High Country News

A poisoned Montana town gets its shot at justice

The W.R. Grace executives whose company poisoned Libby, Mont., with asbestos from a vermiculite mine finally meet their victims face-to-face in a Montana courtroom.

by Andrea Peacock, Apr 09, 2009
Brace yourselves for the counterrevolution

Don’t worry so much about what President Bush will do to the environment; worry instead about the three new justices he might put on the Supreme Court

by Jon Margolis, Dec 06, 2004
Bush's second-term shake-ups

Some of the less-publicized political appointments of George W. Bush’s second term will have huge effects on the West. Meet the people who will direct the EPA and the departments of Energy, Agriculture and the Interior.

by Laura Paskus, Feb 07, 2005
California's farmers ditch dirty diesel pumps

California’s two largest utility companies are encouraging farmers to switch from polluting diesel irrigation pumps to electric ones

by J.M. McCord, Feb 07, 2005
Clean air regulations protect park views by targeting coal plants

The Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to reduce haze from air pollution near national parks and wilderness; some coal-fired power plants are cleaning up their act and others will shut down.

by Cally Carswell, Nov 13, 2011
Clearing the air

California farmers have long been exempt from the Clean Air Act, but that may change, as legislators and activists tackle the health and environmental problems linked to agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley

by Cosmo Garvin, Oct 13, 2003
Mountains of mercury

The EPA has failed to regulate the mercury discharged from cement plants like the one in Durkee, Ore.

by Jeremy Miller, Jan 19, 2010
Oil and gas drilling clouds the West's air

Air pollution from oil and gas drilling is on the increase in the Rocky Mountain West, and environmentalists and energy companies are trying to prevent it from getting any worse

by Ray Ring, Oct 31, 2005
Only 40 years ago, the Earth got its day

Earth Day, which was first celebrated 40 years ago, was largely created by Gaylord Nelson, a Democratic senator from Wisconsin who fought hard for environmental laws.

by Tim Lydon, Apr 13, 2010
States tighten rules, challenge feds to follow

The state of California pioneered pollution-control efforts decades ago in response to L.A. smog, and today, the Western states are hoping to set the course for national action on climate change

by Michelle Nijhuis, Mar 06, 2006