Marie Cusick

Pipelines are center stage in a fight over the nation's energy future, concerns about climate change and private property rights. Donald Trump's election means the battles are likely to continue.

More than 100 nations will sign the climate change deal agreed to in December. It will eventually commit nealy all the world's governments to cut back on greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

The same bad news that is hurting the oil industry is also affecting gas companies. In Pennsylvania, drillers are laying off workers and slashing spending in the face of low commodity prices.

The sudden ups and downs of the oil and gas industry can feel like whiplash for rural communities seeing an influx of workers. Affordable housing has been a challenge. With the current slowdown in drilling, rental prices have dropped, but they're still much higher than they were pre-boom, leaving low-income and senior people still struggling to find a place they can afford.

Driven by new regulations and fracking, more coal power plants are retiring for cheaper, cleaner-burning natural gas. But scientists have yet to work out the fossil fuel's imperfect climate footprint.

Anti-fracking activists say they're being targeted by law enforcement agencies that work with the oil and gas industries to monitor threats to infrastructure.