 From Carnegie Studios in Long Rock, Colorado, it's Huppet News. Good evening. I'm Herman Hansen. And this is Highly Illogical, Captain. And I'm Miranda Lerarer. And this is this week's Stories. President Joe Biden's election has put big oil companies under the defensive after largely having their way in Washington under Donald Trump. But in taking on petroleum companies with a moratorium on oil and gas lease sales, Biden picked a foe that spent lavishly over decades to secure allegiance from Republican lawmakers. The industry is also deeply enmeshed in local economies, from Alaska and the Gulf Coast to the Rocky Mountain Drilling Hub of Casper, Wyoming, posing a challenge to the Democrat as he tries to navigate between strong action on the climate and recovering from the pandemic's financial devastation. You're not hurting the big guys that are doing all the development. You're hurting these little guys that are dreaming up where no one else thought there was any oil and gas, said Steve Degenfelder, land manager for family-owned Kirkwood Oil and Gas in Casper, a community of about 60,000 known as the Oil City. Trump's final months in office saw a huge spike in new drilling permits after his administration sped up approvals. As a result, some companies with the biggest presence on public lands have announced that they are ready to weather changes under Biden. An executive from Devon Energy told investors last month that the company was ready to roll with the punches and has about 500 drilling permits in hand. That will last the company for years in Wyoming and New Mexico. They expected this. They prepared for it, said University of Oklahoma associate professor Robert Lifset, who teaches history of the U.S. energy industry. But the difference now is going to be stark. Oil and gas companies don't get to run energy and environmental policy in the way they once did. Gone from power in Washington are former industry lobbyists, including Trump's Interior Department Secretary David Bernhardt, who oversaw a loosening of rules for drilling. They've been replaced in many instances with environmentalists and industry critics. Biden's nominee for Interior Secretary, New Mexico representative Deb Haaland, has a history of anti-oil activism. Just a week after his inauguration, Biden announced the sales moratorium while officials review potential climate impacts and whether energy companies are paying enough. He's following a familiar template, a 2016 Obama era moratorium on federal coal sales that Trump and other Republicans seized on as evidence of a war on coal by Democrats. That last war was against a retreating army. Coal production in Wyoming peaked in 2008. And by the time of the moratorium, most major coal companies had gone bankrupt and scuttled plans for major expansions. The oil industry stumbled last year during the coronavirus pandemic and a price war. But now companies such as Devin, EOG Resources, and Occidental Petroleum are poised to expand their presence on public lands, including in the Powder River Basin. Less insulated against the policy changes are smaller companies, such as Kirkwood Oil and Gas, operating in downtown Casper, since it was founded by William Kirkwood in 1965. It's now run by his sons with about 40 employees and drilling in several western states. A company like Kirkwood can spend years piecing together federal leases like a jigsaw puzzle and assessing the profitability of oil and gas deposits as market conditions and oil field technologies evolve, said land manager Degenfelder. But after last year's price drop and now the leasing moratorium, its plans to further develop areas such as western Wyoming's Upper Green River Basin, home to two of the most productive U.S. onshore gas fields, are on hold. While some countries move away from fossil fuels, brothers Steve and Bob Kirkwood are on the lookout for places that aren't, such as Columbia. They're also considering private lands in west Texas and exploring other options, such as mining metals used in electric car batteries. Oil from federal and tribal lands make up about a quarter of U.S. production. Oil and gas companies and their supporters gave about $136 million in the last election cycle, mainly to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Kirkwood's owner and their wives donated more than $15,000 to Trump's re-election campaign and other GOP causes records show. Trump supported the U.S. oil business, Steve Kirkwood said. Biden will support it in Saudi Arabia, Iran, everywhere else. Taxes on energy production and infrastructure in Wyoming help bankroll schools, public roads, and public services. In the Powder River Basin, petroleum operations now provide most of the property tax base in some counties. Last year, the government sent $457 million to Wyoming from lease sales and energy production on U.S. lands in the state, second only to New Mexico. Even with Trump gone, the oil and gas industry still has formidable allies in Congress, who say the moratorium would cost tens of thousands of jobs. Republican Senators Steve Danes of Montana and Cynthia Lumis of Wyoming blocked immediate consideration of Holland's nomination on Thursday, citing her past statements against the oil industry. A final vote is expected Monday. Benefits to the climate from a ban on new oil and gas leases could take years to realize according to economic analysts. Like Kirkwood oil and gas, companies could respond by shifting some of their activities onto private lands in the U.S., and more oil would likely come in from overseas, said economist Brian Press, to examine defects on the long-term leasing ban for the research group on resources for the future. As a result, almost three-quarters of the greenhouse gas emission reductions from a ban could be offset by oil and gas from other sources, said Press. The net reduction would be about 100 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. Pressures on the oil and gas industry are growing along with concern over climate change, said Lifset, the Oklahoma History Professor. Foremost are recent plans by major vehicle makers, including Volvo and GM, to transition to electric vehicles from gasoline, which takes up almost half the U.S. crude oil on the market. The real threat is not the government limiting production, Lifset said. It's the economy and the culture moving away from consuming oil and shrinking the market. The city of Longmont is preparing for an upcoming winter storm this weekend. Snowfall predictions are for 18 to 24 inches or more within a 48-hour period. As of this writing, snow is expected to begin late Friday night and continue through Sunday evening. City staff are monitoring this storm closely and making the necessary precautions to keep the community safe and ensure the continuity of operations of essential services. To see the latest on the storm, please consult the National Weather Service website. For the most up-to-date information on road conditions, changes to waste collection services, event cancellations, building closures, and more, or to report a power outage, visit bit.ly.com slash Longmont Storms updates. Please continue to visit throughout the weekend as conditions deteriorate for the latest updates. Residents are encouraged to avoid or limit travel to the greatest extent possible. Before heading out onto public streets, consider your vehicle's capacity to navigate the snow and the reason for your travel. Vehicles parked and stranded on public streets impede plowing and police and fire emergency response. Please reference the City's snow route webpage for more information about designated snow routes during winter storm events. The City of Longmont does not typically plow residential streets. Most residential streets are not designed for regular snow plowing due to on-street parking in neighborhoods and the high number of driveway entries that become blocked with plowed snow. You need to stop moving. HONDA has plans to sell two all-electric SUVs in the U.S. for the 2024 model year and it soon will offer hybrid gas electric versions of its top-selling models. The announcements Thursday come as the automaker acknowledges it has work to do to comply with emissions reduction targets that will be coming from the Biden administration and a California ban on sales of new internal combustion vehicles by 2035. Honda of America sales chief Dave Gardner told reporters one of the electric SUVs will be from the Honda brand while the other will be inaccurate. Honda will offer more details later this year, he said. Underpinnings of the new vehicles will come from a partnership with General Motors while the tops would be made by Honda, he said. As part of Honda's efforts to meet stricter emission standards, it will reduce emissions from its internal combustion vehicles, Gardner said. Already, the company has a hybrid called the INSIGHT as well as hybrid versions of its Accord mid-sized car, CRV Small SUV. Gardner said there will probably be one or two additions that he would not identify. He conceded that Honda isn't leading the race to electric vehicles and wouldn't say when it will go all electric. Honda is focused on being carbon neutral by 2050 and is aware that President Joe Biden is focused on zero emissions, not just reducing them, he said. We've got to now focus all of our energies in this direction in order to meet timelines, he said. Honda has been a dominant passenger car seller for decades, but US buyers are shifting toward SUVs and trucks. And it's also a large manufacturer of internal combustion engines, Gardner said. We're really good at a couple things that seem to be going out of vogue today, so there's no doubt that we have to work to start moving quickly in the zero emission direction, he said. Honda is the latest automaker to announce battery-powered vehicles that will be sold in US market. The consulting firm LMC Automotive says automakers will roll out 22 new electric vehicles this year alone. Last year, Americans bought about 260,000 vehicles, only 2% of new vehicle sales. But LMC expects the number to hit more than 680,000 in 2022 and passing a million in 2023. Boulder County celebrated an influx of 11,000 vaccines this week during its bi-weekly COVID community update on Wednesday. Of the 11,000 vaccines administered to county residents, 2,000 were the new Janssen, or sometimes referred to as Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to Chris Campbell, Boulder County Emergency Manager. Boulder County is leading the way among metro aero municipalities in reaching the 70 and older population with 88% vaccinated. Boulder County officials are hopeful the expansion of vaccine options will make doses more readily available. Providers have the ability to roll out about 25,000 vaccines a week, Campbell said. Concerns about which is the right vaccine weighed on the minds of attendees on Wednesday's virtual meeting. Dr. Chris Urbina, Boulder County Chief Medical Officer, urged everyone to take the vaccine when it's offered, referring to any of the Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen vaccines. The Janssen vaccine is a viral vector vaccine as opposed to Pfizer and Moderna, which are messenger RNA or mRNA vaccines. A viral vector vaccine is the traditional way vaccines have been made in the past, including the flu vaccine. All the vaccine options stimulate a person's immune system to reduce the effects of the virus. They are all effective, it doesn't matter what you receive, they all work, Urbina said. One of the benefits of the Janssen vaccine is it is a single dose rather than a two shot protocol of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. It also does not have the same refrigeration requirements as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which has the county considering its use at mobile and community clinics. The county has used mobile clinics at 40 affordable housing sites, including working with the Laumat housing authority, which includes eight facilities. This effort has resulted in an additional 650 people receiving the vaccine close to where they live. Large community clinics are in the works and are slated to begin in the next two weeks, Campbell said. Those include a site in Laumat at which Salud Family Health Center will administer the vaccine. Another will take place at the Southeast County Hub Clinic in Lafayette in partnership with SCL Health and Clinic of Family Health. The dates and times of the clinics are still being finalized, but could be as early as next week, Campbell said. The community clinics will receive a federal allocation of the vaccine to meet the county's equity goals, he said. We've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty. We sent you several notices in the mail that you have yet to extend your warranty beyond the factory cutoff, and this is a courtesy call to renew your warranty before we permanently close your file. If you are interested in extending your vehicle's warranty, press five now to speak with an operator or press nine to be removed from our list. Where's the beef? Still very much on the move in Rhode Island. More than a month after escaping while being unloaded at a slaughterhouse, a 1600-pound steer is still roaming the streets of Johnston, about 10 miles west of Providence. Police said Wednesday in a Facebook post that although they've been keeping loose track of the steer's whereabouts, they can't chase it. So their goal is to keep it contained to wooded areas where it can't endanger drivers or itself. Officers posted a blurry nighttime photo of the bovine showing it on a residential street near a support hour police yard sign and said it appears to be healthy and well-fed. Though it appears in this picture that it backs the blue, the escaped Johnston cow was still on the lam. Where now, all-brown cow, we have been actively tracking and monitoring the cows since its great escape. Help us bring this story to a good conclusion, police wrote. On February 4, after the animal first bolted when a wholesaler lost control of it outside Rhode Island beef and veal in Johnston, a startled Uber driver reported seeing it hooping its way through an intersection as he was waiting for a traffic light to change. That's the Uber driver, not the cow. Or steer. Though the Uber driver was steering, I hope. Anyway. It later was cited in Providence, where local authorities contacted the Department of Environmental Management and Animal Control. Neither agency had the resources to capture and transport the animal according to a police report. Authorities are urging anyone who sees it to alert police and not attempt to corral it themselves. Stay clear of the steer, they posted. Please leave the capture to professionals. A geriatric former ranch horse who gently nudges visitors, if he feels he is not getting enough attention, is a key player in helping people deal with the mental and emotional hurt, Linda Rolino said. He feels he is doing good. I truly believe he feels he is helping people. Rolino, the founder of Longmont's Horses Make Miracles, said while she scratched the muzzle of 37-year-old Dakota. Dakota is one of five horses the non-profit has retrained after lives of farm and ranch work as well as at-race tracks to provide equine therapy sessions. Originally founded in 2004, Horses Make Miracle started out providing therapy for individuals suffering from traumatic brain injury, said Rolino, who attained certification from the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship. Horses Make Miracles now offers a variety of specialized programs, including equine facilitated psychotherapy, life coaching, and hooves of pride for veterans dealing with emotional and physical challenges after returning to civilian life. More than 100 people a year participate in group therapy sessions and private lessons at Horses Make Miracles farm north of Longmont. As many as 120 volunteers help train and care for the horses, maintain the farm, do administrative work, and help instructor and therapist. And that's all we have time for. For Puppet News, I'm Hanson Schmanson. And I'm Aranda Lurr. Good night.