ICN Mountain West Archives - Inside Climate News

Trump Administration’s Threats to Shrink or Eliminate National Monuments Could Endanger Drinking Water for Millions

A new Center for American Progress report found 31 national monuments are the only conservation tool protecting 21,000 miles of rivers and streams that provide water for downstream communities.

By Wyatt Myskow

‘Renewable’ No More: The Trump Administration Renames the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

By Dan Gearino

A high-severity burn in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. Wildfires are altering the snowpack, a crucial source of water in the West. Credit: Arielle Koshkin

In Burned Forests, the West’s Snowpack Is Melting Earlier

By Mitch Tobin, The Water Desk

Reintroduced Carnivores’ Impacts on Ecosystems Are Still Coming Into Focus

By Jake Bolster

‘It’s Not Too Late’: New Cornell Study Maps the Environmental Cost of AI and How Policy Could Limit the Damage

By Carl David Goette-Luciak

Hannah Livesay, biologist at the Grand River Mosquito Control District, points out the characteristic white markings of an Aedes aegypti mosquito shown under a microscope at her lab in Grand Junction, Colo.

A Disease-Carrying Mosquito Has Landed in the Rocky Mountains Where It Historically Couldn’t Survive

Story by Erin Douglas, photos by Isabella Escobedo

Rebecca Gentry lost more than 50,000 trees on her family’s ranch during the 2021 PF Fire near Hardin, Mont. Credit: Mast Reforestation

Is Burying the Trees Killed by Wildfires a Climate Solution?

By Elisabeth Kwak-Hefferan

States and Nonprofits Are Helping National Parks Run During the Shutdown. Could Their Efforts Backfire?

By Jake Bolster

Western States Brace for a Uranium Boom as the Nation Looks to Recharge its Nuclear Power Industry

By Jake Bolster, Dylan Baddour, Wyatt Myskow

At Rallies in Utah and Wyoming, PacifiCorp Customers Urge the Utility to Pursue Renewables

By Jake Bolster

Jace Lankow and Zanna Stutz measure a beaver dam in Glen Canyon on Sept. 16. Environmental advocates say the return of beavers to the canyon is a sign that nature is thriving in areas that were once submerged by Lake Powell. Credit: Alex Hager/KUNC

As Lake Powell Recedes, Beavers are Building Back

By Alex Hager, KUNC

Sarah Jones stands under a center pivot irrigation unit, with a few stems of rye in the foreground, on her farm in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. Credit: Hart Van Denburg/CPR News

America’s Rye Whiskey Resurgence Could Help the Climate, but Not by Itself

By Emily Payne

Boulder City, Nev., an original Hoover Dam power contractor, now receives additional electric power from the Townsite Solar Facility, located a few miles southwest of the city. Credit: Brett Walton/Circle of Blue

Solar Growth Cushions Colorado River Hydropower Declines

By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue

Wyoming’s Draft Pilot Conservation Program ‘a Good Starting Point’ but There’s Room for Improvement

By Jake Bolster

Eva Lighthiser (center), lead plaintiff in the Lighthiser v. Trump case, walks with attorney Mat dos Santos as they arrive at the Russell Smith Courthouse in Missoula, Montana, on Sept. 16. Credit: Issam Ahmed/AFP via Getty Images

Montana Court Dismisses Youth-led Lawsuit Challenging Trump Executive Orders Boosting Fossil Fuels

By Dana Drugmand

Senate Nixes Management Plans for Public Lands, Expanding Access for Fossil Fuels

By Nicholas Kusnetz

As Colorado River Nears Collapse, It Faces Leadership, Transparency ‘Crisis,’ Environmentalists Warn

By Wyatt Myskow

The Sage Grouse Could Face More Development in Its Critical Habitat Under Trump

By Jake Bolster

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

By Jake Bolster

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