Filling the economic void left by the extraction economy by healing the land.
Colorado
Posted inAugust 1, 2022: Our Fiery Future
How oil companies endlessly avoid cleanup costs
In Colorado, a sale of 110 low-producing oil wells illustrates a hot potato effect, and how funding remediation eventually comes from the public.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2022: Going Under
The EPA has more options to rein in climate change than you think
There are still many ways to shut down major polluters — including some options the agency isn’t using.
Posted inArticles
Can Colorado solve its ozone problem?
Some health experts say current state and federal measures won’t lower ozone pollution to safe levels across the state’s Front Range.
Posted inArticles
When I knew I had made it home
I drifted around the rural West and country for decades. Until I reached a small corner of Colorado.
Posted inJuly 1, 2022: Living with Rivers
The Colorado stream case that could revolutionize river access
‘There are waters I’ve wanted to fish for 50 years, and I’ve been denied the use of a state-owned resource.’
Posted inJuly 1, 2022: Living with Rivers
Your ears will perk up at these new Western podcasts
Four new podcasts envision change in juvenile justice, energy and ranching.
Posted inJuly 1, 2022: Living with Rivers
You have a second body
And it’s tethered — in ways both identifiable and mysterious — to microbes, whales, ice shelves and landfills.
Posted inArticles
The shift to green energy, obstructed
A whole host of factors has thrown the transition away from fossil fuels to more sustainable forms of energy off track.
Posted inArticles
Nebraska’s curious ‘canal to nowhere’ would siphon water from Colorado
Water experts say the $500 million project won’t really do anything to help the Cornhusker State’s water supplies. What’s going on?
Posted inArticles
See the Western conservation projects getting Infrastructure Act money this year
Approximately $68 million will be delivered to more than 100 projects across the country — many of which are based in the West.
Posted inArticles
Ashes and silver linings: Marshall Fire survivors reflect
Colorado’s most destructive fire leaves behind grief and slow recoveries.
Posted inArticles
Utah wants to build an oil railway through a wilderness area
Questions surround the fiscal viability of the project and how this aligns with Biden’s climate agenda.
Posted inMay 1, 2022: New Ways of Seeing the West
The revenge of Big Tech
When tech companies rule the world, what could go wrong?
Posted inArticles
Why rural communities struggle to bring in much-needed federal grants
A new analysis suggests that over half of communities in the West lack the capacity to take advantage of infrastructure bill funding. Now what?
Posted inArticles
On grieving trees
For years, a young writer saw the tell-tale signs of beetle kill. And then the infestation came for the pines at her own home.
Posted inJune 1, 2022: A Legacy of Weapons and War
Powell’s looming power problem
Drought and demand threaten a critical component of the Western grid.
Posted inArticles
Cleanup of abandoned uranium mines creates a demand for workers
A growing industry for environmental remediation needs a local workforce with the right training.
Posted inApril 1, 2022: The Archives Issue
What’s wrong with the Manitou Cliff Dwellings Museum and Preserve?
Archival documents reveal the true origins of a popular Colorado tourist attraction.
Posted inArticles
A mysterious solar farm crops up in Colorado
Are the solar panels, spread over 74 acres on the Western Slope, intended to power a crypto mine? No one’s saying.