Why Southwest utilities are starting to sweat.
Growth & Sustainability
Posted inArticles
Lake Mead watch: six inches from the level that triggers cutbacks
If water curtailments go into effect, which states are most vulnerable, and why?
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Sightseeing at an open pit mine in Arizona copper country
The mines are still in business, yet towns that once flourished are now mostly gone.
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Huge new ‘communities’ planned for Tucson, Albuquerque
Sprawl rises from its slumber, but urban renaissance is still thriving.
Posted inApril 27, 2015: Lost frontier
Tucson’s rain-catching revolution
In the Sonoran Desert, rainwater harvesting is finally going mainstream.
Posted inArticles
Are we in a megadrought?
As the dry-spell continues, a radio forum on water security in Western states.
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Unwanted California tires end up in rivers and beaches
But efforts to use the trash as building materials in Mexico offer new hope.
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Dispatch from a gas patch shopping trip
Reporters Notebook from New Mexico’s San Juan Basin.
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California has one year of water left: Hype or reality?
When a NASA scientist speaks in blunt terms about water supply, other scientists take notice.
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How ‘amenity migrants’ push out locals
Communities once sustained by local labor now rely on stock market dividends.
Posted inMarch 16, 2015: Wild Ride
A giant resort overshadows a tiny Colorado town
A teacher’s perspective of big changes to a small town.
Posted inMarch 16, 2015: Wild Ride
Health impacts of wood smoke
A look at which stoves and furnaces emit the most particles damaging to your health, plus which states burn the most wood.
Posted inMarch 16, 2015: Wild Ride
The quietest and noisiest spots in the West
Some places are 20 decibels or less, similar to levels in pre-Colonial times.
Posted inMarch 16, 2015: Wild Ride
The woman who brings drinking water to remote Navajo homes
In the parched countryside, delivery means community.
Posted inMarch 2, 2015: Unite and Conquer
The water czar who reshaped Colorado River politics
Las Vegas’ Pat Mulroy initiated an era of deal-making that may buffer against catastrophic drought.
Posted inMarch 2, 2015: Unite and Conquer
Big dig, big disgrace
A new mega-tunnel won’t save Seattle from the tyranny of traffic.
Posted inFebruary 16, 2015: Chainsaw Diplomacy
Beautiful yet harrowing photos of urban sprawl
Review of ‘Lake Las Vegas/Black Mountain’ by Michael Light.
Posted inArticles
Plunging oil prices are saving Alaskan ecosystems — for now
The new governor shelves controversial roads, dams and other developments.
Posted inArticles
Agriculture needs to back up
It’s easy to forget that once upon a time, all agriculture was organic and grassfed. Saving seeds, composting, fertilizing diverse crops with manure, not tilling, and raising livestock entirely on grass was the norm over a century ago. Yet today, these are just the approaches we associate with sustainable food production. We all know what […]
Posted inJanuary 12, 2015: What Are We Thinking?
Can Aldo Leopold’s land ethic tackle our toughest problems?
An argument for ‘voluntary decency.’