A New Mexico neighborhood offers a case study in the successes, and failures, of the environmental justice movement
Ray Ring
Posted inDecember 21, 2009: Wind Resistance
The federal energy two-step
Oil and gas companies are furious with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, but enviros wonder if he’ll go far enough
Posted inWotr
A “shock jock” in Montana has a great fall
Environmentalists are “green Nazis … pure, unadulterated satanic evil … vile vomit.” Does that hateful tone sound familiar? Radio and TV commentary tycoons — Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and their ilk — often use that kind of language against their targets, including not only environmentalists, but also liberals and gay people. Their broadcasts encourage destructive […]
Posted inDecember 7, 2009: Dueling Claims
‘The West’s Biggest Bully’ gets his
“Shock jock” John Stokes loses his radio station in a battle over bankruptcy
Posted inArticles
The roadless rule’s ground game
Earthjustice editor Tom Turner’s book provides more details
Posted inArticles
The Wicked Witch of the West
Harriet Hageman could be roadless proponents’ worst nightmare.
Posted inArticles
The roadless rule ground game
Earthjustice editor Tom Turner’s book provides more details
Posted inNovember 9, 2009: Roadless-less
Roadless-less
The campaign to protect unroaded forests gets torn apart by a Wyoming judge in ‘half-assed retirement’
Posted inOctober 12, 2009: Silenced Springs?
Parties ‘R’ Some Of Us
Even as many Westerners struggle with layoffs, pay cuts, medical bills and other economic troubles, wealthy people in resort towns are whooping it up. That’s the report from the companies that supply banquet tables and chairs, enormous tents, portable dance floors, sound and lighting systems, antler chandeliers, artificial trees, eruptions of flowers and other party-throwing […]
Posted inSeptember 14, 2009: Home
Our best idea
Dayton Duncan was an impressionable 9-year-old when he made his first journey into the West’s national parks. He had the kind of life-changing experience that many people have enjoyed in the parks. Beginning Sept. 27, it will pay off in 12 hours of evocative public television, exploring how land conservation is often inspired by personal […]
Posted inRay
Obama enviros now total 34
The Obama administration has now enlisted at least 34 people who have direct ties to environmental groups or clear leanings in that direction. That’s my running count of the enviros nominated or appointed to top jobs in federal agencies and the White House. The latest is Harris Sherman, executive director of the Colorado Department of […]
Posted inWotr
Is Obama’s goal of diversity trumping other goals?
Homer Lee Wilkes. Ignacia Moreno. Hilary Tompkins. Each is a member of a racial or ethnic minority, and each has been nominated by Barack Obama, our first black president, to a high position with power over environmental issues in the West. And each has faced skepticism from environmentalists. On May 5, Obama picked Wilkes to […]
Posted inAugust 31, 2009: The dark side of dairies
The new Third World
People are desperate for medical care in the West’s inner cities and rural areas.
Posted inAugust 17, 2009: From Corn to Cabernet
Affirmative actions
Homer Lee Wilkes. Ignacia Moreno. Hilary Tompkins. Each is a member of a racial or ethnic minority. Each has been nominated by Barack Obama — the first black president — to a high position with power over environmental issues in the West. And each has faced skepticism from environmentalists. On May 5, Obama picked Wilkes […]
Posted inRay
Obama does Montana … and vice versa
Preparing to be in a Montana town hall with the president of the United States on August 14, 2009: First think about what to wear. Faded jeans? That would be Montana-ish. But notice a hole worn right though the old denim. So not the faded jeans. Maybe the dark blue jeans that haven’t faded yet […]
Posted inJuly 27, 2009: The Most Cooked-Up Catch
The same old Sen. Reid?
The Nevada lawmaker has a long history of opposing attempts to reform an antiquated federal mining law
Posted inRay
Obama enviros
My list of 37 influential environmentalists who are in — or very close to — the Obama administration (updated most recently on Sept. 10, 2009): I’m not saying environmentalists run everything now — far from it. But most commentators focus on industry people who gain political power, so I’ll contribute something original by tracking enviros. […]
Posted inRay
More on forest power plays
Here are three more takes on experiments in running the West’s national forests differently — follow-up to my High Country News story, “Taking Control of the Machine.” —– Do I think the experiments will succeed? … That question was posed by Colorado Public Radio host Kirk Siegler, when he interviewed me last Friday on KUNC […]
Posted inJuly 20, 2009: Thinking Outside the Timber Box
Mixed greens
Ever since the scraggly mountain-roaming John Muir joined other Californians to found the Sierra Club in 1892, that state has led the country in protecting the environment. California began regulating pesticides back in the horse-and-buggy era. Beginning in the 1950s, it passed comprehensive laws for air and water quality, regulation of toxic substances, tougher emissions […]
Posted inWotr
Green gearheads? Rev it up!
This idea will probably strike some people as outrageous. But what the hey, progress rarely comes easily. The Wilderness Society, a behemoth in the environmental movement, has been running a help-wanted ad. It’s looking to hire a “Public Lands Recreation Policy Advisor.” Anyone taking that job, which is based in the group’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, […]