One labor activist sees the pandemic as an opportunity to fight for a better income.
Economy
Posted inArticles
Indigenous artists hit hard as gig after gig is canceled
The cancellations and postponements have a rippling economic effect across Indian Country.
Posted inArticles
Questions surround Utah’s hastily passed inland port
Plans to build a massive distribution hub along the Great Salt Lake divide Utahns and test Western leaders.
Posted inArticles
Coronavirus takes a heavy economic toll on rural hospitals
A sudden drop in revenue shows how thin margins threaten small town hospitals.
Posted inMay 1, 2020: Lives on Lockdown
Jackson, whole: Community persists with an uncertain future
COVID-19 upends a Wyoming resort town.
Posted inMay 1, 2020: Lives on Lockdown
The pandemic is battering oil-state economies
COVID-19 reverberates across the energy world.
Posted inMay 1, 2020: Lives on Lockdown
Hispanic-serving colleges and universities struggle to adapt to the pandemic
‘Government support is going to be vital.’
Posted inArticles
Casino closures in Indian Country hit core tribal services
Tribal government gaming is at a standstill, amounting to $4.4 billion in lost economic activity.
Posted inApril 1, 2020: Land-Grab Universities
Cowboys, Impossible Whoppers and the stories that sell food
Plant-based burger ads offer a new twist on the cowboy icon while perpetuating industrial food culture.
Posted inArticles
Gift and theft in the far North
‘Floating Coast,’ the first comprehensive history of the Bering Strait, offers a lesson in ecological economics.
Posted inArticles
‘Men like you weren’t meant to own land’
Rural Colorado has a history of discriminatory lending.
Posted inMarch 1, 2020: Predator (Mis)perceptions
Untangling the global oil market
The U.S. is a net exporter of petroleum, so why isn’t it energy independent?
Posted inMarch 1, 2020: Predator (Mis)perceptions
Boeing’s history reveals connections and disconnections in the West’s economy
The placelessness of corporations today can imperil communities.
Posted inMarch 1, 2020: Predator (Mis)perceptions
Billionaires are changing communities and the wild in Wyoming
Sociologist Justin Farrell explores the ways wealth shapes Teton County and the Western U.S.
Posted inArticles
Carbon offsets work. But are they an excuse for big companies?
Some critics worry the programs provide cover for climate-harming practices.
Posted inArticles
FEMA spent billions fighting California wildfires. Now, it wants victims to pay it back.
The agency is pushing bankrupt PG&E to reimburse the taxpayer money it spent on disaster relief.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2020: How One Woman Took a Stand Against Tribal Disenrollment and Paid For It
Can new bus lines chart a course to better travel options in the West?
A European bus company is expanding options for regional travel. High-speed rail could be next.
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Crossing to Safety
As Spokane grows, is it leaving low-income renters outside?
Proposals to protect tenants and reduce homelessness lack political support.
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Crossing to Safety
In rural Colorado, the kids of coal miners learn to install solar panels
Where the mines once provided steady employment, solar energy now offers jobs for the next generation.
Posted inDecember 9, 2019: Crossing to Safety
Undocumented farmworkers could get citizenship from a new bill in Congress
A United Farm Worker organizer reveals the political strategy behind the scenes.