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Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang is a National Security Correspondent for The Washington Times. His reporting is regularly featured in the daily Threat Status newsletter.
Previously, he covered energy and the environment, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016, and also spent two years as a White House correspondent during the Obama administration.
Before coming to The Times in 2011, Ben worked as political reporter at The Republican-Herald in Pottsville, Pa.
He can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Ben Wolfgang

$**FILE** A Chesapeake Energy natural gas well site operates near Burlington, Pa. Natural gas locked in dense rock deep beneath Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Ohio requires a powerful drilling process called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” to release it. (Associated Press)$

Shale study’s lead author faces ‘green’ backlash

Faced with mounting criticism, the State University of New York at Buffalo is distancing itself from a Marcellus Shale gas-drilling study released earlier this month by the school's own Shale Resources and Society Institute.

May 28, 2012

Number of high-school students with jobs hits 20-year low

Did somebody say McJobless? The American job market is no place for students as the number of employed high schoolers has hit its lowest level in more than 20 years, according to new figures from the National Center for Education Statistics.

May 24, 2012

School officials fear a federal policy takeover

By expanding its "Race to the Top" education grant contest to the district level, the Obama administration has left some state education chiefs feeling elbowed out, saying Washington is trying to establish itself as the national school board.

May 23, 2012

Thunder makes itself heard for changes in law

Rolling Thunder's imprint on Washington goes far beyond the roar of hundreds of thousands of bikes on city streets each Memorial Day weekend. The organization has aggressively pushed a broad legislative agenda, with several of its priorities now the law of the land.

May 23, 2012

Vets, supporters find solace, camaraderie in Rolling Thunder’s roar

Beyond the sheer size and cachet that the Rolling Thunder rally now carries, there remains at the heart of the gathering a tight-knit community of veterans, family and friends of former POWs and those still missing.

May 23, 2012

Opponents claim Keystone would boost gas prices

TransCanada's proposed $7.6 billion Keystone XL pipeline, a massive project that would transport Canadian oil to Texas refineries on the Gulf Coast, has been pitched as a way to lower domestic gas prices. But a coalition of environmental groups on Tuesday produced a new study claiming the pipeline would have the opposite effect.

May 22, 2012

Administration widens scope of ‘Race to the Top’

The Obama administration is taking its signature "Race to the Top" education grant competition to the micro level.

May 22, 2012

Attack Wright? Wrong. Attack Bain? Refrain

The economy remains the driving issue in the 2012 presidential campaign, but both sides have in recent days taken detours to deal with distractions and ghosts from the past.

May 20, 2012

Obama adviser Axelrod: Religion not a campaign issue

President Obama's senior adviser on Sunday pledged that the Democratic campaign won't target Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's Mormon faith.

May 20, 2012

Pennsylvania gets high marks for rein on drilling for gas

Pennsylvania over the past three years has greatly reduced the number of environmental incidents related to natural gas drilling, and state officials appear fully able to oversee the industry without intrusion from the federal government, according to a study released Tuesday.

May 15, 2012

National curriculum plan may face challenge

An influential group of conservative state lawmakers is on the verge of proposing model legislation to block the Common Core national education standards that have been heavily promoted by the Obama administration.

May 10, 2012

Conservatives defend fired writer on race

Conservative commentators and think tanks have rushed in recent days to the defense of embattled journalist Naomi Schaefer Riley, who was fired from her job as a blogger with the widely respected Chronicle of Higher Education for questioning the value of black-studies programs.

May 9, 2012

Georgetown catches flak for Sebelius invite

In what has become an annual tradition, another Catholic university has come under fire for its choice of commencement speaker.

May 8, 2012

Solar project opens on federal property

Interior Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar on Monday cheered on the opening of the first large-scale solar power project on federal property, just three days after his department rolled out new regulations on oil and gas companies doing business on those very same lands.

May 7, 2012

Colleges pledge to squelch dangerous rites of hazing

After horrific, firsthand accounts from students and multiple recent deaths, the long-accepted practice of hazing — both in Greek organizations and other university clubs — has been thrust into the spotlight, and a fierce, unprecedented crackdown from college leaders is gaining traction nationwide.

May 2, 2012