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High Country News

High Country News

A nonprofit independent magazine of unblinking journalism that shines a light on all of the complexities of the West.

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HCN has covered the lands, wildlife and communities of the Western U.S. for more than 50 years. Get to know the West better by signing up to receive HCN’s on-the-ground reporting and investigations in your inbox.

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U.S. Department of Energy

Posted inIssues

What happens after Utah’s coal-fired power plants close?

by Brooke Larsen January 23, 2025January 24, 2025

Department of Energy grants are helping eastern Utah plan for the energy transition.

Posted inArticles

The Department of Energy promised Yakama Nation $32 million for solar. It’s nearly impossible to access.

by Tony Schick September 20, 2024September 30, 2024

Held up by a series of bureaucratic hurdles, the funding could expire before the government lets the tribal nation touch a dime.

Posted inArticles

The New Mexico utility that wants to go all in on green hydrogen

by Mary Catherine O’Connor August 19, 2024August 22, 2024

The project, like the larger green hydrogen economy, will need to overcome skepticism from local communities and funding challenges.

Boats carry Hanford Journey attendees down the Columbia River in Washington toward Hanford reactors, one that’s cocooned and another that’s decommissioned but still standing.
Posted inAugust 2024: In the Wake of the Floods

Indigenous celebration of Hanford remembers the site before nuclear contamination

by B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster August 1, 2024August 1, 2024

At the fourth annual Hanford Journey, Yakama Nation youth, elders and scientists share stories about a land that is a part of them.

Solar panels sit on top of buildings and homes in Lapwai, Idaho.
Posted inJuly 2024

How the Nez Perce are using an energy transition to save salmon

by Emily Senkosky July 1, 2024June 28, 2024

The tribe is working to replace the generating capacity of the Lower Snake River dams with solar power.

Posted inArticles

Endangered wildflower threatened by Nevada lithium mine

by Wyatt Myskow June 13, 2024August 8, 2024

Tiehm’s buckwheat is found nowhere else in the world, and the planned mine would sit square in its habitat.

Posted inArticles

Is carbon capture the solution for jobs and climate action in fossil fuel country?

by Nicholas Kusnetz December 6, 2022January 24, 2024

A project in Wyoming’s coal region brings the new technology, but critics say it carries unacceptable risks.

Posted inArticles

The untold story of the Pacific Northwest’s nuclear past

by Marianne Dhenin October 14, 2022January 24, 2024

‘Atomic Days’ offers a compelling, fact-packed introduction to the most toxic place in the nation.

Posted inArticles

A community sacrificed to uranium mine pollution

by Mark Olalde, Maya Miller and ProPublica August 23, 2022January 24, 2024

A mining company and government agencies repeatedly said they’d clean up waste in Homestake, New Mexico. Instead, they’re buying out homeowners.

Posted inArticles

In Alaska, coal is dwindling as green energy is on the rise

by Victoria Petersen July 13, 2022January 24, 2024

The closure of Healy Unit 2 signals a rise in renewable energy projects around Alaska.

Posted inArticles

Will carbon capture help clean New Mexico’s power, or delay its transition?

by Jonathan Thompson June 29, 2022January 24, 2024

A virtually unknown company has a $1.4 billion plan to extend the life of the state’s largest coal-fired power plant. Critics say it’s likely to be a costly distraction from a just transition.

Posted inArticles

The shift to green energy, obstructed

by Jonathan Thompson June 9, 2022January 24, 2024

A whole host of factors has thrown the transition away from fossil fuels to more sustainable forms of energy off track.

Posted inArticles

Two Southwest tribes raise concerns over uranium storage

by Miacel Spotted Elk May 10, 2022January 24, 2024

Tribal communities in Arizona and Utah face environmental problems connected to the same radioactive resource: uranium.

Posted inArticles

40 years after its closure, the Jackpile Mine’s toxic legacy continues

by Elizabeth Miller and New Mexico In Depth December 23, 2021January 24, 2024

‘They have to look at it every day and wonder if that’s the reason why they’re dying.’

Posted inJanuary 1, 2022: Water Rights and Responsibilities

As coal plants close, Wyoming looks toward nuclear

by Kylie Mohr December 17, 2021January 24, 2024

Is a new generation of nuclear technology a ‘shiny object’ or a solution to a faltering fossil fuel economy?

Posted inArticles

How yellowcake shaped the West

by Jonathan Thompson July 30, 2021January 24, 2024

The ghosts of the uranium boom continue to haunt the land, water and people.

Posted inArticles

New Mexico eyed for major nuclear waste storage facility

by Sammy Feldblum and Tovah Strong February 5, 2021January 24, 2024

Critics say virtual meetings bypassed rural communities and raise concerns about the company behind the proposal.

Posted inArticles

Effort to lock Hanford’s radioactive waste in glass faces more delays

by John Stang November 20, 2019January 24, 2024

Feds aim to push back the opening of ‘glassification’ plants, while state officials say the Department of Energy has been underfunding the cleanup of America’s most poisoned site.

Posted inArticles

The fallout of uncertainty in nuclear test communities

by Aria Alamalhodaei August 2, 2019January 24, 2024

For downwinders of bomb testing, plans for compensation to redress past harms makes for tricky politics.

Posted inDecember 10, 2018: Critical Mass

There’s no easy fix for our nuclear past

by Heather Hansman December 10, 2018January 24, 2024

At Washington’s Hanford nuclear site, failing infrastructure and make-do plans as the West prepares for a new round of radioactivity.

Posts pagination

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