The Oregon case has been closely watched by Western cities and states.
Public health
Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness
Learning how to live and die with long COVID
The late artist David Wojnarowicz’s work has brought me back from the dead.
Posted inArticles
Trump vs. Biden on the climate
The next presidential election will have huge ramifications for the planet.
Posted inArticles
Cancer is killing firefighters. So this city is going PFAS-free.
San Francisco is the first major American city to ban the substance from protective gear.
Posted inArticles
These Washington nurses want their hospital to be more like Oregon
Nurses at PeaceHealth Southwest, in Vancouver, Washington, protest unsafe staffing and pay.
Posted inArticles
Pollution and pollinators: Why stopping to smell the flowers has become difficult
A new study shows that car emissions make it hard for pollinators to find flowers.
Posted inArticles
What rural homelessness looks like
The lessons learned after spending months embedded with unhoused communities in Oregon.
Posted inArticles
Disaster disparities in the West
The risk of climate catastrophe is complex, but people of color often face ‘unnatural hazards.’
Posted inMarch 2024: Fertile Ground
The dangers of PFAS — and of downplaying their ubiquity
Even well-meaning officials often provide inadequate or misleading information, putting communities at higher risk.
Posted inArticles
See how bad your community’s air will be in 30 years
New data forecasts the nation’s future air quality, all the way down to individual addresses.
Posted inArticles
New Mexico pushes back on Big Oil
New bills in the legislature could curb industry excesses.
Posted inDecember 1, 2023: December 2023
Take a toxic tour of the Great Salt Lake
Utah grapples with its future of industry around its dying inland sea.
Posted inArticles
Medicaid’s big paperwork problem
After a federal rule expired this spring, millions of people have been disenrolled from Medicaid. Many of them may still be eligible.
Posted inArticles
Western states saw increasing poverty and lower incomes in 2022
From Alaska to Wyoming, cash assistance can pull families out of income hardships.
Posted inOctober 2, 2023: The Dark Side of the Sheepherding Industry
The dangerous consequences of wildland fire dispatcher burnout
An internal Forest Service survey shows a critical link in the wildfire fighting apparatus is struggling.
Posted inArticles
Environmental groups sue Utah over crisis at the Great Salt Lake
Plaintiffs invoke the public trust doctrine to restore the lake to a healthy level.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2023: Food Justice
The twin crises of climate and addiction
Extreme temperatures and natural disasters push harm reduction workers to find new ways to keep communities safe.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2023: Food Justice
The long tail of toxic emissions on the Navajo Nation
Communities contend with ongoing air quality issues tied to gas and oil wells.
Posted inArticles
Washington to adopt rules protecting farmworkers from wildfire smoke
Some labor advocates say they don’t go far enough.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2023: Food Justice
Native mental health providers seek to heal boarding school scars with informed and appropriate treatment
As more visibility is brought to the legacy of U.S. boarding schools, Indigenous mental health providers and social workers feel that therapy must address the unique trauma carried by survivors.