Afghans might learn from history what happens to people who live above valuable minerals.
Energy & Industry
Posted inBlog
Representatives ask Obama to examine impacts of tar sands pipeline
In late June, the Obama Administration received a letter [PDF] from fifty members of the U.S. House of Representatives, demanding that the President take a hard look at the climate change impacts of a proposed oil pipeline that would more than double the United States’ consumption of Canadian tar sands oil. This 1,600-mile oil pipeline, called Keystone […]
Posted inArticles
Shades of hope for uranium’s forgotten victims
A proposed bill expands worker compensation
Posted inGoat
Natural gas comes on strong
If natural gas was going to try and pick me up at a bar, the encounter would likely go like this: Gas: “I’m low-carbon, cute, and widely available.” Me: “You’re not that cute.” While natural gas keeps getting play as the “bridge fuel” that will help the United States reduce carbon dioxide emissions, it’s no […]
Posted inGoat
He who buys the most names wins
It wasn’t a lack of public support that killed the Fair Mining Tax Initiative in Nevada (see our cover story, “Nevada’s Golden Child”): to the end, the measure to impose a 5 percent severance tax on hardrock mining’s gross earnings had the support of 40 percent of the state, with a roughly a quarter still […]
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A Culture of Failure
[O]ur investigation revealed an organizational culture lacking acceptance of government ethical standards, inappropriate personal behaviors, and a program without the necessary internal controls in place to prevent future unethical or unlawful behavior. – Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Interior, Investigative Report, MMS Oil Marketing Group, Aug. 19, 2008 As if you needed a […]
Posted inRange
Colin Peterson, the 2012 Farm Bill and the environment
Lead by Chairman Colin Peterson of Minnesota, the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee held hearings and took testimony in April and May in preparation for a new Farm Bill. Peterson would like to pass a new version of the bill in 2012. The process began with a hearing in DC on April 21st which I […]
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Gulf tragedy highlights need for Native renewables
Six weeks after the blowout, the calamity in the Gulf of Mexico shows no signs of abating – in fact, information emerging from the region continues to reveal new dimensions of the disaster. Media reports suggest that this is the worst environmental catastrophe in history; that long-term damage to the Gulf’s ecosystem will cripple not […]
Posted inGoat
A Swift SWIP hike
A typical thru-hiker might walk 15-20 miles a day to finish a long trail. Adam Bradley managed 40 a day when he set the record for the 2,700-mile Pacific Crest Trail in 2009; so his latest escapade — averaging 31 miles a day for 16 days — was probably a breeze. The 501-mile trek began […]
Posted inMay 24, 2010: Accidental Wilderness
Clean air, hazy politics
Colorado air quality law pits coal against gas, rural against urban greens
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Grand Canyon uranium threatens tribal water
Last week, a delegation of leaders from Arizona’s Havasupai Tribe traveled to Washington D.C., to advocate for the protection of the Grand Canyon region from a potential onslaught of uranium extraction activities. These four women – tribal council members and traditional elders – voiced their concern for the safety of the land, the purity of […]
Posted inGoat
Refinery blues
The Sinclair Wyoming Refinery’s clumsy environmental record continues to stumble: Last week, some 80 dead birds, most of them western grebes, were found in a wastewater pond laced with oil spilled from an undetermined source in the refinery. The accident is the latest in a spate of spills (see our story, “Sinclair flare up“) at […]
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Psssst…everyone… jobs in North Dakota.
It’s a common theme here in the West — during boom times, more workers flood into towns than can be housed. Workers loaded with cash they’ve made in the oil and gas fields or uranium mines can’t find an apartment to rent, while hotels are booked for months, even years in advance. Many end up […]
Posted inWotr
Walking through the din of a coastal maelstrom
The five of us walk slowly along the spongy Pacific Coast trail, showing flashes of color in the green and brown, mossy forest: My daughter’s polka-dot rain jacket, my son’s electric-blue backpack. We have gotten by the sections that require low tide to cross. The path climbs into the rainforest while storm squalls canter overhead. […]
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Sovereignty versus stewardship
Last month, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) released the draft of a bill intended to “unlock the potential of Indian energy resources.” The bill would amend the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to ease restrictions on extractive industry’s activities on tribal lands, including the elimination of federal drilling fees, the reduction of federal environmental oversight, and […]
Posted inGoat
Myths about myths
You’ll probably soon hear about the “five myths about green energy,” if you haven’t already. They’re the talking points of a book to be published this week, Power Hungry: The Myths of “Green” Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future by Robert Bryce, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He wrote […]
Posted inApril 26, 2010: Nevada's Pot of Gold
Nevada’s Golden Child
Is the state’s hardrock mining industry losing its grip?
Posted inRange
Waste not … or get nukes
A few weeks ago the New Mexico Environmental Law Center’s media director, Juana Colon, suggested I should write a blog post about policymakers’ recent embrace of nuclear power as just a way to enrich the world’s economic elites while at the same time continuing to subject poor and minority communities to various kinds of radioactive […]