A European bus company is expanding options for regional travel. High-speed rail could be next.
Pollution
Posted inArticles
Effort to lock Hanford’s radioactive waste in glass faces more delays
Feds aim to push back the opening of ‘glassification’ plants, while state officials say the Department of Energy has been underfunding the cleanup of America’s most poisoned site.
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Smog and smoke: The West’s air is the dirtiest it’s been since 2009
A growing economy, looser regulations and uptick in fires are all factors.
Posted inNovember 25, 2019: Forever Mines
Can a campaign for nature and community rights stop aerial spraying in Oregon?
The push for more local control upends the typical pattern of Westerners fighting against regulation.
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No relief from fracking industry on Colorado’s Front Range
Advocates hope new laws will bring changes, but they aren’t seeing much yet.
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National politics put California’s air quality in the crosshairs
On the ground, one teen deploys pollution monitors to make his community safer.
Posted inSeptember 2, 2019: In Bad Faith
The Mormon Church supplied tainted water to its members for years
Utah regulators turned a blind eye to faulty water systems at a girls’ summer camp, trusting the LDS Church would eventually fix the problem.
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Trump administration rolls back methane pollution regulations
The EPA will reverse Obama-era standards intended to curb leaks of the potent gas that contributes to the climate crisis.
Posted inAugust 5, 2019: From Prison to Fireline
The tyranny of lawns and landlords
Renting culture puts dreams of cultivating wildness out of reach.
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New Wyoming coal company abandons mines and miners
State officials are picking up the pieces after Blackjewel goes belly up.
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Federal and tribal coalitions challenge Canadian mining
‘It’s about British Columbia being a really bad actor as an upstream neighbor that pollutes our water.’
Posted inJuly 21, 2019: A Radical Return
Rural anxieties derailed Oregon’s climate plans
Arguments over state environmental policy impacts ignore broader challenges to rural communities.
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Seattle will offer residents shelter from the smoke
As climate change fuels fires and warms the city, clean air will be in short supply.
Posted inJune 24, 2019: Losing Lake Coeur d'Alene
A dangerous cocktail threatens the gem of North Idaho
Upstream mining has left a toxic legacy at the bottom of Coeur d’Alene Lake.
Posted inJune 24, 2019: Losing Lake Coeur d'Alene
See where PFAS pollution has been confirmed in the West
Western states lag behind in both monitoring and regulating the class of ‘forever chemicals.’
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Study finds 96% of national parks have hazardous air quality
Popular parks such as Yosemite and Joshua Tree have pollution levels that threaten visitors and wildlife.
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See the captivating flux of Western alkaline waters
Salt lakes fade from chartreuse to rust into pale wastelands in photos taken by Aya Okawa.
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We’re destroying the biodiversity we depend on
A new U.N. study shows that up to 1 million species risk extinction because humans use up nature much faster than it can be replenished.
Posted inMay 27, 2019: Public Pushback
Trump’s infrastructure order threatens local right to protect the environment
Washington blocked a coal terminal under the Clean Water Act. New rules could subvert that authority.
Posted inApril 15, 2019: Scene of the Crime
Three decades after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Alaska’s coast faces an even bigger threat
Climate change is damaging ecosystems that never had the chance to recover.