This old, abundant, relatively clean energy source has barely been tapped.
Jonathan Thompson
Jonathan Thompson is a contributing editor at High Country News. He is the author of Sagebrush Empire: How a Remote Utah County Became the Battlefront of American Public Lands. Follow him @LandDesk
Posted inArticles
Utah’s latest attack on the Antiquities Act
The bid to diminish national monuments threatens landscape preservation.
Posted inArticles
The breakdown on the Colorado River ‘breakthrough’ water deal
The agreement isn’t the sustainable, permanent one that’s necessary.
Posted inArticles
Can the Dolores River be saved?
A beleaguered Colorado waterway garners new attention.
Posted inMay 1, 2023: Reemergence
Seeking sanctuary on a warming planet
Scientists look to identify, map and preserve climate change refugia.
Posted inArticles
Biden’s push for power lines
Can a flurry of new power lines tame California’s solar conundrum?
Posted inArticles
A ‘seismic shift’ for public lands?
The new Public Lands Rule would put conservation on par with other uses.
Posted inApril 1, 2023: The Path Forward
Why electrify?
The push to evict natural gas appliances from buildings, explained.
Posted inArticles
Atmospheric rivers ease Western drought
Record-breaking rain and snow bring salvation — and destruction — to a drought-parched West.
Posted inArticles
The Willow project is part of a larger trend: energy colonialism
Five decades ago, the late Navajo Nation President Peterson Zah described America’s ‘power madness.’
Posted inMarch 1, 2023: Moving Parts
Trains in the West then, now — and someday?
Mapping the state of the rails across the region.
Posted inArticles
Could Arizona’s new governor shift Colorado River politics?
There’s a historic reckoning in the Colorado River Basin — and Katie Hobbs is here to play hard ball.
Posted inArticles
The state of the land: Biden’s mixed conservation record
The president has riled up just about everyone with his public-land policies. Maybe that’s a good thing.
Posted inArticles
Plans for a new uranium mill in Utah announced
Fierce opposition to the project is likely.
Posted inFebruary 1, 2023: The Reveal
Save public lands: Put solar on Walmart!
Parking lots and big-box store roofs could generate oodles of clean power.
Posted inArticles
Why are so few talking about the power grid amid extreme winter storms?
California’s current deluge highlights huge vulnerabilities.
Posted inJanuary 1, 2023: Ripple Effects
La Niña expected to serve up a hat trick
The weather pattern hits the West for a third consecutive winter.
Posted inArticles
How the West’s public lands fared in 2022
It was a bad year for dams and a good one for ‘green’ metals.
Posted inArticles
Should we worry about 8 billion people?
Breaking down population’s role in the environmental impact equation.