Even without wholesale land transfers, public lands are already being conveyed to industry.
Jonathan Thompson
Jonathan Thompson is a contributing editor at High Country News. He is the author of Sagebrush Empire: How a Remote Utah County Became the Battlefront of American Public Lands. Follow him @LandDesk
Posted inArticles
The 26,000 tons of radioactive waste under Lake Powell
The West’s uranium boom brought dozens of mills to the banks of the Colorado River — where toxic waste was dumped irresponsibly.
Posted inArticles
What national monument protections do
Some say the Bears Ears shrinkage won’t change anything — they’re wrong.
Posted inDecember 25, 2017: Bear Essentials
Interior Department’s return to the ‘robber baron’ years
Secretary Ryan Zinke will be known better for cynicism than conservationism.
Posted inArticles
How to make sense of Trump’s changes to Bears Ears
The drastically reduced boundaries don’t line up with what the public wants.
Posted inDecember 25, 2017: Bear Essentials
A map of $1.1 billion in natural gas pipeline leaks
In seven years, pipeline incidents have killed nearly 100 people nationwide.
Posted inArticles
Nationwide, oil pipeline spills are a near-daily reality
As Nebraska OKs Keystone XL route, a look at U.S. oil spills since 2015.
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Coal. Guns. Freedom?
How the Trump administration has seized mythologies around coal.
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National monuments protect meaning, not just landscapes
If Bears Ears shrinks, it will be to our national cultural detriment.
Posted inAugust 21, 2017: Rooftop Revolution
One grid to rule them all
And in the darkness, bind them: The West’s bid for one big electric grid.
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Can Zinke shrink Bears Ears?
The Interior Secretary hints at a smaller, scattered national monument.
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The Trump administration’s false coal stats, explained
Enviro chief Scott Pruitt’s coal job numbers aren’t even close to accurate.
Posted inArticles
What’s really killing King Coal?
Rick Perry wants to save coal from solar and wind, but natural gas is the real culprit.
Posted inMay 15, 2017: Prison Town
Fact-checking Trump’s Antiquities Act order
Trump and Sen. Orrin Hatch rely on dubious claims to attack national monuments.
Posted inMarch 20, 2017: The Tree Ring
What the Navajo Generating Station will leave behind
Cleaner air, wounded economies.
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7 things you need to know about Navajo Generating Station’s 2019 closure
The West’s coal giant is going down.
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The arguments for methane regulations
‘Tailings wars’ of the past provide perspective on today’s flaring rules.
Posted inJanuary 23, 2017: For Which it Stands
Was the Bears Ears designation a victory?
Despite compromise, the controversial monument’s opposition is riled up.
Posted inArticles
Bears Ears a go — but here’s where Obama drew the line
The designation’s concessions are unlikely to appease ardent opponents.
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‘New Mexico’s DAPL’ is dead
The pipeline would have carried crude oil drilled around Chaco Culture National Historic Park.