Every year, the government recalculates how much money a metric ton of carbon costs us.
Growth & Sustainability
Posted inJanuary 25, 2016: The Forever War
The road to better eating, in an era of compromise
A review of Megan Kimble’s “Unprocessed: My City-Dwelling Year of Reclaiming Real Food.”
Posted inArticles
Economic downturns fuel Sagebrush Rebellion events
Natural resource-dependent rural economies help explain why disputes happen where they do.
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Nevada decision guts the state’s thriving solar industry
Electric utility pushed effort to sour economics of rooftop solar.
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How some Western cities are leading on climate action
Despite faltering national policy, some communities are forging ahead.
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How the feds can ensure Western states get more water in 2016
Key legislation failed in 2015. Will this year be any different?
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Can plant-based feeds make aquaculture sustainable?
Some scientists are replacing sardines and anchovies with soybeans and corn as food for farmed fish.
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California relocates residents whose wells have gone dry
Residents explain why the new drought program may or may not work for them.
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Where private land meets public interest
A group of landowners on the Colorado-New Mexico border aim to conserve a contested landscape.
Posted inDecember 21, 2015: Secrets of the Deep
Two visions collide in Utah’s Wasatch Range
As ski resorts push for a mega-connection, backcountry skiers try to save some wild.
Posted inArticles
Millions in debt, a community wonders if its water source will provide
This master-planned community must keep building to survive, despite the drought.
Posted inDecember 7, 2015: Good Neighbors
Who really killed Keystone?
An unusual coalition is fighting new fossil fuel infrastructure, and they’re starting to win.
Posted inDecember 7, 2015: Good Neighbors
Latest: California’s plan for conservation-minded energy development takes its first step forward
The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan is intended to guide energy development, while protecting wildlife and recreation.
Posted inArticles
Can roads designed for cars be safe for bikes?
Pam Jahnke was riding her bike on a section of Highway 89 near Lake Tahoe, in an area where Caltrans, California’s road and bridge department, had just installed a new storm-drainage system. “The minute my tire hit the drain, I was air-bound and smacked down on the pavement in the middle of the road.” she […]
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Pot growers put huge energy demand on the grid
Utilities should view legalization as an opportunity, not a threat.
Posted inNovember 23, 2015: Water Hustle
How a plan to save southeastern Colorado went off the rails
Heritage tourism offered a way out of economic doldrums. Why did it go wrong?
Posted inNovember 23, 2015: Water Hustle
Could Los Angeles design its way to water independence?
A pair of architects are reinvisioning the city’s relationship with water, starting with storm runoff.
Posted inNovember 23, 2015: Water Hustle
Water hustle
Did one of Nevada’s top water regulators try to cash in on the drought?
Posted inNovember 9, 2015: The Campaign Against Coal
The campaign against coal
Where ‘keep it in the ground’ meets ‘keep the lights on.’
Posted inArticles
Contaminated soil lingers where apples once grew in Washington
Soil at hundreds of properties contains lead and arsenic that can lower children’s IQs and increase cancer risk.