After disappointing losses in Alaska and Montana, an Indigenous-led climate case is making strides in New Mexico.
Oil
Posted inArticles
Will this threatened frog stop drilling near Denver?
Northern leopard frogs were found near the site of what would be one of state’s largest fossil fuel operations.
Posted inIssues
Western economies falter under the Trump administration
Tariffs, layoffs and federal funding clawbacks stress budgets.
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The nation’s energy dominance falters
Trump is killing clean energy, and it’s not even helping fossil fuels.
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Proposed Wyoming oil and gas leases overlap wildlife corridors
BLM lease sales planned for next summer land along migration paths. Public comments accepted through Nov. 17.
Posted inOctober 2025: Limits to Growth
In a changing Arctic, how much noise is too much?
Alaska’s bowhead whales can hear the climate changing. Scientists are listening in, too.
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New Mexico’s billion-dollar orphaned oilfield problem
After oil companies go bust, the state is left paying to clean up abandoned wells, tanks, machinery and sludge pits.
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The Trump team sets double standard on migratory bird rules
The administration said it will go hunting for cases of wind energy companies unintentionally killing migratory birds — something it has long argued is not a violation of federal law.
Posted inAugust 2025: Fire Culture
How one California community is turning an old oil field into protected habitat
Despite federal policies complicating Fullerton’s conservation success story.
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Can fracking wastewater be reused?
New Mexico’s legislators are eager to repurpose “produced water,” but environmental organizations say that there is no safe way to do that.
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Supreme Court puts Utah’s oil train back on the rails
The 8-0 decision overturned the U.S. Court of Appeals decision that the project’s environmental impact statement was insufficient.
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Working in the Permian Basin comes at a high cost
Oil workers in New Mexico are subjected to harrowing conditions that lead to death, injury, disease and terrible tolls on mental health and family life.
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Poll finds majority of Westerners support climate action and conservation
Colorado College’s annual survey included residents of 8 Western states, the majority of whom identified as politically conservative or moderate.
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Days before Trump took office, Interior approved oil and gas leases for land bought during 2019 public auction
Company can begin to issue plans for drilling near Chaco Canyon buffer zone on Navajo Nation allotment.
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These states use stolen Indigenous land to fund prisons
State trust lands generate millions of dollars for carceral facilities and programs every year, largely from extractive industries like oil and gas drilling.
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Trump’s nominee for leading Interior attempted to rip up rules governing public lands
North Dakota sued the Interior Department at least five times under Gov. Doug Burgum. Now he’s set to run the agency.
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Outgoing Bureau of Land Management director optimistic about public lands
Tracy Stone-Manning discusses the BLM’s achievements and talks about the future as we enter a new political era.
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Jimmy Carter’s mixed environmental record
The former president emphasized conservation, protection — and coal mining.
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Beautiful Bears Ears is at risk, again
What are the consequences for the land if the incoming president shrinks the national monument?
Posted inArticles
Resource production or preservation? Election puts Alaska lands on the line
From oil in the Arctic to the Ambler Road, Alaska’s resource and conservation battles await a new administration’s fate, affecting communities, ecosystems and industries alike.