Ray

This is a good counterpoint to the rightwing Tea Party accusations that Obama and Congressional Democrats are “socialists” because they increase the government’s role in health care and economic stimulus and so on. Dairy farmers in Idaho — and around the country — want new federal subsidies that would guarantee they make a certain profit […]

The biggest message in Western elections yesterday was California’s Proposition 14 — the ballot measure that aims to reduce the power of hardliners in both political parties. More than 54 percent of the California voters — fed up with extremists who cause gridlock — approved the reform. From now on, if the reform isn’t stalled […]

 In 1995, during one of the never-ending controversies about federal management of oil and gas drilling, a prominent Western industry group made a radical suggestion. The group — the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States or IPAMS for short — called for the end of federal land. Diemer True, a Wyoming oil baron representing IPAMS, […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

Republicans in the U.S. Senate today stood up for a downtrodden victim — the oil and gas industry. That’s how they described it anyway. Really a lot more is at stake. The superficial news: On behalf of their chosen industry, using classic Senate martial arts, the Republicans blocked the Obama administration’s nominee for the Number […]

Maybe it’s more incompetence by U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors — kind of a holdover from the Bush era. Maybe it’s because a criminal conspiracy charge is always difficult to prove. Or maybe it’s a form of justice. A jury in Missoula, Montana, just decided that the W.R. Grace corporation and some former Grace executives […]

The Obama administration just nominated the next direct political boss of the U.S. Forest Service — a job with huge importance around the West. And behold, the Obamanites didn’t pick the environmental movement’s candidate — Chris Wood, a Trout Unlimited leader who helped run the Forest Service during the Clinton Administration. They also didn’t pick […]

Environmental groups send me many press releases. And I read many news stories about environmental issues — news framed by the groups. The influential groups are busy designating more wilderness, and filing lawsuits to protect wolves, and pushing Congress to reform mining law, battling coal, battling oil and gas, battling off-road drivers etc. etc. But […]

If you have a taste for irony and political dilemmas, this is delicious. We all know how Western Democratic politicians get more popular by coming out for gun rights. They’re packing guns and twirlin’ and shootin’ … partly because some are gun folks, and mainly because it’s good for the image. It differentiates them from […]