Magazine
The Great Energy Divide

May 2, 2005

Colorado citizens voted last November to increase their state’s reliance on power from the wind and sun, but King Coal still rules the state, and the White House seems determined to keep it on the throne. Also in this issue: Utah has finally convinced the Department of Energy to move the Atlas uranium mine tailings pile from its site just north of Moab, where the tailings are leaking into the Colorado River.

Feature

The Winds of Change
Colorado citizens voted last November to increase their state’s reliance on power from the wind and sun, but King Coal still rules the state, and the White House seems determined to keep it on the throne
Laura Paskus May 2, 2000 From the print edition

Sidebar

Blades, birds and bats: Wind energy and wildlife not a cut-and-dried issue
Wind farms are working to make their turbines less hazardous to birds and bats
Hilary Watts May 2, 2005 From the print edition
Renewable Energy Standards: How do states match up?
Six Western states now have renewable energy standards
Laura Paskus May 2, 2005 From the print edition

Editor's Note

The revolution will not be televised
It’s a good thing leadership is emerging in the West on energy issues, because President Bush’s energy plan is a step in the wrong direction
Greg Hanscom Opinion May 2, 2005 From the print edition

Uncommon Westerners

For this logger, twisted trees are the future
Woodworker Gordon West turns small and irregular pine logs into useful building materials in his shop near Silver City, N.M.
Peter Friederici May 2, 2005 From the print edition

Essays

The devil made us do it
From Devils Tower to the Devils Slide, Old Nick is very much at home in the West
Ed Quillen Essay May 2, 2005 From the print edition

Perspective

So-called 'peace treaty' won't save the Rio Grande
Environmentalists made a mistake when they settled with the city of Albuquerque over water use on the Middle Rio Grande in New Mexico
Lisa Robert Essay May 2, 2005 From the print edition

Book Reviews

Down — but far from out — in Drummond
In Drummond: Ranch Life in the West, Jill Brody uses photographs and interviews to paint a vivid portrait of life in a hardscrabble Montana ranching town
Betsy Marston May 2, 2005 From the print edition
Getting smarter about energy use
In his latest book, Energy Resolution, Howard Geller offers his suggestions for a sustainable energy future
Laura Paskus May 2, 2005 From the print edition
Serafina's Stories
Serafina’s Stories by Rudolfo Anaya tells the tale of a 17th century Pueblo Indian story-teller’s encounter with the Spanish governor in old New Mexico
Staff May 2, 2005 From the print edition
The River Has Never Divided Us: A Border History of La Junta de los Rios
In The River Has Never Divided Us, Jefferson Morganthaler studies the hard-working people of La Junta de los Rios, a river basin along the U.S.-Mexican border
Staff May 2, 2005 From the print edition
The Mountains Know Arizona
In The Mountains Know Arizona, Michael Collier and Rose Houk combine photographs and words to create a spectacular homage to the mountains of Arizona
Staff May 2, 2005 From the print edition

Heard Around the West

Heard around the West
Honor in bar fights; philanthropic roughnecks; salmon vs. sea lions; skunks; cowboy caviar; "Liquid Gold"; slime-mold beetles named for Bush and friends
Betsy Marston May 2, 2005 From the print edition

Dear Friends

Dear friends
"Animal Planet" at the HCN office; Leslie Glustrom vs. coal; correction; HCN Paonia potluck
Jodi Peterson, Laura Paskus and Matt Jenkins May 2, 2005 From the print edition

News

Colorado River kisses a toxic mess good-bye
The Department of Energy finally agrees to move the Atlas uranium mine tailings pile away from Moab, Utah, and the flood risk of the Colorado River.
Matt Jenkins May 2, 2005 From the print edition
Follow-up
Montana approves green-power initiative; geothermal company takes Valles Caldera Preserve to court; bills to exempt hydraulic fracturing from regulation; William Jensen Cottrell sentenced for SUV vandalism
Matt Jenkins May 2, 2005 From the print edition
Backbreaking work props up 'sustainable' crops
California farmworkers fight for stricter regulations on hand weeding, only to find themselves at odds with organic farmers.
Lissa James May 2, 2005 From the print edition
As threats loom, conservation dollars disappear
With the Land and Water Conservation Fund at a 10-year low and Western politicians trying to sell off the public lands, conserving open space requires the kind of creative solution that helped saved Colorado’s Beaver Brook watershed
Jodi Peterson May 2, 2005 From the print edition
Wilderness wallows in rural county
Despite local support for the creation of a Badlands Wilderness Area east of Bend, Ore., the Deschutes County Commission votes to take no action at all on the matter
Mike Van Meter May 2, 2005 From the print edition
On the Colorado, a grand experiment meets Mother Nature
A recent experimental flood from Glen Canyon Dam may have killed endangered native humpback chub in the Colorado River through Grand Canyon
J.M. McCord May 2, 2005 From the print edition
Bears and bull trout may block mine
A judge rules that constructing the Rock Creek Mine would jeopardize threatened populations of grizzly and bull trout in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness of Montana
J.M. McCord May 2, 2005 From the print edition
Oil and gas opponents will have to move faster
The Bureau of Land Management is shortening the amount of time that citizens and environmental groups in Wyoming and Utah will have to protest oil and gas leases
Matt Jenkins May 2, 2005 From the print edition

Letters

Advocates aren't citizens, says Watson
Forrest Fleischman May 2, 2005 From the print edition
A little leg-pulling
Bill Kent May 2, 2005 From the print edition
Climbers not just 'rock jocks'
Chrissy Sloan May 2, 2005 From the print edition
Ski snow won't be yellow on San Francisco Peaks
Celia Barotz May 2, 2005 From the print edition
Wild horses harm ecosystems
Liz Ellis May 2, 2005 From the print edition
Buyouts doom private lands
Richard Knight, Courtney White, Bill McDonald and Dan Kemmis May 2, 2005 From the print edition
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