News & Commentary

Overcoming an Industrial Legacy in L.A.’s Pacoima District

March 18, 2019 DispatchLos AngelesCorey Binns

Local environmental justice groups get a boost from the city’s Clean Up Green Up policy, which brings green zoning to three heavily polluted communities.

Montana’s Wildlife Needs Safer Crosswalks

March 13, 2019 DispatchMontanaLora Shinn

A push for more animal bridges and overpasses is aimed at reducing the number of collisions between vehicles and wildlife.

Portland Makes Strides to Cut Emissions and Move Beyond Four Wheels

March 4, 2019 DispatchPortland (Oregon)Becca Cudmore

The Rose City, a winner of the American Cities Climate Challenge, will reduce emissions as it revamps its transportation system—part of a new strategic plan called Central City in Motion.

With Tahlequah’s Newborn and Scarlet Gone, Orca Advocates Race to Save Their Kin

February 11, 2019 DispatchWestLora Shinn

The plight of the Southern Resident orcas is bringing together a coalition of state and tribal leaders, scientists, and grassroots communities to avert a looming extinction.

These Montanans Don’t Want an Industrial Slaughterhouse in Their Backyard

February 1, 2019 DispatchMontanaLora Shinn

In the small city of Great Falls, residents push back against a Big Ag plant that would consume 3.5 million gallons of water—and produce 102,995 pounds of waste—per day.

The Future of Seattle’s Ferries Is Electric

December 26, 2018 DispatchSeattle, WashingtonStarre Vartan

The largest ferry system in the United States prepares to stop using diesel fuel to help Washington achieve its climate action goals.

These Coloradans Want to Ditch Their Diesel School Buses

December 6, 2018 DispatchColoradoCorey Binns

Citing poor air quality and high asthma rates, local environmental advocates are pushing for a cleaner ride to school for their children.

The Festering Sanitation Crisis at Our Border

December 3, 2018 DispatchArizona, Mexico, CaliforniaTim Vanderpool

As the Trump administration ratchets up its rhetoric demanding billions for a wall, American communities along the Mexico border are in need of basic services, like reliable sewage treatment.

New Mexico Isn’t Welcoming Nuclear Waste With Open Arms

October 31, 2018 DispatchNew MexicoLarry O'Hanlon

The problem of how to dispose of nuclear waste has haunted the United States for six decades. It’s now landed on New Mexico’s doorstep.

In the Pacific Northwest, Testing Out New Wildfire Defenses on the Front Lines

October 30, 2018 DispatchWest, Washington, OregonLora Shinn

Where quick-spreading fires are the “new normal,” some state officials and communities are willing to try whatever it takes to prevent—or better prepare for—the next big blaze.

In Long Beach, Touring a Toxic Neighborhood on Bike

October 24, 2018 DispatchLong Beach, CaliforniaCorey Binns

Residents who live near the country’s busiest ports are getting a new lens on the pollution in their backyards, and new tactics to help fight it.

In Utah, Industry Pounces on What Were, Not Long Ago, Our Public Lands

October 10, 2018 DispatchUtahStarre Vartan

Cobalt mining and other interests lay claim to Grand Staircase–Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments, rankling local communities tied to these lands.

In Nevada, Hitching a Hoop House to a Hospital for a Community in Need

October 1, 2018 DispatchNevadaJodi Helmer

Gardeners, students, and health-care workers in Carson City are coming together to fight food insecurity.

A Decade on the California Delta

September 12, 2018 DispatchCaliforniaDarcy Eveleigh

Photographer Max Whittaker shows us the many faces of the delta, including its strange and fascinating history and the challenges complicating its future.

A New Approach to Oregon’s Growing Rat Problem

September 5, 2018 DispatchOregonBecca Cudmore

The city of Eugene is testing an unconventional solution to a serious issue, with a ban on feeding a slew of wild animals.

Oklahoma Takes Its Backyard—and Roadside—Butterflies Seriously

September 4, 2018 DispatchOklahomaNatalie Gould Tomko

Situated along the monarch’s migration corridor, the Sooner State is coming up with creative ways to save the imperiled pollinators.

On the Horizon in the Cowboy State: Wind Turbines

September 4, 2018 DispatchWyomingHillary Rosner

Wyoming, the country’s top coal producer, is wrangling support for wind power—and not a moment too soon.

The Bullfrog Is the “Great White Shark” of Arizona’s Wetlands

August 31, 2018 DispatchArizonaJason Bittel

Conservationists and ranchers are teaming up to drain the swamp (literally) so they can kick these invasive croakers out and save the state’s leopard frogs.

Montanans Find Their Scenery More Precious Than Copper or Gold

August 15, 2018 DispatchMontanaLora Shinn

Environmentalists, the recreation industry, and lovers of the state’s great outdoors push back against new mine developments threatening their waters.

Climate Change Is Worsening Houston’s Housing Crisis

August 8, 2018 DispatchHouston, TexasTim Vanderpool

Since Hurricane Harvey, homelessness has gone up, some public housing residents are living in severely damaged homes, and others have been cast out to remote suburbs—to the detriment of local well-being and the economy.