Energy policy TV show will go dark after funding loss

The weekly energy policy television program energyNOW! will go off the air at the end of the year.

The program’s sponsor, the American Clean Skies Foundation, a nonprofit group with industry ties that advocates for expanded use of natural gas, announced last week that it will no longer fund the show. The group also laid off the show’s staff, effective Jan. 1.

Launched in October 2010, energyNOW! expanded during the past year, hiring new reporters and securing a distribution agreement with Bloomberg.

The show also hired Andrew Heyward, former president of CBS News, to serve as the program’s ombudsman. Heyward was charged with ensuring that the American Clean Skies Foundation did not influence the program’s reporting. The chairman of the foundation’s board is the CEO of Chesapeake Energy, a major natural gas company.

The 30-minute show recently tackled issues such as electric vehicles, nuclear waste and the controversial natural gas drilling practice called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."

The American Clean Skies Foundation says it will co-sponsor a new series on Bloomberg that will profile “energy innovators.”