The bats of America are in dire straits. In the Eastern U.S., hundreds of thousands of hibernating bats have died from the mysterious fungal affliction known as white nose syndrome. To make matters worse, tree bats are getting whacked by wind turbines. Bats live up to 30 years and have one of the lowest reproductive rates among […]
Fatal Attraction?
Posted inGoat
The “tyranny of fleece”
President Obama today named activist and author Van Jones — an African American — as his Special Advisor on Green Jobs. Perhaps no one is more qualified to dole out stimulus funds for green jobs than Jones — especially now, as more and more people are impacted by a deteriorating environment and a failing economy. […]
Posted inMarch 16, 2009: Innovate
Tough choices
The Feb. 16 issue manages to spotlight the “I want”/”I don’t want” schizophrenia of many who claim to love the environment. First, the article “Wind setbacks”: How can some of you look in the mirror after expressing rabid support for alternative energy sources like wind, if you insist that the turbines that generate the energy […]
Posted inMarch 16, 2009: Innovate
Share the tracks
Our railways are the only transportation systems where both the movable equipment and the track infrastructure are owned by the same company (HCN, 2/02/09). In all other haulage systems, the “tracks” are shared by competing companies. Look at the highways, airways and waterways. Thus, individual railways have an advantage, because they do not have to […]
Posted inMarch 16, 2009: Innovate
Scattered to the winds
I am one of the residents of the San Miguel valley in New Mexico where the company Invenergy is looking into locating industrial-size turbines (HCN, 2/16/09). My neighbors and I have been researching the impact of the wind industry, and many of us are concluding that in the push for renewables, it is preferable to […]
Posted inMarch 16, 2009: Innovate
The half-life curse
Hannah Nordhaus’ excellent exposé “The Half-life of Memory” is troubling on many fronts, but none more so than the quote from Jim Kelly given by Wes McKinley (HCN, 2/16/09). As one of the plant engineers at Rocky Flats, Kelly’s statement that “we didn’t need to pollute like that” is an indictment of the whole sordid […]
Posted inMarch 16, 2009: Innovate
Collateral damage
Regarding your story on the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant: I was new in Boulder in the early 1950s, when the announcement was made that this large defense plant would be located between Boulder and Golden (HCN, 2/16/09). Ever since, I have pondered the question, “Why would our government locate a prime defense plant (target) […]
Posted inGoat
Shale tests the waters
Between 105 and 315 million gallons of water per day: by current estimates, that’s the amount of water that could be swallowed by a 2.5-million-barrel-per-day-oil shale industry. It’s an impressive number, but a bit of an abstraction. For a more visceral take on the impacts of oil shale, take a look at the 25 opposition […]
Posted inGoat
Crossed purposes in Wyoming?
On February 27, Wyoming passed a set of laws designed to flesh out a legal framework for burying carbon emissions in the geologic cavities, or “pore spaces,” that lie beneath significant portions of the state. The rules attempt to answer a few pertinent questions. Notably: Who will be responsible for the carbon once it’s been injected […]
Posted inWotr
Dwindling supplies inflame water wars
I have a classic Western postcard tacked to the bulletin board above my computer. It shows two men in a field holding shovels over their heads, locked in mock battle. Behind them runs an irrigation ditch. The caption reads: “Discussing Western Water Rights, A Western Pastime.” The postcard makes me laugh because I know firsthand […]
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 inMarch 2, 2009: How low will it go?
A desert poet takes his work inside
Richard Shelton has taught writing in prisons for 30 years
Posted inArticles
Straddling the Canadian border
A Tulalip Indian works to maintain traditions with family on the other side
Posted inGoat
My pet gripe
Have you noticed that Americans are always declaring something in their back yard the biggest, longest, cleanest, dirtiest and my personal favorite, most pristine? One community in rural Northern California decided a while back to erect the nation’s “tallest” flagpole as an economic development project. Grants were obtained and the pole went up. For a […]
Posted inWotr
We need a renewables roadmap
If anybody had any doubt that clean energy has arrived, President Obama’s speech to Congress Feb. 24 should dispel those concerns. Obama told Congress and the nation that clean energy, along with education and health care, are central to our economic revival. Obama recognized that if the United States can “harness the power of clean, […]
Posted inGoat
Endangered Species Act restored
Gray wolves and other endangered species will be happy about President Barack Obama’s decision on Tuesday to bring back the original rules of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In December 2008, as a parting gift, the Bush administration introduced rules to allow federal projects to bypass a mandatory review from either the U.S. Fish & […]
Posted inMarch 2, 2009: How low will it go?
Closing in
Western military bases are getting squeezed by sprawl
Posted inGoat
Requiem for a jaguar
On Feb. 20, we wrote that for the first time ever in the U.S., scientists had trapped a jaguar and fitted it with a radio tracking collar. Just 10 days later, though, the big cat was dead. Known as Macho B, he had prowled 500 square miles of the U.S.-Mexico border region for more than […]
Posted inGoat
Western water woes
A deal in the 1920s divided water rights amongst Western states. But back then, water conditions were more ideal. Now that we’re in somewhat of a prolonged drought, many water managers are warning that there may not be enough water to fulfill the Colorado River Compact. Matt Jenkins spun an excellent tale about the issue […]