‘We were a sacrifice zone.’
Public health
Posted inApril 2026: Inside the Attack on Public Lands
Wildfires transform soil, turning a nutrient into poisonous chromium-6
New research shows how severe blazes create a carcinogen and how long it might persist.
Posted inArticles
War, climate change and AI are at stake at the 2026 UN Indigenous forum
Delegates are arriving in New York for the world’s largest gathering of Indigenous peoples, despite the U.S. presenting challenges for attendees to secure visas.
Posted inArticles
New nuclear safety rules reduce protections for workers, the public
‘They’re pulling away from what’s kept us safe all these years.’
Posted inArticles
War exposes the energy dominance lie
True energy independence comes from weaning ourselves from fossil fuels.
Posted inArticles
Trump’s EPA decided climate change doesn’t endanger public health. Evidence says otherwise.
Extreme heat, severe weather and air pollution are proven to cause negative health impacts.
Posted inArticles
How I found hope while reporting on a metal fest
Peek behind the scenes at the challenges and joy of covering Fire in the Mountains.
Posted inNovember 2025: Precious Metalheads
Heavy metal is healing teens on the Blackfeet Nation
In response to youth suicides, teachers show students the power of headbanging at Fire in the Mountains festival.
Posted inArticles
The aging Los Alamos lab at the center of America’s nuclear overhaul
Contamination incidents, work outages and declining infrastructure have plagued the site, but the lab remains the linchpin in an effort to modernize the nation’s nuclear weapons.
Posted inArticles
La carrera armamentística nuclear pone a prueba el laboratorio de Los Álamos
El laboratorio donde Oppenheimer desarrolló la bomba atómica es el eje del esfuerzo de EE. UU. por modernizar sus armas nucleares. Pero el centro ha enfrentado incidentes de contaminación, interrupciones de obras e infraestructuras obsoletas.
Posted inNovember 2025: Precious Metalheads
Want fluoride in the water? Too bad.
Across the West, lawmakers are skipping over the will of voters and yanking fluoride.
Posted inArticles
The rural West’s increasing health care costs haunt the shutdown
Health insurance costs are skyrocketing, and federal tax credits that make it more affordable are expiring.
Posted inArticles
Tribal governments fend off the worst of the impacts of the shutdown
In the weeks leading up to the shutdown, tribal nations hefted their political and economic capital to protect services for their citizens.
Posted inAugust 2025: Fire Culture
911’s hidden emergency
A former firefighter makes the case for community paramedicine in the age of climate change.
Posted inAugust 2025: Fire Culture
Flow like the San Juan
If western rivers have been recognized as legal persons, they must be queer and disabled persons.
Posted inJuly 2025: Seeds as Sustenance
Our grief is what brings us together
On a rapidly warming planet, we are not alone in our fear.
Posted inJuly 2025: Seeds as Sustenance
‘I see no reason to compromise my value system’
#iamthewest: Giving voice to the people that make up communities in the region.
Posted inArticles
The Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe is bridging Nevada’s healthcare gap
A new mobile clinic serves 2,000 Indigenous patients.
Posted inArticles
Working in the Permian Basin comes at a high cost
Oil workers in New Mexico are subjected to harrowing conditions that lead to death, injury, disease and terrible tolls on mental health and family life.