By Maya Green
The Biden Administration helps coal towns embrace clean energy; gray wolves move back into Southern California; two tribes prompt a pause in construction of an energy transmission line in Arizona; state authorities block efforts to move towards more sustainable water use; a burning tundra releases methane into the atmosphere; and other environmental news from around the American West
Former coal towns across the US have received federal funding to bring clean energy jobs to their communities. The funding, part of a $1 trillion infrastructure package, was approved by the Biden Administration in 2021 as part of the initiative to increase renewable energy manufacturing projects nationwide. In light of the rapidly growing renewables industry, some fossil-fuel workers are concerned about losing their jobs. NEW YORK TIMES
California wildfires cause extreme damage, but they can also clear the way for new life. After the Windy Fire of 2021 in Southern California, gray wolves moved in, marking their return to the region for the first time in 150 years. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
Objections temporarily halted the construction of a clean-energy transmission line in southwestern Arizona. The transmission line, federally funded as part of the Biden Administration’s advocacy of renewable energy, would transport wind-powered electricity 550 miles from New Mexico to California. However, the Arizona section passes over historic sites important to the Tohono O’odham Nation and the San Carlos Apache Tribe, who say that by building the line, the BLM is shirking its responsibility to Native American tribes. NAVAJO-HOPI OBSERVER
Aquifers in every western state are running low because of “overpumping and underregulation, made worse by climate change.” But to change water policy, the hyper-influential powers that be – the state engineer in Nevada, state representatives in Montana, and other powerful state leaders – must agree to rewrite it. Many of these leaders are reluctant to give up the status quo, showing both skepticism of regulations and worry about local economics, despite knowing that change in water use is desperately needed. NEW YORK TIMES
Recently-burned land in the tundra is more likely to contain methane, which is released when once-frozen, carbon-rich soil burns in a wildfire. New research adds that methane contributes to the climate-change-causing “greenhouse effect”, which in turn causes more wildfires–a vicious cycle that puts the tundra’s billions of tons of stored carbon at risk of release. HIGH COUNTRY NEWS