Sustainability
Scientist: Trees felled in vain in name of fire control
An alliance between governments and the commercial logging industry under the guise of fire management is decimating forests, wreaking ecological havoc, and exacerbating risks for people and property, according to scientists at odds with what they call archaic methods that are futile in controlling fires. “The Forest Service uses the term ‘thinning and fuel reduction,’ […]
More snow in the mountains may not lead to more water, study finds
Mountains in the southwestern U.S. are welcoming record-breaking snowpacks this year, but new research shows they are melting at a record pace too. Winter storms have provided the Sierra Nevada snowpack with some of the highest preliminary snow levels in 40 years, according to federal resource managers. Snowpack levels across Nevada are currently 144% of […]
Affordable, reliable and sustainable: report compares utility performance
A nationwide comparison of electric utility performance by an Illinois consumer advocacy group found that customers in states that are heavily reliant on fuel oil and natural gas, as in the Northeast and South, tend to pay more than those with larger amounts of carbon-free generation, among other findings. The report by the Illinois-based Citizens […]
DOE offers contentious NV lithium mine $700 million loan
Citing a need to secure a domestic supply of lithium for electric car batteries, the Biden Administration has pledged $700 million for a planned lithium mine on the habitat of an endangered Nevada wildflower. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it agreed to provide the attractive financing to Australian developer Ioneer Inc. under […]
Burning Man sues BLM over geothermal project
Burning Man is suing the Bureau of Land Management over its approval of a geothermal exploration project in Gerlach, Nevada. In a filing Monday, the Burning Man Project—the nonprofit behind the festival —argues the agency failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act when it ruled in October that the exploration project would have […]
Lawsuit seeks to expel cattle from endangered wildflower habitat
A conservation group is suing the federal government in an effort to ban cattle from grazing in the habitat of an endangered wildflower that can only be found on about 10 acres of public land in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice Monday of its intent to sue the U.S. […]
Ruling on fate of Thacker Pass expected ‘in next couple months’
A lawsuit over whether federal land managers erred when they approved plans for the largest lithium mine in the nation could be settled “in the next couple months,” said a federal judge in Nevada on Thursday. The case reflects the growing conflicts between conservationists, tribes, ranchers and mining companies looking to profit from the booming […]
Environmental enforcement has fallen off under Biden, report says
Federal environmental enforcement, as measured by Environmental Protection Agency civil cases closed against polluters, hit a two-decade low in 2022, per a report released by a national environmental group that blames budget cuts, staff shortages and the U.S. Senate’s failure to confirm key leaders. The Environmental Integrity Project said the 72 civil enforcement cases closed […]
2022’s U.S. climate disasters: A tale of too much rain – and too little
The year 2022 will be remembered across the U.S. for its devastating flooding and storms – and also for its extreme heat waves and droughts, including one so severe it briefly shut down traffic on the Mississippi River. During a period of five weeks over the summer, five 1,000-year rainfall events occurred in St. Louis, […]
Water managers across drought-stricken West agree on one thing: ‘This is going to be painful’
Water authorities in the Western U.S. don’t have a crystal ball, but rapidly receding reservoirs uncovering sunken boats and other debris lost in their depths decades ago give a clear view of the hard choices ahead. If western states do not agree on a plan to safeguard the Colorado River — the source of the […]
Upper basin states float temporary conservation plan at Colorado River conference
Half a year ago, seven western states missed a federal deadline to deliver a basin-wide plan that could reduce their use of water from the over-allocated Colorado River in the next year. A comprehensive solution between the states to bolster the drought-stricken river system has not materialized. Those failures and potential solutions were the focus […]
Feds list rare NV wildflower, Tiehm’s buckwheat, as endangered
A rare desert wildflower known to only grow in Nevada has been listed as endangered and will be protected under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday. Tiehm’s buckwheat’s entire global population grows on about 10 acres of land in the Silver Peak Range of Esmeralda County. The listing also […]