Some Articles

Misinformation, fear and politics – how a South Dakota county drove away millions in solar energy (The Guardian)

When Doral Renewables contacted Colton Berens’ family in 2022 with a proposal to build a 3,200-acre solar array on the their property, Colton saw a chance for his family to benefit – as well as an opportunity to breathe life into his “dying” community. Armed with rightwing falsehoods, other Selby residents opposed the move.

This App Set Out to Fight Pesticides. After VCs Stepped In, Now It Helps Sell Them (Wired)

Developing powerful AI is expensive, and Plantix was in stiff competition with other agritech startups for limited funding from venture capital investors who wanted surefire profit. A brilliant idea beautifully executed wasn’t enough to win them over—Plantix would have to recast itself into something purpose-built for fast capital.

Inside Silicon Valley’s Grand Ambitions To Control Our Planet’s Thermostat (Noema)

Given the risks of screwing with the only habitable planet we have, can we afford the potential costs of letting profit-motivated ventures stab at the problem? A rising tide of climate tinkerers might say that given impending global catastrophe and the pathetic response of world leaders, we can’t afford not to.

Can a California Oilfield Be Retrofitted to Store Solar Energy? (Yale e360)

The transition to renewables requires batteries that can store energy for long periods of time. To meet that demand, engineers in California’s Kern County are aiming to revamp depleted oil wells to hold concentrated solar energy in super-heated water underground.

Seawalls offer a false sense of security as oceans rise (Seattle Times, in print)

The US is poised to spend more than $400 billion fortifying its coasts by 2040. Will these walls protect us from climate change or obscure our view of the risk?

13 Years Post-Tsunami, This Japanese Hiking Trail Spotlights Coastal Beauty and a Remarkable Recovery (Wall Street Journal, in print)

In the wake of a devastating natural disaster, a 620-mile trail in Japan takes hikers up to stunning viewpoints and into resilient communities eager to share their culture and cuisine.

Has Geothermal’s Moment Finally Arrived? (Sierra Magazine, in print)

Aside from a hot springs resort or the alien displays in Yellowstone National Park, there’s little to indicate that geothermal energy exists at all. Even in places where water boils to the surface in an eggy fog, there’s no certain way of reaching an electricity-generating geothermal source. This has long been its great paradox: Geothermal energy is everywhere and nowhere all at once. That might be changing.

Can We Avoid The Pitfalls Of Going Green? (Noema Magazine)

The SunZia transmission line would be the largest renewable energy project in the US. But its path is charted through the San Pedro River Valley, an incredibly rare stretch of undammed wild habitat and a landscape with thousands of years of Indigenous peoples’ heritage. This overlooked corner of the Arizona desert offers a microcosm of the tradeoffs that line the path toward the renewable-powered future we so badly need.

Burning Coal to Survive Climate Change (Noema Magazine)

In a scene that’s playing out across the developing world, Bangladesh faces a terrible paradox: It needs money to pay for the consequences of climate-related disasters and, so far, the fastest way to get it is by continuing to develop fossil fuels, which exacerbates the very disasters they are trying to evade.

Why Are We Paying for Crop Failures in the Desert? (The New Republic)

Despite signs that extreme heat is the new normal, farmers in the West are planting the same thirsty crops on the same parched desert, and watching them wither year after year. And why not? The American taxpayer is covering their losses.

Can Mushrooms Help Prevent Megafires? (Washington Post)

Fungus has an uncommon knack for transformation. Give it garbage, plastic, even corpses, and it will convert them all into something else — for instance, nutrient-rich soil. Down where the Rocky Mountains meet the plains, mycologists like Zach Hedstrom are harnessing this unique trait to transform the West’s unnatural abundance of trees, which fuel enormous wildfires, into a valuable asset for local agriculture.

When Climate Adaptation Backfires (Discover Magazine, in print)

Around the world, people are building levees, shoring up dams, digging canals and constructing infrastructure to confront the impacts of climate change. Most of these investments will likely save countless lives and protect property, but some will inadvertently add to the problems they are trying to address.

“White Gold”: Why Shrimp Aquaculture is a Solution That Caused a Huge Problem (The Guardian)

It seemed like a good idea at the time: If farmers in coastal Bangladesh couldn’t stop rising seas from poisoning their crops, they could use the brackish water to grow something else — shrimp. But what started as an inventive solution has become an environmental disaster fueling violent conflict.

The battle to control America’s ‘most destructive’ species: feral pigs (National Geographic)

“People hate hogs. But they love their guns, and they love having something to shoot.” The chance of bagging the next Hogzilla draws eager sportsmen to hundreds of hunting plantations across the South and funds a simmering culture war between plantation owners and neighboring farmers who suffer enormous losses from invasive swine.

Can Nature Reclaim Iowa? (Sierra Magazine, in print)

In one of the most used and abused states in the nation, locals have advanced a radical theory: Iowa is ripe for rewilding. For this Sierra Magazine cover story, I travel from the Loess Hills to the Meskwaki tribal community to see if rewilding this agriculture-dominated state is anything but a pipe dream.

What Should Farmers Grow in the Desert? (Mother Jones)

This is what adaptation to climate change looks like in Arizona: desert farmers searching for a crop that can survive 114-degree days on less than four inches of rain a year and still throw off enough cash to run their air conditioning. And if this crop wasn’t it, well, then understanding exactly why might still help thousands of farmers—and the agriculture industry as a whole—carve a path toward sustainability in the desert.

Extreme drought creates unlikely farming allies in the Arizona desert (National Geographic)

Jace Miller has always known exactly what he wanted to do. “For me, it’s bankruptcy or death. I’m a farmer.” That commitment was put to the test in 2021 when Miller found out he was going to lose the Colorado River water that sustains his thirsty hay farm in Pinal County. To survive, he’s working for the Gila River Indian Community, which has emerged from a century of colonization to become a dominant player in Western water. Together, can these unlikely allies keep agriculture alive in Central Arizona?

Canadian Mine Waste Is Crossing Borders and Facing International Backlash (Discover Magazine, in print)

For decades, Canadian waterways have carried toxic mine waste through natural ecosystems, into tribal lands and across the U.S. border. A coalition of indigenous leaders and scientists are now calling for international protection.

When the Fever Doesn’t Break: Dengue Fever Is on the Rise — a Ticking Time Bomb in Many Places Around the World (Discover Magazine, in print)

I landed in Dhaka in the middle of the most severe outbreak of dengue fever Bangladesh could recall. More than 91,000 people were infected between January and October 2019 — nearly twice the cumulative total for the previous 19 years. By the time my plane left the tarmac to return home, two things were clear: Climate change is driving the severity of dengue outbreaks, and the most vulnerable countries are the least prepared.

Arizona’s Water Supplies are Drying Up. How Will its Farmers Survive? (National Geographic)

As the mighty Colorado River dwindles and cropland dries out, farming families face a grim choice: give up or somehow adapt.

Why is a big oil company investing huge amounts of money in Wyoming wind? (The Guardian)

The Battle To Protect One Of America’s Last Wild Landscapes (Huffington Post)

Threatened Species Rely On Ecotourism To Survive. So What Happens When The Tourists Stop Coming? (Huffington Post)

American anxiety drives a crystal boom: ‘People are looking for healing’ (The Guardian)

‘This season is off the charts’: Colorado fights the worst wildfires in its recent history (The Guardian)

The David And Goliath Story Playing Out In Alaska’s Fisheries (Huffington Post)

How We Got Conned Into Drinking Bottled Water — and How We Can Stop (Huffington Post)

For Grief-Stricken West Louisville, Hope Looks Like A Grocery Store (Huffington Post)

Park + Town: Trinidad Finds New Economic Opportunity in Outdoor Recreation Thanks to Colorado’s Newest State Park (The Nature Conservancy Magazine, in print)

The Coronavirus Could Change the Way We Eat Meat (Huffington Post)