Years ago, the state’s largest utility rolled out a power outage program designed to reduce wildfires. Customers now experience thousands of outages a year.
Technology
Posted inArticles
Resistance to data centers rises on the border
In Doña Ana County, New Mexico, residents have long struggled to access clean water. Now, developers plan to spend $165 billion on a massive data center complex.
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Access to public land? There’s an app for that
Tech is facilitating land access in new, and sometimes fraught, ways.
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The invisible ‘giant nets’ that catch the smallest songbirds
Collaboration and tiny technology are revolutionizing the study of migration.
Posted inAugust 2025: Fire Culture
The West’s data centers suck (water and power)
From simple searches to chatGPT, the big digital buildup threatens the grid and water supplies.
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See what trail cams captured about Borderlands wildlife
Alongside stunning footage, scientists found that the border wall deters wildlife.
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Hunting for dark nights and wishing on stars
A bike ride into the desert and an author in search of darkness.
Posted inApril 2025: A Monumental Reckoning
Is a nuclear renaissance coming?
Data center power demand is sparking interest in new reactors.
Posted inMarch 2025: The Berry Pickers
The video game that makes the climate apocalypse look good
In The Alluvials, artist Alice Bucknell reimagines the Los Angeles water system.
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AI on public lands and Biden’s environmental legacy
The 46th president finished his term in customary contradictory style.
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Audio: What do we really learn from trail cams?
Documenting wildlife can bring us back to nature.
Posted inSeptember 2024: When Migrants Go Missing
Venezuelan migrants use social media to counter xenophobia
In the face of anti-immigration rhetoric, content creators show the ‘good outnumber the bad.’
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods
A silicon revival in the West
Is the region ready to produce the world’s most advanced technology?
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Data centers could set back climate progress
AI, cryptocurrency “mining” and our digital lifestyles imperil the energy transition — and the planet.
Posted inJune 2024: The Idea of Wilderness
What if the future is the past?
Degrowth offers a path for dealing with our serious environmental issues.
Posted inJanuary 11, 2024: The Creatures in Our Midst
How solar geoengineering is clouding issues of tribal consent
‘Move fast, break things’ approach runs into issues of tribal authority.
Posted inNovember 1, 2023: November 1, 2023
California’s Central Valley chinook are getting lost on their way home
The culprit is a tactic designed to save them – one that could decrease the species’ resilience in the long run.
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Federal program helps address the digital divide, for now
Colorado is looking to launch a statewide internet subsidy program as funding for the the Affordable Connectivity Program is only guaranteed until mid-2024.
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Bringing fast, reliable broadband to rural Alaska could cost $1.8 billion
During a visit to Bethel, Alaska, first lady Jill Biden highlighted hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to improve internet access in Alaska Native communities.
Posted inMay 1, 2023: Reemergence
Good drones, coyote living and a cow-chip lottery
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.