Just over a year ago, I traveled around Arizona’s copper country, talking to folks about the new mining boom. I learned that, thanks to soaring copper prices, the gaping pit mines were bound to get even bigger and deeper, along with their attendant environmental costs. Not everyone was pleased, but most saw it as inevitable: […]
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 inGoat
After the crash
The housing/growth boom of the last decade was a wild ride for the West, feeling a bit like a euphoric all-night meth binge. Only the drug in this case was easy credit and an unshakable belief that the good times could never end. Nearly three years after the housing bubble reached its bursting point — […]
Posted inWotr
Tent cities and what they tell us
The blockbuster love story, Slumdog Millionaire, has brought images of a ramshackle slum in Mumbai, India, to millions of American viewers. Although the slum may have been a bit prettified, it did the trick: Moviegoers were shocked, offended and also deeply moved by how the poor of other nations live. The movie’s popularity has inspired […]
Posted inMarch 16, 2009: Innovate
Slumdog U.S.A.
In recent months, the big-screen blockbuster love story, Slumdog Millionaire, has brought images of a ramshackle Mumbai slum to millions of American viewers. Although the slum may have been a bit prettified, it did the trick: Moviegoers were shocked, offended and deeply moved by how the poor of other nations live. The movie’s popularity has […]
Posted inGoat
Mixed messages
Yesterday, the New York Times had a swell interactive map that showed unemployment rates in every county in the nation. It showed that, with the exception of Michigan, the West is getting whacked by job losses harder than just about anyone else. California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington are all awash with high unemployment rates. The […]
Posted inGoat
Fueling the fire in Mexico
I recently wrote about the drug-related violence in Mexico and along our southern border. That generated some nice discussion. Even in the short time since I wrote that, the violence seems to have intensified: Already, more than 300 people have been murdered in the Juarez area this year. Yes, THIS year — that’s less than […]
Posted inWotr
Decriminalizing drugs could stop the violence on the border
It sure didn’t seem like the kind of place where bloodied drug smugglers stumble out of the scrub after shootouts. But it was. On a recent road trip to Mexico, my family and I stopped for the night at some friends’ house near Tubac, Ariz., between Tucson and the border. Our friends’ backyard stretches into […]
Posted inFebruary 16, 2009: The Half-life of Memory
The importance of memory
In Nicole Krauss’ sparse and astonishing novel, Man Walks Into A Room, local cops find a disoriented man wandering along Highway 95 in the desolate Mercury Valley of Nevada. After the officers get him out of the shimmering heat, we learn that the man, Samson, has a brain tumor that has obliterated a large chunk […]
Posted inGoat
Legalize It
It sure didn’t seem like the kind of place where bloodied drug smugglers stumble out of the scrub after shootouts. But it was. On a holiday road trip to Mexico, my family and I stopped for the night at some friends’ house near Tubac, Arizona, a small community south of Tucson, about 15 minutes north […]
Posted inFebruary 2, 2009: Non-navigable River Blues
Is America ready for the rails?
I’ve always loved the idea of traveling by rail. I’m scared of flying, and trains are more efficient and greener than cars. I once enjoyed zipping through the French countryside at 200 miles per hour in a sleek train, and whenever I’m in a city, I make it a point to ride the commuter rails. […]
Posted inGoat
In case you’re having a good day…
Okay, so you got up this morning, scraped the scum off your teeth and that last bit of change from your kid’s piggybank, and headed down to the corner coffeeshop to buy one cup of endless refills and spend the rest of the day surfing the Interweb looking for some good news to brighten up […]
Posted inGoat
Waking up to coal’s other mess
Raymond “Squeak” Hunt is not one to be ignored. He’s not afraid to speak his mind (even if it means building a giant billboard to do so). More often than not, he’s holding a large, sharp knife (he butchers sheep for a living). And he’s prone to spouting aphorisms which, though they don’t always make […]
Posted inDecember 22, 2008: What a mess
As Interior Turns
An eight-year soap opera in which federal officials screwed the environment, the taxpayers, and each other.
Posted inDecember 22, 2008: What a mess
The Bush legacy: It’s not all bad
I was once a skeptic when it came to politics. Sure, I voted, but I never thought that it made much difference. Once politicians got to Washington, they were all dragged into the middle anyway and ended up virtually indistinguishable from one another. So why bother? The first months of the Bush administration had a […]
Posted inGoat
Copper death spiral
A mining boom. A mining bust. All summed up quite elegantly in one little chart:
Posted inGoat
Bailout comes to the West
Turns out Washington is bailing out more than just Wall Street. Federal help is also coming to the streets and cul de sacs of Western suburbia, from Phoenix to Las Vegas. Arizona, California and Nevada will all get big chunks of cash (from $72 million to $530 million) from the U.S. Department of Housing’s Neighborhood […]
Posted inGoat
Sellin’, drillin’, bribin’
Transparency International’s 2008 bribery index was released recently. Among other things, the index measures how likely companies in each sector are to bribe public officials. The winners this year: As for the state capture category, or “the frequency that sectors attempt to exert influence on government legislation, laws and decision-making through private payments to public […]