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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Federal firefighters say they are again facing staff issues and low morale. Reforms to fix pay and hire more firefighters have stalled at U.S. agencies — despite promises to Congress.
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President Biden is pledging to boost firefighter pay to address a staffing shortage. Federal firefighters face low wages and poor benefits even as climate change makes their job more demanding.
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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. -
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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An imaginary map line dividing East and West illustrates a climate boundary that has influenced how and where people live and work. Its eastward shift could predict changes in farming and ranching. -
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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Before Scott Pruitt became the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, his political career was guided in large part by his Southern Baptist faith and a faith-based agenda. -
Though the wind industry was once a political darling in the state, some say Oklahoma can no longer afford the tax breaks that helped it thrive. -
For decades, Tulsa planned carefully and imposed regulations to prevent the kind of devastating floods that used to make national headlines. Now other cities are noticing. -
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.
