WyoFile traveled the state and talked to Wyoming residents about the changes they’re observing on a landscape that they love and depend on, and what those changes might mean to their Wyoming lifestyle.
Long-term warming trends, more severe drought and increasingly unpredictable seasonal conditions indicate major changes to Wyoming’s landscape and economy.
Drought conditions exacerbated by climate change is forcing tough choices for the water-starved regions of southwest Colorado, where farmers count on irrigated lands for farming and industry.
The drought that has dried out soils, drawn down rivers and reservoirs and challenged agricultural producers, land managers, recreationists and wildlife continues to persist as hydrologists anxiously track the progression of the La Niña weather pattern, hoping for a wet winter to start reversing the worst drought Montana has seen in at least 20 years.
Black spruce trees and the thick layer of peat they take root in are great fuel for the fires. So typically, every 100 years or so, a fire would sweep through and take out a stand of these iconic boreal trees. That same fire would warm up the black spruces’ waxy cones, releasing its seeds that would allow the black spruce forest to regenerate. But in recent years, climate change has undermined the healthy relationship between black spruce trees and forest fires. More frequent wildfires are pushing large areas of black spruce forests past their recovery point.
With the United Nations’ climate conference in Scotland turning a spotlight on climate change policies and the impact of global warming, it’s useful to understand what the science shows. University of Colorado Boulder atmospheric scientist Betsy Weatherhead sums it up in six charts.
The Biden administration on Tuesday launched a wide-ranging plan to reduce methane emissions, targeting a potent greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to global warming and packs a stronger short-term punch than even carbon dioxide.
Reducing methane emissions from fossil fuel operations by repairing leaks and upgrading equipment is “one of the best near-term opportunities for limiting the worst effects of climate change,” according to the International Energy Agency.
In 2014, Colorado became the first state in the country to regulate methane from the oil and gas industry. It’s implemented stricter rules since then. All companies must now check wells and transmission lines for leaks twice a year. The state has also required new valves to reduce overall emissions and banned methane flaring.
Having pledged to produce carbon-free electricity by 2050, Xcel Energy has a new goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions from its natural gas operations in the same timeframe. Xcel Energy, the largest electric utility in Colorado, said Monday that the goal builds on its goal announced in 2018 to deliver carbon-free electricity by mid-century. The Minneapolis-based company aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including methane and carbon dioxide, from its natural gas business by 25% by 2030.
The Biden administration today said it will consider the contribution to greenhouse gas emissions made by oil and gas produced on public lands before selling federal drilling rights.
Officials with the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management said for now there’s little they can do to prevent the climate change impacts from burning the fuels. That’s in part because they can’t discern the significance of emissions from government-owned fuel reserves versus other sources, officials wrote in newly released documents. The determination applies to lease sales planned early next year in Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico and other states.
Administrator Michael Regan said yesterday that EPA would “continue to move forward” with regulations to limit carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants, even as Supreme Court justices consider the scope of authority the agency has under the Clean Air Act to promulgate such rules.
Mr. Trudeau is attempting to position his government at the forefront of global climate policy, including through carbon pricing, on which he urged other countries to follow Ottawa’s lead. At the same time, he faces international criticism over Canada’s status as one of the world’s biggest exporters of fossil fuels.
New research finds that by overcounting the carbon storage of intact forests and undercounting emissions from logging, the government of Canada is vastly underreporting the climate impacts of clearcutting in one of the country’s greatest carbon sinks.
Solar, wind, and geothermal energy are all produced in one Utah valley that is almost magical for renewable energy production. The real magic may be in the pig poop, however.
Developers of a pumped storage hydropower project planned for Carbon County believe the technology, which has been deployed in the U.S. for nearly a century, could unlock future energy development in Wyoming.
“It’s very sad that we produce the energy, we live with the pollution that comes from it, and the energy goes to Denver and the Front Range,” said Carole Partin, a retired schoolteacher. “It’s just not fair.“ Others told commissioners keeping the coal plant running as long as possible was essential for energy production and local property tax revenues.
Wyoming’s economy was built on energy. But with the structural decline of coal and fragile oil and gas markets, the constant question has become, what’s next? How long can this dependence on energy revenue last?
In Europe and North America, coal’s days are increasingly numbered, as older plants are retired in favor of renewables and natural gas. But the story is different in Asia, where a fleet of new coal-burning powerhouses has helped underpin the expansion of the region’s economy.
Centuries of land loss and forced relocation have left Native Americans significantly more exposed to the effects of climate change, new data show, adding to the debate over how to address climate change and racial inequity in the United States. The findings, which took seven years to compile and were published Thursday in the journal Science, mark the first time that researchers have been able to quantify on a large scale what Native Americans have long believed to be true: That European settlers, and later the United States government, pushed Indigenous peoples onto marginal lands.
The Government Accountability Office this week released a report on missing and murdered Indigenous women, finding that data on the crisis is largely unknown and that federal entities—including the Department of Justice and Department of Interior—have failed to meet deadlines required by new laws.
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and conservationists fear that if Energy Fuels Resources is allowed to import Estonia’s waste, it will not only further endanger the tribe, it will encourage more radioactive byproducts to be imported, prolonging the life of the White Mesa Mill and its impacts on land, air, water and the community’s cultural heritage.
In a true government-to-government relationship, the United States would properly consult with tribal nations—and, crucially, tribes could reject America’s plans. Can we ever get there?
With a partnership between an Indigenous tourism group and the National Park Service, the tale of the Corps of Discovery expedition will integrate the experiences of Native Americans to describe in their own words how tribes understood Lewis and Clark and their journey.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed updating the legal framework that governs the management of endangered Mexican gray wolves, lifting a limit on wolf populations and adding restrictions to how wolves can be killed.
Petitioners are requesting 5-mile setbacks that would eliminate wolf hunting and trapping on all U.S. Forest Service land around the two national parks. The federal agency manages much of the land that directly borders Yellowstone and Grand Teton.
U.S. wildlife officials have agreed to keep federal protections in place for the snow-loving Canada lynx, under a court settlement approved Monday by a judge in Montana.
Coyotes and golden eagles may help keep infectious diseases like brucellosis from spreading, a recently published study has found, raising questions about the advisability of predator control and the use of lead bullets.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has confirmed the presence of chronic wasting disease in three new elk hunt areas in Wyoming. The disease was confirmed from lymph node samples from three hunter-harvested bull elk.
Even though sturgeon have been around unchanged for more than 200 million years, knowledge of the relative new comer now patrolling the upper Snake River of eastern Idaho is a big question mark.
Australian diversified major Rio Tinto has teamed up with the United States Geological Survey to hunt for critical minerals beneath the Continental Divide near Montana’s Boulder Batholith.
As wildfire seasons worsen, a growing number of rural residents are buying and outfitting fire rigs and other equipment to protect their property and themselves.
It’s been three years since the Camp Fire swept through Northern California, but many residents still face serious mental health issues. Is what’s happening there a warning to the rest of us?
Outside the northern Utah town of Tremonton, undeveloped lands sit against the West Hills, rolling out toward Idaho. In the coming decades, these hills may also harbor one of Utah’s largest reservoirs, filling a place called Whites Valley with water that would feed urban growth along the Wasatch Front.
The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a voice vote Tuesday approved Charles F. Sams III’s nomination to lead the National Park Service. Sams, an Oregonian who would be the first enrolled tribal member to be NPS director, won the support of several Republicans on the committee, including John Barrasso of Wyoming and Montana’s Steve Daines.
Less than a week after the New York Times published a story on misinformation in Great Falls surrounding the National Heritage Area, a new conspiracy surrounding property rights rolled into town.
In June, Colorado became the first state in the country to overturn its preemption law. Forty-two other states have laws stopping local governments from enforcing strict gun restrictions. The Colorado measure also allows universities to make decisions about firearms on their campuses.
Rockies Today is edited by Matthew Frank, fellow in regional journalism at the O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana.
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