Critics say the lease is at odds with President Biden’s pledge to combat the climate crisis.
Energy & Industry
Posted inArticles
Can New Mexico transition from fossil fuels?
Oil and gas revenue funds everything from campaigns to government functions, complicating promises of a greener future.
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Is California’s carbon offset program actually helping the environment?
How a nonprofit cashed in on carbon credit exchanges without reducing emissions.
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Captured methane can address climate change and offset electricity costs
As coal mines continue to close, there’s a use for the greenhouse gas that continues seeping from operations.
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Haaland kicks off tenure focusing on climate and environmental injustice
The new Interior secretary issued orders to create a Climate Task Force at the agency and to prioritize the social costs of greenhouse gases.
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The health hazards of California’s neighborhood drilling
Much of the state’s oil extraction takes place in residential areas, often in Spanish-speaking communities, but there’s a lack of research detailing its impact.
Posted inMay 1, 2021: Beauty and Biodiversity in the Borderlands
Has Eugene, Oregon, found a ‘superpower’ for climate action?
The city’s eyeing changes to its natural gas contract to fund climate ambitions.
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Wyoming’s schools at risk as the state’s extraction industries erode
One of the biggest spenders per student in the nation, the state has tied the expenditure to mineral wealth. Will legislators vote to raise state taxes?
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
Energy companies have left Colorado with billions of dollars in oil and gas cleanup
As the state tries to reform its relationship to drilling, an expensive task awaits.
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Put unemployed miners and drillers back to work in restoration
There’s economic development in reclaiming coal mines and plugging idled wells.
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Will New Mexico learn from coal’s decline?
The state relies on oil and gas revenue, but the industry faces an uncertain future.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
All fracked up: A debut memoir wrestles with toxic masculinity in the oil fields
Michael Patrick F. Smith’s ‘The Good Hand’ offers sharp observations on North Dakota’s extraction industry.
Posted inApril 1, 2021: Holding Fast
How to reverse Trump’s harmful legacy on conservation
President Biden is off to a good start, but there is much to be done. The Restoration Project has a blueprint.
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New Mexico eyed for major nuclear waste storage facility
Critics say virtual meetings bypassed rural communities and raise concerns about the company behind the proposal.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
Coal’s big breakdown
A half-century ago, the ‘Big Buildup’ transformed the West; now, it’s all coming to an end.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
Mountaintop removal threatens traditional Blackfoot territory
Stop the Grassy Mountain coal project before it starts.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
The fight for an equitable energy economy for the Navajo Nation
Diné activist Nicole Horseherder’s long quest for equity from the rise and fall of the coal economy.
Posted inMarch 1, 2021: The Rough Road Ahead
Public land is no longer on sale to oil and gas companies
President Biden’s leasing pause signals a major shift in federal land policy.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
How Wyoming’s Black coal miners shaped their own history
Many early Wyoming coal towns had thriving Black communities.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2021: End of the Line
Bears Ears is just the beginning
As the Biden administration begins, tribal nations with ties to Utah assert their relationships to the land.