Fave 5: Reporter Chris Hubbuch picks his top stories from 2019
Updated
We are sharing Wisconsin State Journal staffers' favorite work from 2019. From energy and environment reporter Chris Hubbuch:Â
My story about researchers mapping the toxic history of lead and zinc mining in southwest Wisconsin checks all the boxes for what I find interesting -- history, the environmental cost of human industry, geography, technology, and a bit of mystery. It was one of my favorite stories to write and also one of the most-read, a consonance that rarely happens on my beat.Â
It’s been 40 years since the last zinc mine closed and nearly two centuries since Southwest Wisconsin was the nation’s primary source of lead. The last vestiges of the industry have all but disappeared, but the toxic legacy remains.
As renewable energy drives down the cost of wholesale electricity, utilities are shuttering expensive coal plants early. Should ratepayers continue to ensure shareholders profit from their investments?
New technology and a growing acceptance of climate change have brought the nation to the cusp of an energy transformation. But who profits from it, and is there time?
The petroleum industry and ethanol producers are fighting over federal mandates that require refineries to blend biofuels into their gasoline and the Trump administration's growing use of exemptions.
Part of a $19.8 million project -- including more than $10 million in public funding -- that could eventually include an adjacent hotel, Garver Feed Mill will host an event center and 11 other local food and wellness businesses.
After a 350-year-old Canadian fur trading company went bankrupt just as Wisconsin mink farmers were beginning their harvest, a Finnish competitor is breathing new life into the state’s oldest industry.
