Salt lakes fade from chartreuse to rust into pale wastelands in photos taken by Aya Okawa.
Pollution
Posted inArticles
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.
Posted inArticles
Mining companies pollute waterways. Citizens pay.
Nearly 2 billion pounds of toxic waste were dumped into western waterways in 2017, and taxpayers are left to clean up the mess.
Posted inArticles
Humanity is a liability the natural world can no longer afford
What a lifetime of observing nature has taught me.
Posted inApril 29, 2019: A History of Violence
As oil trains roll into Portland, city residents keep watch
Without state oversight, activists step up to monitor the traffic in their own backyards.
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Contamination from an Air Force base devastates a New Mexico dairy
An investigation shows the impact toxic chemicals are having on the community of Clovis.
Posted inArticles
The greenback cutthroat trout needs saving, again
After a case of mistaken identity, scientists double down on their efforts to save a fabled fish.
Posted inMarch 4, 2019: El Nuevo Movimiento
Environmental victories don’t guarantee economic justice
Without a just transition, the Navajo Generating Station closure will have harmful consequences.
Posted inArticles
Dead pines drive new herbicide rules in Oregon
A controversial weed-killer has split the state, and pit state regulators against feds.
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On-the-ground pollution data spurred stricter zoning in Los Angeles
Locals’ efforts prompted buffers for auto shops and air filter rules for new buildings.
Posted inFebruary 4, 2019: Nizhoni Girls
Puget Sound orca pod gains a new member
If the calf survives, it’ll be the first addition in three years.
Posted inJanuary 21, 2019: What Killed Washington's Carbon Tax?
What killed Washington’s carbon tax?
The curious death of 1631 and what it says about the future of addressing climate change.
Posted inArticles
A toxic past and present on the Spokane River
In eastern Washington, a push to clean PCBs from its namesake river faces a dirty legacy and global pollution problem.
Posted inJanuary 21, 2019: What Killed Washington's Carbon Tax?
Feds to open most of Arctic refuge coastal plain to drilling
Despite ecological harm, energy development moves forward in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Posted inArticles
Trump’s EPA is reluctant to punish law-breaking polluters
A recent report shows that law enforcement at the agency is declining.
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New rules limiting clean water protections ignore stream science
What happens to part of a river network affects all of it.
Posted inArticles
Two countries, one border and their shared pollution
Communities in South San Diego sue over sewage spills.
Posted inNovember 26, 2018: Follow the fish
Critics skeptical of mining company’s plans for restoration
Midas Gold hopes to reopen and revitalize an abandoned gold mining site in Idaho.