The heat is on

Suffering in the sweltering Southwest

THE BIG STORIES UP AND DOWN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
A curated newsletter from the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West

The heat is on

‘An absolute crisis’: Millions in Southwest stare down weeks of brutal heat

More than 113 million people in the U.S. are suffering under extreme heat as another massive “heat dome” expands from Texas westward toward California. Meteorologists expect the Southwest’s heat wave to intensify over the weekend, delivering some of the year’s highest temperatures and pushing California’s Death Valley near its all-time-record temperature of over 130 degrees Fahrenheit. The midday heat in cities like Phoenix, Arizona, has become so intense that ordinary surfaces such as streets and metal railings are too dangerous to touch without risking burns.

grist.org

Dangerous heat warnings and watches issued for much of Utah — including the Wasatch Front

The National Weather Service, which earlier this week issued a heat watch in southern Utah, is now warning of “dangerously hot conditions” with temperatures up to 104 degrees in northern Utah from noon Saturday until 9 p.m. Monday.

sltrib.com

A Phoenix power outage amid a heat wave could possibly kill thousands, study says

If the city were to lose power for air conditioning, roughly half the city could end up in the emergency room.

washingtonpost.com

How extreme heat takes a toll on the mind and body, according to experts

With so many consecutive days of excessive heat, forecasters, physicians and local health officials throughout the Southwest are recommending that people limit their outdoor exposure and know the warning signs of heat illness.

apnews.com

Heat waves now last longer, spurring an air-conditioning boom

Parts of the U.S. unaccustomed to hot summers crank up ACs and pay more for electricity.

wsj.com

When will the Southwest become unlivable?

Air-conditioning and swimming pools are sustaining my community. I worry about the day when they won’t be enough.

theatlantic.com

Opinion: In Texas, dead fish and red-faced desperation are signs of things to come

Extreme heat is the engine of planetary chaos. We ignore it at our peril.

nytimes.com

Last month was the hottest June ever

Last month was the hottest June ever recorded globally, according to multiple independent analyses. Surface temperatures were 1.89 degrees F above average, according to NOAA.

e360.yale.edu

Dispatches from the energy transition

‘Giant methane factories’: Hydropower has long been touted as clean energy. But is it?

Decades of research suggests that hydropower has a far greater climate impact than once thought. Now a growing chorus of scientists want to change the conversation about it.

insideclimatenews.org

Natural gas can rival coal's climate-warming potential when leaks are counted

Climate-warming greenhouse gasses from natural gas could be as damaging as those from coal, according to a new analysis.

npr.org

Industry wants new pipeline on Navajo land scarred by decades of fossil fuel extraction

Developers tout hydrogen as a clean energy source; Navajo opponents say it is another way outsiders will profit by harming their environment and health.

capitalandmain.com

Idaho Power to shift solar compensation to on-peak, off-peak times

The state’s largest electric utility is proposing to lower net-metering compensation and bring about other marked changes that solar advocates say could hurt the burgeoning renewable energy business and reduce the resiliency of local electricity grids.

idahostatesman.com

Utah ‘blessed’ with potential sites to store climate-wrecking carbon dioxide

Utah is "blessed" with good sites for carbon sequestration, and the Utah Geological Survey has received a Department of Energy grant to map them out.

sltrib.com

Should there be a nuclear power plant in Utah? Most residents say yes

A majority of Utah residents are on board with a nuclear power plant in Utah, with 65% who say they are in support, compared to 31% who are opposed and another 4% who have yet to make up their mind.

deseret.com

Clean energy and cattle: Wind farm begins operation on historic ranch in northern Arizona

The first phase of the Chevelon Butte wind farm is complete, as 57 large wind turbines tower over one of the state's longest-running cattle ranches.

azcentral.com

Jobs in Brighton, Colorado. But what about Craig?

Transportation matters greatly to solar and battery factories arising along metro Denver's I-76 corridor. What about Craig and other coal towns?

bigpivots.com

Lithium drilling plans near Ash Meadows refuge on pause

After pushback, the BLM said it will require a full environmental review for Rover Metals’ lithium drilling project outside Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Nevada.

reviewjournal.com

Toad's endangered listing forces Ormat, Interior to rethink proposed geothermal project

A planned geothermal plant in Nevada was sent back to square one last week after federal land managers decided to reexamine their approval of the project following the listing of a small rare toad living in adjacent springs as endangered.

nevadacurrent.com

Political animals

Treaty rights, bison and the country’s most controversial hunt

Last winter’s harvest in the Yellowstone region illustrates the complexity of bison restoration.

hcn.org

Montana FWP confirms grizzly sighting in Shields Valley

Sighting comes on the heels of a confirmed sighting in the Pryor Mountains of southeastern Montana.

montanafreepress.org

Bears aren’t as deadly as you’ve been taught

In Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, Parks Canada is hiring Indigenous employees to change the way people think about bears.

thenarwhal.ca

Wolf hunting regs allowing infrared imaging violate Montana law, judge rules

A Helena judge has ruled that hunting wolves using thermal imaging technology was not explicitly allowed by a 2021 law that expanded when and how the animals can be legally killed on private land.

missoulian.com

Time for elk hunters to comment on draft FWP management plan

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has released its 2023 Draft Elk Management Plan which has been years in the making.

billingsgazette.com

Elk calls have regional dialects

Whales, bats and birds sound different depending on where they live. So do elk, according to new research.

hcn.org

Jackson-bound gas pipeline will cleave 'core' sage grouse habitat in Sublette County, Wyoming

A Lower Valley Energy pipeline extension that will deliver natural gas to Jackson Hole will bisect land Wyoming has designated “core habitat” for sage grouse, an icon of the western sagebrush steppe.

jhnewsandguide.com

Public land matters

BLM director says agency has been directed to implement corner crossing

A federal judge’s May ruling that hunters in Wyoming who crossed from one corner of public land to another did not trespass on adjacent private lands sent a distinct message to the Bureau of Land Management’s national legal team. “Our solicitors think it’s pretty clear,” said Tracy Stone-Manning, director of the BLM and a Montana resident. “We’re taking that ruling quite seriously and making sure that our state directors are implementing it.”

billingsgazette.com

‘Devil’s’ postcard prompts request to pause corner-crossing

Hateful vitriol, including a postcard from “Satan,” has prompted the owner of Elk Mountain Ranch to ask a federal court to stall the judge’s own decision that corner crossing is not trespassing.

wyofile.com

Maps offer clues on managing forests for climate change

Working with the Forest Service, the Pew Charitable Trusts developed an interactive map showing where a more — or less — hands-on approach may help national forests as the world warms.

eenews.net

BLM foundation names first-ever CEO

The nonprofit group was created by Congress in 2017, but the Trump administration didn't appoint members or set it up.

eenews.net

Biden officials support bill curbing speculative leasing

Two senior Biden administration officials offered general support at a Senate hearing Wednesday for two bills that aim to curtail so-called speculative oil and gas leasing on federal lands and to permanently protect more than 420,000 acres in Colorado.

eenews.net

Sparks fly as GOP seeks to reverse Chaco Canyon oil ban

Republicans want to overturn a recent Interior Department decision that banned new leasing and mining around the New Mexico historical park.

eenews.net

Fast-tracked oil expansion plan in Utah said to threaten Colorado environment

A proposal to the BLM to expand the capacity of an oil transport facility on federal land west of Price, Utah, has caught the attention of Colorado officials and conservation groups opposed to increased oil train traffic along the Colorado River.

coloradonewsline.com

Straight-lining it

The gondola’s price tag just went up again. Here’s why UDOT still says it is moving forward with the controversial plan.

The Utah Department of Transportation has made it official — it wants to build an eight-mile-long gondola through Little Cottonwood Canyon.

sltrib.com

Here’s how people reacted to news of the Little Cottonwood gondola moving forward

Elected leaders and ski resort officials shared their thoughts on UDOT's decision to move forward with a gondola through Little Cottonwood Canyon.

sltrib.com

Utah wants to build the world’s longest gondola to solve traffic

It is rare for a state department of transportation to propose solving a traffic problem with anything other than a highway widening. It is even rarer for it to suggest a gondola.

vice.com

What else we’re reading today

Amid Allen & Co.'s power players, life goes on in Sun Valley

As some of the richest and most influential people on the planet descend on Sun Valley, residents and visitors who end up intermingled among the billionaires and power players hold varying opinions about the annual conference hosted by private investment bank Allen & Co.

mtexpress.com

Judge OKs Yellowstone Club snowmaking operation

The Yellowstone Club can go forward with its plans to make snow using recycled water from Big Sky, the Gallatin County District Court ruled at the end of June.

bozemandailychronicle.com

Yellowstone gateway towns struggle to provide emergency medical services as tourism swells

Providing emergency medical services in Montana's gateway towns to Yellowstone National Park comes with unique problems when tourism swells the local population.

billingsgazette.com

Officials estimate 500,000 pounds of tar-like asphalt could have entered the Yellowstone in railway incident

Nearly two weeks after a bridge collapse and train derailment sent 10 rail cars plunging into the Yellowstone River, authorities are starting to quantify the volume of molten asphalt that entered the river.

montanafreepress.org

Trains move toxic chemicals through small towns daily. Most aren't prepared for disaster.

In the wake of the East Palestine, Ohio, disaster, other train towns wonder: Are we next?

grist.org

Shaky Ground: The link between the Permian Basin's fossil fuel industry and earthquakes

Earthquake reports from the U.S. Geological Society in the Permian Basin juxtaposed with oil production numbers from the Energy Information Administration show rapidly increasing extraction instep with growing seismicity.

daily-times.com

More than 150 insurance companies sue Xcel, citing negligence over start of Marshall fire

Insurance companies claimed Xcel Energy was aware of the high fire risk and could have shut off power, preventing the Marshall fire.

coloradosun.com

Xcel Energy seeks $45M rate increase — down from $312M — amid consumer outrage over rising bills

State's largest utility slashed request by 85%, but consumer advocates are troubled by adding lawyer fees, worker bonuses to electric bills.

coloradosun.com

Electricity bills could climb 22% for Rocky Mountain Power customers

Wyoming's largest utility says volatile coal and natural gas markets are driving electricity costs upward.

wyofile.com

In fierce battle against climate change, Idaho-led team is up for $160 million grant

The University of Idaho-led team, recognizing the need for communication across sectors, plans to bring forces together with its think tank, called FIERCE: Fueling an Innovative, Equitable and Resilient Climate-smart Economy. It links multiple organizations from the Columbia River Basin, which spans much of Idaho, Oregon and Washington, as well as a little bit of Montana.

idahostatesman.com

Lawmakers gave millions to support a private landowner’s unusual wildfire prevention method. Does it work?

“Roller felling” encourages aspen, but how long the results last and whether it’s any better than other forest treatments remain big unknowns.

sltrib.com

Nevada departs state climate alliance

The move came as Arizona joined the group in a sign of shifting state politics on energy policy.

eenews.net

Colorado sees major drop in water use as historic rains continued in June

Colorado’s reservoirs are full and runoff estimates keep rising after historic rains continued into June, prompting water use to drop.

coloradosun.com

Interior Department official with key role in Colorado River talks is stepping down

A senior Interior Department official who has played a key role in negotiations over the shrinking Colorado River will leave her job next month.

apnews.com

With Utah Lake dredging project sunk, Lake Restoration Solutions files for bankruptcy

The company’s multiple lawsuits mean it can’t cover its bills, but the CEO gave a sizeable payment to his anti-wolf nonprofit.

sltrib.com

Fireflies are thriving in Colorado wetlands. Scientists want to shed light on why.

Lightning bugs light up the sky in scattered pockets across the state, luring sightseers and sparking research that could guide reintroduction

coloradosun.com

Unions: Lee newspapers' cuts mean less journalism and insulting readers' intelligence

The unions of Lee Enterprises are pushing back against the corporate owners and their plans to slash print days while also failing to articulate a digital plan.

dailymontanan.com

Edited by Matthew Frank, associate director of regional journalism at the O’Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana

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