Changing demographics, including an aging rural population, put more pressure on health care systems.
Paige Blankenbuehler
Posted inArticles
California nixes funding for coal export terminals
Governor’s bill blocks transport to markets in Asia.
Posted inSeptember 5, 2016: When the Doctor is Out
Latest: NASA determines methane hotspot is from natural gas production
BACKSTORYA methane “hot spot” over the Four Corners region has puzzled scientists for nearly a decade: Concentrations of the greenhouse gas were far higher than could be accounted for by official inventories from known contributors — an underground coal mine, landfills, and oil and gas infrastructure. So in 2015, NASA scientists began an intensive examination […]
Posted inAugust 22, 2016: 100
Farewell to a senior editor
This issue we’re saying goodbye, in a way, to longtime High Country News writer and old friend Jonathan Thompson, who is leaving his post as senior editor in Durango, Colorado, to move to Bulgaria with his family. There he’ll be hard at work turning his extensive reporting on Colorado’s Gold King Mine spill into his […]
Posted inAugust 22, 2016: 100
Nuclear power divides California’s environmentalists
Is the closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant good or bad for the climate?
Posted inArticles
A community curbs pain pill abuse, but heroin addiction grows
Interventions intended to reduce over-prescription of pain medicine may unintentionally be feeding a rise in heroin use in southwest Colorado.
Posted inAugust 8, 2016: Line of Descent
HCN in the classroom
It’s been a long, hot summer, but by the time this issue comes out, we’ll all be complaining that it’s almost over. If you’re an academic type, already contemplating the new semester, you might need an extra mood boost. And we have just the thing: the HCNU classroom program, which provides free subscriptions for you […]
Posted inAugust 8, 2016: Line of Descent
Latest: Obama administration to continue Navajo Nation uranium cleanup
The EPA has already spent $100 million to remediate decades of mining.
Posted inJuly 25, 2016: Salmon Power
Meet our new intern and fellows
During our publication break, which just ended, we bid a fond farewell to former intern Bryce Gray, who wrapped up his session at the end of June. He’s now the full-time energy and environment reporter at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Congrats to Bryce, and even more to the Post-Dispatch: Y’all have landed yourself a fine […]
Posted inJuly 25, 2016: Salmon Power
See new pictures of the desert’s natural art
In ‘Death Valley: Painted Light,’ the landscape takes on abstract forms.
Posted inArticles
Report: Coal jobs will decline with or without federal regulations
A new study from the Energy Information Administration finds the Clean Power Plan speeds coal’s decline.
Posted inArticles
Dispatch from coal country: Advocates and adversaries duel over leasing reform
In western Colorado, two visions for the future of fossil fuels collide at a BLM listening session.
Posted inArticles
Retreating glaciers a sign of Alaska’s major meltdown
This summer’s record-breaking temperatures hasten glacier, permafrost melt.
Posted inJuly 25, 2016: Salmon Power
Latest: EPA won’t regulate logging road runoff
EPA says the Clean Water Act is enough to ensure stream health.
Posted inArticles
By the numbers: Western coal mine layoffs
Coal mines are scaling back and shutting down — and jobs are disappearing.
Posted inJune 27, 2016: The New Advocates
A skipped issue, and a farewell to Bill Mitchell
Paonia, Colorado, home of High Country News, has been in the middle of a heat wave, with temperatures lurking around 90 degrees for far too long. We’re looking forward to skipping an issue, per our usual schedule, and will see you again in July! Despite the heat, Claire Goodis-Baker and Lynell Kyser of Denver stopped […]
Posted inJune 27, 2016: The New Advocates
Meet the new advocates for the West
A generation of young Western activists are using outdoor sports as a step towards conservation.
Posted inArticles
New hydrocarbon estimates put western Colorado on edge
USGS now says the region has the nation’s second-largest reserves, but a flush market means little will change for now.
Posted inJune 13, 2016: Water to Dust
El Niño adds fuel to Southwestern fires
In California, Arizona and New Mexico, an underperforming weather pattern increased wildfire risk.
Posted inJune 13, 2016: Water to Dust
Farewell to a valuable staff member
For the first time in several years, the blossoms on the apricot trees at the High Country News headquarters in Paonia survived the spring frosts, and bright green nascent fruit is already weighing down the branches. Throughout the valley, all the fruit seems to be thriving — from peaches and nectarines to apples and wine […]