ICN Mountain West Archives - Inside Climate News

Citing ‘AI Arms Race,’ Trump Administration Announces Efforts to Rekindle US Coal Industry

The administration is opening millions of additional acres of public land to mining while slashing royalty rates and environmental regulations for coal. Environmentalists warn of skyrocketing costs and threats to land, water and air.

By Jake Bolster

Political Whiplash Is Terrible for Wolves’ Future. But More Is Coming.

By Jake Bolster, Kiley Price

Bureau of Land Management to Sell Off Federal Coal Reserve Leases in Wyoming

By Arcelia Martin, Jake Bolster

Olivia Vesovitch (center), Georgi Fischer (right) and Eva Lighthiser (back) arrive at the U.S. District Court of Montana in Missoula on Sept. 16. Credit: Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan

Can the Latest Youth Climate Case Win Where Others Have Failed?

By Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan

A Tumultuous Moment for Public Lands and All Who Rely on Them

ICN Sunday Morning

One of the First to Benefit From Trump’s Cuts to Environmental Review: a Nevada Gold Mine

By Wyatt Myskow

‘No One Comes Out of This Unscathed’: Experts Warn That Colorado River Use Needs Cutting Immediately

By Wyatt Myskow

A view of a beaver pond and dam in the Happy Jack Recreation Area of Wyoming. Credit: Courtesy of Luwen Wan

Researchers Use AI to Predict Beavers’ Impact on Local Habitats—and Show How Humans Can Help

By Mackenzie White

New Tool Maps the Health Impacts of Toxic Air Pollutants Released With Methane in Super-Emitter Events

By Liza Gross

A Geothermal Network in Colorado Could Help A Rural Town Diversify Its Economy

By Phil McKenna, Jake Bolster

Tribal Solar Projects Meet Different Fates in Wyoming After Trump Administration Kills Funding

By Jake Bolster

Can Colorado Recycle Toxic Water from Oil and Gas Drilling Without Increasing Emissions?

Story by Jake Bolster, photos by Lee Pruitt

Uranium Company Receives Wyoming’s First Fast-Tracked Mining Permits

By Jake Bolster

BLM Calls New Oil and Gas Rules ‘Noncontroversial,’ Exempts Them From Public Comment

By Jake Bolster

Republican Excitement for Wyoming Rare Earth Mining Contradicts the Party’s Disdain for Renewables

By Jake Bolster

The south and west reaches of Lonesome Lake are visibly shallow in this July 2025 photo taken while descending from Jackass Pass. Long reputed to have quality issues related to human waste, the Shoshone National Forest lake is being examined for an E. coli impairment after regulators initially detected fecal bacteria levels several hundred times more than is believed to be safe. Credit: Mike Koshmrl/WyoFile

Wyoming’s Crowded Lonesome Lake Tops EPA’s National Survey for Fecal Contamination

By Mike Koshmrl, WyoFile

EPA Tries to Stop Closure of Colorado Coal Plants After Meeting With Colorado Springs Utilities

By Jake Bolster

Brittany Staie, with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, gathers samples of vegetables that are being grown at the NREL agrivoltaic solar garden in Golden, Colo. Credit: Werner Slocum/NREL

In the Sweltering Southwest, Planting Solar Panels in Farmland Can Help Both Photovoltaics and Crops

By Tina Deines

Trump Move to Increase Coal Mining in the Powder River Basin Will Worsen Climate Change, Experts Warn

By Jake Bolster

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