Those of us here in the West have become sadly accustomed to news about contamination associated with copper and uranium mining, especially in recent years as these industries have experienced resurgence. However, a new variant of this disturbing topic has arisen the last few months that has a strong potential to affect urban dwellers and others who […]
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Extreme weather makes us pay attention to climate
This seems to be one of those times of the year when the weather forces us to pay it some special attention. It’s hurricane season, for one, and as I wrote this Irene was threatening the Caribbean and the U.S. mid-Atlantic region. Here in the low desert of Arizona we’re enduring what is likely to […]
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Killer compost
As you know, there has been considerable debate over the last several years about the high costs associated with organic and less-processed foods . Everyone (well nearly everyone) agrees that fresh produce and meat, minimally tainted with hormones, pesticides, and preservatives, are key ingredients in a healthy lifestyle for both people and the rest of […]
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Industry boosts pro-fracking PR
Like you, lately I’ve been getting a rapid education in fracking, the natural gas extraction method that’s been much in the public eye, including extensive coverage of the April spill in Pennsylvania , the release of the anti-fracking documentary Gasland, and HCN’s recent in-depth article “Hydrofracked?” in the June 27th issue. The environmental justice connection […]
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Reflecting on nuclear crises doesn’t leave clear answers
Southeast Utah – It’s another magnificent day here in the remote pinyon/juniper backcountry; the recent afternoon rains have cooled the air and sharpened the views of Canyonlands and the Abajo mountains off in the distance. As a freshly arrived, part-time resident, I’m keenly appreciative of the ambient sounds of this region: the wind (gentle today), […]
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Paving over an ancient burial ground
15-acres of undeveloped landscape sits as an oasis among the undulating, cookie cutter housing developments that crowd the edges of the Carquinez Strait, a natural tidal channel in Vallejo, California. At this spot, known as Glen Cove Waterfront Park, a swath of yellow grass, dappled with the woody stems of wild fennel, leads to the […]
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Why don’t we teach environmental justice in the rural West?
I just returned from a three-day trip to the 15th Annual Institute for Natural Resources Law Teachers, held in Stevenson, Wash. along the scenic and culturally rich, Columbia River Gorge. In addition to learning about the distressing influence that European settlers have had on this part of the planet, and indulging in the fantastic research […]
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Freedom Ride West: Toxic Reality
Editor’s note: James Mills is journeying around the West, exploring issues of diversity in Western national parks. Port Arthur, TX is a long way from Colorado. But when Texas environmental justice advocate Hilton Kelley delivered a message to the Mountain Film Festival in Telluride, he demonstrated an activist power that transcends that distance. The 32nd annual Telluride […]
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A slice of life for the average EJ organizer
Many people wonder what keeps a Sierra Club environmental justice organizer busy. We could ask my fellow EJ organizers around the country and most would tell you that the times around and after Earth Day are frequently the busiest. As spring melts the last of the snows (it snowed in Flagstaff just recently), and flowers […]
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The mixed blessings of extra water
A new addition to the “mixed blessings” file: The town of Payson, Arizona, will soon get relief from its perennial water shortage, having cut a deal with utility power-broker Salt River Project for a share of the water from the nearby C.C. Cragin Reservoir (formerly known as the Blue Ridge Reservoir). You can’t blame Payson […]
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Freedom Ride West
Editor’s note: James Mills is journeying around the West, exploring issues of diversity in Western national parks. In 1961, a long bus ride from Washington D.C. to New Orleans changed the world forever. The PBS American Experience documentary “The Freedom Riders” documents this journey. As you watch it, I hope that it will open As […]
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Biomass energy production in the Interior West
In November I wrote a post exploring reasons many western political elites are gung ho for biomass energy production. This follow-up post explores the push for biomass energy projects where it is strongest – in the Interior West – and profiles developments in SE Oregon’s Klamath County. A wood chip truck is unloaded at a […]
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New Urbanism irks even green Westerners
In my last post, I explored what appear to be conflicting views on what we today call environmental justice in Edward Abbey’s cult classic Desert Solitaire. The book is fun to assign to my Environmental Rhetoric students because between the lyrical descriptions of Utah wilderness and the fist-pounding Luddite rants it’s guaranteed to provoke lively […]
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Welcome to Shingle Mountain, Colorado
So, where does one hide a pile of old roofing shingles that can cover a football field and towers some 30 feet in height? If you are Denver-based Shingles 4 Recycling, you don’t have to hide such a mountain––not when you can place it in the north Denver, working-class neighborhood of Elyria. Now, the recycling […]
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EJ activist Ed Abbey?
Spring semester is winding down, and the students in my course Rhetoric of the Environmental Movement are reading Edward Abbey’s 1968 memoir, Desert Solitaire. After having duly investigated news reports, scientific studies, websites, and environmental impact statements, they appreciate Abbey’s lively and eccentric voice and his vivid descriptions of the landscape of Arches National Park. […]
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Jobs vs. the environment?
A few weeks ago in this space, I bemoaned the slow pace of green energy development in the face of nuclear disaster in Japan and oil-spill devastation in the Gulf of Mexico. As a consumer of both these dirty fuels, I feel complicit in and mostly helpless to change this unsustainable state. I have steadfastly […]
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Fish and Wildlife Service denies an Indian her feathers
Marine Sisk-Franco has been a Winnemem Wintu Indian for all of her years, and the Northern California tribe’s way of life is all she knows. She’s the daughter of the tribe’s chief and their headman, she’s danced and sung at their ceremonies, and, in 2006, she bravely endured racial taunts and threats from drunken power […]
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Using Japan to discuss energy at home
I noticed this week that I’ve been writing and thinking about energy almost constantly. Obviously I’m not the only non-expert who has become obsessed with this subject, but it is interesting to me how something that used to seem so technical and dispassionate now churns the emotions so powerfully. Perhaps it is the very mysteries […]
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The end of the Mojave coal-fired power plant
The most recent thud Big Coal suffered around the West happened on March 11, when the 500 ft tall coal smokestack at the Mohave Generating Station in Nevada was demolished as part of the decommissioning process for the plant. While this was a historic end for the storied legacy of the Mohave coal-fired power plant, […]
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Wild Lands, bureaucracy and the BLM
I’ve been following BLM Director Bob Abbey’s earnest PR campaign to pacify conservatives on the subject of Secretarial Order 3310, the “Wild Lands Policy,” which was issued by interior Secretary Ken Salazar in December. The policy was immediately attacked by Orrin Hatch and other Western politicians as an end-run by the BLM around Congress (which […]