How a nonprofit cashed in on carbon credit exchanges without reducing emissions.
Lisa Song
Posted inArticles
On Keystone XL route, states allow different risks, reap different benefits
This article was first published by InsideClimate News. If the Keystone XL oil pipeline were approved today, residents in the six states along its route would not receive equal treatment from TransCanada, the company that wants to build the project. The differences are particularly striking when it comes to tax revenue and environmental protection. States […]
Posted inMarch 7, 2011: High Tension
Mount St. Helens: A world apart?
The hummocks of Mount St. Helens’ northern slope look decidedly haphazard. Barren, knuckle-shaped hills alternate with groves of red alder. A straggly willow grows from a mound of rocky soil. Patches of yellow moss are broken by wild strawberry blossoms and the occasional flare of red paintbrush. The effect is unsettling, as if the landscape […]
Posted inMarch 7, 2011: High Tension
Life after lava
Biological diversity thrives around Mount St. Helens
Posted inAugust 16, 2010: Young, All-American, Illegal
Truth, lies and poetry
War DancesSherman Alexie209 pages, hardcover, $23.Grove Press, 2009. In the title story of War Dances, a World War II veteran tries — and fails — to glorify the dying moments of a fellow soldier. “I was thinking about making up something as beautiful as I could,” he tells the dead soldier’s grandson. “But I couldn’t […]
Posted inJuly 19, 2010: The Ute Paradox
Seeing the triceratops for the trees
Kirk Johnson combines science and art to create an ancient landscape
Posted inJune 21, 2010: Immersed in the Wild
Ranger danger?
National parks seem like places of refuge, far removed from urban crime and violence. But for at least the last decade, law enforcement rangers in the National Park Service have been among the federal law enforcement officers most likely to be injured or killed by assault. In 2009, descriptions of violent incidents in national parks […]
Posted inGoat
A Swift SWIP hike
A typical thru-hiker might walk 15-20 miles a day to finish a long trail. Adam Bradley managed 40 a day when he set the record for the 2,700-mile Pacific Crest Trail in 2009; so his latest escapade — averaging 31 miles a day for 16 days — was probably a breeze. The 501-mile trek began […]
Posted inGoat
A water hog, redeemed
“A big tamarisk can suck 73,000 gallons of river water a year. For $2.88 a day, plus water bounty, Lolo rips tamarisk all winter long.” So begins Paolo Bacigalupi’s “The Tamarisk Hunter,” a short story set in a dystopic future when humans must fight tamarisk for every drop of water. The story might be made […]
Posted inGoat
Next stop: water on tap
This weekend, thousands of Navajos will pile their trucks with 55-gallon drums and drive to the nearest watering station. If they’re lucky, the lines will be short, the coin-operated water pipes will work, and they’ll return home with enough to drink, wash and cook for another week. Hauling water is a common chore in the […]
Posted inGoat
The Trouble with Wilbur
There’s nothing like a feral pig to blur the line between free food and pest management. Days after the Arizona Daily Star published a map showing feral pig populations around the state (along with a note that Arizona doesn’t require licenses for hunting feral pigs), a dozen hunting parties converged on one of the hot […]
Posted inGoat
Voyage of the Plastiki
Two weeks have passed since 12,000 plastic bottles began riding the waves from San Francisco to Sydney. This is no mini Pacific Garbage Patch–the bottles form the bulk of the Plastiki, a 60-foot sailing boat built from recycled materials. Its big, flashy journey is intended to raise awareness about manmade pollution in the ocean. Perhaps […]
Posted inGoat
Popcorn Activism
The trailer for the new documentary Gasland lasts all of 15 seconds: a man turns on the kitchen tap. He holds a match up to the flowing water and FWOOSH–foot-high flames leap toward the ceiling. Dramatic, yes, but perhaps old news to Westerners who know the possible dangers of natural gas drilling. Thanks to a […]
Posted inGoat
Olympic Sasquatch
Quatchi is a bearded, earmuff-loving sasquatch. He was one of the official mascots of the 2010 Winter Olympics, part of a trio that included Miga, a mythical sea bear sporting a serious cowlick, and Sumi, an animal spirit with furry feet and thunderbird wings. All three were inspired by the legends of four of Canada’s […]
Posted inGoat
Sick by Sippy Cup
Beware the smiling creature in your bathtub: it’s yellow, it squeaks, your kids love it, and it gets into your bloodstream—literally. The average rubber duck is covered in phthalates, industrial chemicals that make plastics more flexible. While that’s good for the rubber bounciness of bath toys, some phthalates have proven to be endocrine disruptors that […]
Posted inGoat
Beanstalk 2013
WANTED: thrill-seeking gardeners with a love of heights. Experience washing skyscraper windows a plus. Such an ad might appear in Portland, Oreg., by 2013. Thanks to government stimulus funds, the city’s main federal building will be renovated with giant plant-bearing trellises down its western side. These “vegetated fins” will shade the building in summer and […]
Posted inFebruary 1, 2010: 'The environment ... is where we live'
Catch-and-release at HCN
A new and very talented crop of interns has just joined HCN. They’ll be here for the next six months, learning how a nonprofit media outlet works, and researching, interviewing and writing stories for us. A recipient of the Boyden Wilderness Writing Residency, Nicholas Neely arrived in Paonia after six months in a remote Oregon […]
Posted inGoat
Attack of the dromedaries
It’s sunrise on the Colorado River, and a dozen sand-colored lumps stir by the banks. Bodies rise on spindly legs. Mouths open with a sound like pulling dentures. In a flash of gums, twelve sets of teeth clamp down on the nearest tamarisk plants. Chomp. Chomp. Leaves, bark and thorns disappear in a rhythm of […]