How cool would it be if we could turn wood trimmings, straw, or other common plant products into gasoline? It’s possible — the technology to produce cellulosic ethanol has been proven, but scaling it up commercially hasn’t happened yet, in large part because we haven’t figured out how to create large quantities of the stuff […]
Blogs
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Who is writing New Mexico’s water regulations?
Updated on 5/22/13. New Mexico environmental regulators under Republican governor Susana Martinez are overseeing attempts to roll back a suite of groundwater regulations. While the administration’s argument for loosening rules on dairies, mines and oil and gas marches to the drumbeat of jobs, jobs, jobs, all they have to do is look in their own […]
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A tale of two rivers
By Heather Hansen, Red Lodge Clearinghouse Recently I came across a spectacular video on YouTube, posted by the National Park Service (NPS), called “One Day in Yosemite.” It’s the work of 30 filmmakers who fanned out across the park on one day last June. From dawn to sundown and beyond they captured day-in-the-life details of […]
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Forest Service wields an uncommon mining law
The Mining Law of 1872 is famously generous to miners when it comes to granting them rights to the riches on public lands. But in northern Idaho, a scuffle between miners and the Forest Service hinges on a related, but lesser-known law: the Mining Claims Rights Restoration Act of 1955. And unlike the 1872 law, […]
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Energy geeks rejoice!
So you finally went out and got a “smart” phone, figured out how to check your email, ask it inane questions and get even more inane answers and got the “app” that turns your phone’s screen into a beer mug that “empties” when you tip it. Maybe you’ve even discovered one of the applications that […]
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Wyoming windsock you in the face!
There is no shortage of Wyoming wind jokes. Google Wyoming wind, and you’ll likely stumble across an image of a “Wyoming windsock”: a length of iron chain on a post, with a sign explaining that, if said chain is cocked at a 75 degree angle, you ought to “beware of low-flying trains.” This is perhaps […]
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Lost in translation
I’ve covered a lot of public meetings as a reporter, but I’ve never been to one quite like the one at Paonia, Colo.’s town hall on Jan. 15. More than 200 residents packed the stuffy council chambers, sitting on the floor and spilling out into the hall. They were there to hear the Bureau of […]
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Public pollution data make for a less-filthy West
At the end of last year, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized a long-stalled Clean Air Act standard to limit air pollution from cement kilns, which spew massive quantities of toxic mercury into the air — though the agency is drawing the ire of environmental groups for delaying implementation until 2015. One reason the public and […]
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Pipeline safety after the Yellowstone spill
The night of July 1, 2011 “was a usual night, not too busy and not overly slow” at ExxonMobil’s pipeline control facility in Houston, Texas. A controller at the Houston facility was operating pipeline controls at his new workstation, known as “console 2.” This controller had recently been trained on this console, and had been […]
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Transmission: The missing link in the renewables revolution
You want to cut carbon to the levels recommended by the International Panel on Climate Change? Then you’ll need 100,000 Megawatts of new renewable power integrated into the electrical grid. And in order to get that, you’ll need a lot — try 25,000 miles — of new high voltage transmission lines. That was the message […]
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Hello, climate change
Environmentalists got what they’ve been waiting for Monday, when President Obama reinvented himself as a committed liberal in his second inauguration speech. He referred to climate change by its proper name, rather than dancing a little rhetorical jig around it, and even summoned the Almighty. God, he said, “commanded” the planet to our care. He […]
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Designing for behavior change
Dual flush toilets are, in my opinion, a great water-saving invention. Yet one of my biggest pet peeves is a type of dual flush toilet that I often see in public bathrooms. In this particular design, to use less water, you push the flush handle up; to use more water, you push it down. Yet […]
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Get used to the new normal
There’s fine dust in the tire ruts now Along the old feed road They’re workin’ on a six year drought Just so you know -James McMurtry, “Six Year Drought” If it seems like there’s less snow on the ground than there used to be, it’s not your imagination. This year, the folks at the Natural […]
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FDA ruling on GMO salmon worries Alaska fishermen
On January 2, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game released its annual fisheries forecast for the Copper River region, famous for its prolific runs of succulent salmon. The forecast, awaited each year by fisherman living in the region’s port towns, makes predictions based on the previous years’ harvest, weather patterns, and a variety of […]
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Target shooting on public lands: still an issue
So another year has arrived, and yet again we’re mired in a nationwide debate about the role of guns in American society. Let me note right away that this blog post is about guns and public lands, not guns in general. However, some context is in order, and, I think, relevant. As usual, a terrible […]
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What’s the rush?
By Heather Hansen, Red Lodge Clearing House For about a year I’ve been avoiding writing about a potential environmental catastrophe that’s been nagging at me. My hesitation is due primarily to a concern over telling sovereign native tribes what to do. But it’s a new year, and this is a big deal, so I’m wading […]
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Reorganization or regression?
The New York Times made news last week when InsideClimate News reported it was dismantling its nine-person environmental news team. The reporters and editors on the environment desk, which has been around since 2009 and has its own section heading on the Times’ website, will not be laid off, but shuffled to other areas of […]
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A “tail” of two kitties: jaguars and ocelots on the comeback trail
By Matt Clark, Defenders of Wildlife Many people are surprised to learn that both jaguars and elusive wild cats known as ocelots are native Arizonans, and still roam the U.S.-Mexico borderlands to this day. They are even more intrigued to learn there is a breeding population of jaguars only 125 miles south of the border […]
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Obama should look to New Mexico for conservation legacy
Conservation is about balance: balancing the wants of today with the needs of tomorrow; balancing freedom with responsibility; balancing human’s power to harness nature, with respecting nature’s force and wisdom. Last week, the Center for American Progress pointed out in a report one place where the Obama Administration is out of balance: protecting the best, […]
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Too much, or not enough?
With shale oil deposits bigger than the Bakken sitting beneath its fertile soil—and oil companies that are eager to get their hands on it—Central California is poised to become the site of the country’s newest energy boom. Last month, the state auctioned off 18,000 acres of leases in southern Monterey County. A week later, California’s […]