Fair breeze for wind energy; projects whirl

With the implementation of PURPA, a 1979 federal law that requires utilities to buy back electricity from private alternative-energy sources, along with tax breaks, many are optimistic about the future of wind energy. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/12.10/download-entire-issue

Despite agitation from residents of Durango, Colo., officials still have no plan for dealing with the million ton mountain of radioactive uranium tailings outside town. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/12.10/download-entire-issue

Two large “sweetening” plants — which remove toxic hydrogen sulfide from natural gas — are slated for construction near Evanston, Wyoming. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/12.9/download-entire-issue

Farmers and advocates of Front Range growth winced last month when the U.S. Forest Service and State of Colorado recommended that most of the Cache la Poudre River be protected from major development. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/12.9/download-entire-issue

Acid rain, previously thought to be isolated in North America to the Midwestern and Northeastern regions, is spreading its environmental ills to the West. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/12.8/download-entire-issue

High mortality of young trumpeter swans in and around Yellowstone National Park has puzzled researchers, but a new study suggests that radioactive substances may be the cause. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/12.8/download-entire-issue

The future of federal gas and oil leasing has been thrown into turmoil by evidence of extensive fraud, an Interior Department shutdown of the present program, and a report critical of legislation intended to overhaul the system. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/12.7/download-entire-issue

Ambiguities in the Wilderness Act leave open the possibility of oil and gas development in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness and other wilderness areas. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/12.6/download-entire-issue

The congressional debate over preserving the last remaining forest wild lands took a perplexing turn earlier this month, as Rep. Thomas Foley (D- Wash.) introduced his second omnibus national wilderness bill. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/12.6/download-entire-issue

Amory Lovins says the industrialized world suffers not from energy want but from energy waste, and foresees a future where energy bills go down, benefiting both utilities and consumers. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/12.5/download-entire-issue

A recent policy shift made by the Interior Department in its Animal Damage Control program has generally pleased environmentalists and raised hackles among sheepmen, who see the action as a betrayal. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/12.4/download-entire-issue

The Libby Dam, proposed for Montana’s Kootenai River and opposed by a local sportsman’s group, was rejected by the U.S. House in a bill that approved North Dakota’s controversial Burlington Dam. Download entire issue to view this article: http://www.hcn.org/issues/12.3/download-entire-issue