2025.

Payne Institute for Public Policy Welcomes Dr. Richard Luarkie as director of the Native American Mining and Energy Sovereignty Initiative

The Payne Institute for Public Policy at Colorado School of Mines is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Richard Luarkie as the Director of the Native American Mining and Energy Sovereignty Initiative (NAMES). The Initiative was established in 2024 to be a strong supporter of tribal communities. January 7, 2025.

Why it might be hard for Trump to reverse Biden’s offshore oil ban

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian is featured on this podcast about how Joe Biden has promised to ban drilling in more than 600 million acres off the coast of the western U.S. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has promised to undo the ban, as well as much of Biden’s climate and conservation efforts. Thing is, this one might be a little trickier to reverse, because Biden can make this declaration thanks to a 70-year-old law called the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. January 7, 2025.

Leadville and other Colorado communities stand to benefit as president signs Good Samaritan Mining Act

Molly Morgan, and Payne Institute Faculty Fellows Elizabeth Holley and Nicole Smith write about how getting the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act legislation through Congress was a critical step forward in addressing one of the nation’s longest-standing environmental challenges. January 2, 2025.

The E.P.A. Promotes Toxic Fertilizer. 3M Told It of Risks Years Ago.

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Chris Higgins contributed to this article about how the U.S. E.P.A. obtained research from 3M in 2003 revealing that sewage sludge, the raw material for the fertilizer, carried toxic “forever chemicals.” December 27, 2024.

Leveraging the Defense Production Act to Stockpile Minerals 12/19/2024

Leveraging the Defense Production Act to Stockpile Minerals

Payne Institute Communications Associate Gregory Wischer, Director Morgan Bazilian, and Fellow Jahara Matisek write about how on December 3, 2024, China imposed export bans on antimony, gallium, and germanium—three elements with important defense applications. Since the U.S. relies heavily on China for these minerals, China’s new export ban could delay the manufacture of defense platforms and munitions, exacerbating already depleted defense stocks and further undermining America’s warfighting capabilities. December 19, 2024.

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