The Energy Department has repeatedly invoked emergency powers to stop the closure of coal plants around the U.S. and reopen oil pipelines in the West. As court challenges inch forward, utilities and energy companies are dusting off equipment that was headed for the scrap heap.Continue readingWhat’s the energy emergency? To an administration keen on fossil fuels, it may be the threat of alternatives
Already faced with extreme distances and a low population base, rural hospitals are being put on their heels by federal funding cutbacks. Specialty care is increasingly difficult to supply and closures loom as a possibility for dozens of facilities.Continue readingFor rural western hospitals, “distance is the emergency” – but not the only one
Intensifying groundwater pumping is warping the earth’s surface and wreaking havoc with built infrastructure – including the canals that bring irrigation water. Continue readingIn search of water, farmers undermined the San Joaquin Valley. Can collective effort raise their fields, canals – and prospects?
As the Superfund process crawls forward at a former naval base, is a historically Black neighborhood of San Francisco being gentrified away?Continue readingAfter decades of environmental cleanup, rebuilding can cement inequalities
Widely distributed but hard to disentangle, exotic elements are vital to green energy and military applications. For decades, China has dominated the dirty business of mining and processing rare earth ores. Two Mojave desert mines, one operating and one planned, may change that picture.Continue readingRare earths mining takes a heavy toll. Is it worth moving mountains for a domestic supply?
In its early 20th century heyday, Allensworth, California was celebrated as a model of Black self-sufficiency; then came loss and a long decline. A new generation is bringing new ideas, new money, and ambitions for a model economic and environmental rural community. Continue readingA Central Valley family’s quest to revive a historic Black town is the work of generations
“The West’s Lyme disease” gets less attention as cases rise – even while drastically undercounted. Climate change and land development are worsening the picture.Continue readingBuried in the soil or drifting on the wind, Valley fever fungus spreads further around the Southwest
Hemmed in by aging infrastructure, water scarcity and ratepayer resistance, utility managers seek to balance maintaining equitable service and remaining solvent.Continue readingSanta Cruz water utility grapples with a paradox: what to do when conservation becomes bad for business
Indigenous leaders face a choice: develop renewable electricity for grid reliability and energy independence, or sell power off-site for economic benefit.Continue readingFor Tribal governments, can energy sovereignty and economic self-sufficiency go hand-in-hand?
Backers say Small Modular Reactors promise safe, cheap, carbon-free energy. But as is common in nuclear power, the reality is more complicated. The small city of Kemmerer, Wyoming, is set to house the first U.S. commercial-scale SMR demonstration.Continue readingAtomic energy, out of a box? In the rural West, an experimental reactor technology inches closer to reality.