Salt Lake Tribune veteran energy reporter Tim Fitzpatrick comes out of retirement with a spot-on column on the future of nuclear power in Utah. Thanks, Tim! 🔌💡

Or rather, all too believable. If you want to suppress all knowledge of how a relatively small number are enriching themselves by destroying our shared home then this destruction, following on the heels of the funding freeze for the national Climate Adaptation Science Centers, is completely logical.

Our paper looks at the build-out of lithium mines in CA and NV on imperiled and vulnerable species. Key points: 54 vulnerable species occurred on proposed mine sites, 20 with their entire range within the mine site. Avoidance and mitigation will be important. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Another important piece of Ash Meadows can now be restored and protected. A lot of great conservation work over the past 50 years has occurred at Ash Meadows. www.rgj.com/story/news/n...

These findings underscore the need for adaptive environmental monitoring following battery fires and raise critical considerations for ecosystem protection and infrastructure as energy storage systems expand. #MossLandingFire 🔋🔥 #ElkhornSlough

Current emissions are way off track but we can still keep it below 2C.

Faint rainbow in the Mojave.

Excellent, clear-eyed clean energy perspective to cut through the noise on 10 big things from 10 years since landmark Paris Accord. Positive preview: Solar power spread much faster than projected & EVs are now a norm worldwide with 20% of all cars sold. https://nyti.ms/4owAD85

A new analysis highlights lower environmental conflict locations for critical mineral mining in Utah. With the massive caveat that ground-truthing and buy-in from tribes and local communities needs to occur. www.usu.edu/ilwa/reports...

Do groundwater rights retirement programs work? There is certainly demand for them in Nevada. For KNPR and the Daily Yonder, I talked to irrigators about their experiences with a pilot program in areas where aquifers are being depleted faster than they are replenished. knpr.org/desert-compa...

Trump isn't just canceling wind farms now. He just axed his first big solar project. I've got some ideas for how the renewable energy industry should respond. It's time to stop pandering to "energy dominance" and start trying to win the culture wars: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/trump-is-c...

“The American Southwest” is a new film that explores the importance of the Colorado River to people & to wildlife. Part natural history film, part social documentary, it explores the challenges the Colorado faces as its resources are stretched thin by the demands for cities, energy and agriculture.

Shout out to @motherjones.com for republishing this and adding the alt title. Trump Team’s Plans to Exploit Public Lands Follow the Blueprint of Reagan’s Interior Secretary. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Environmentalists were blunt in their concern: “NEPA seems so arcane and bureaucratic and ‘oh, it’s red tape,’ but in reality, that red tape is the only thing standing between us and having our water poisoned and our air unbreathable and our wildlife all dead.”

Understanding the shifting burden to mine new materials for emerging energy technologies will be incredibly important for conserving biodiversity.

NEW: Mexico could displace ALL US gas imports for power generation, with solar and batteries ☀️ The country’s abundant sunshine means it can become a global solar superpower and boost its energy security at the same time:)

ICYMI: New online! Strategic thinking can ensure the energy transition benefits biodiversity

We learned during our California Solar Canal Initiative meeting this week that this was just put online. It’s the widespan section, complementing the narrow-span section that came online in March—and it’s bigger than a football field! #SolarCanals #ProjectNexus 💧☀️🔌💡

The vague term “critical minerals” conflates renewable energy, the economy, and National defense. This report quantifies the demand, and lack of demand, for some of those minerals needed for the energy transition. www.globaljustice.org.uk/resource/mat...

Byproducts and mine wastes and tailings have huge potential to meet our needs and reduce environmental conflict.

California just debunked a big myth about renewable energy. The state went a record 98 of 116 days providing up to 10 hours of electricity with renewables alone. grist.org/energy/calif... #California #CA #Energy #Renewables #Solar #Wind #Batteries #Climate #Policy

Important work in one of the fastest warming cities in the country.

A win for biodiversity, stewardship and the future of the pygmy rabbit - squee! 🐰 Our latest land transfer will help protect Washington's shrub-steppe ecosystem and the endangered (and very cute) Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit: https://nature.ly/41hc0mi

In the race to find critical minerals, there’s a ‘gold mine’ literally at our shoreline. grist.org/video/seawat... #Mining #Oceans #Climate #Seaweed #Kelp #Minerals

LISTEN to this great piece from NPR’s NPR All Things Considered: Hear from Mojave Desert Land Trust’s Patrick Emblidge, UC Riverside's Cameron Burrows, and Kristina Drake.... Photos: Joshua Tree National Park #mojave #desert #tortoise #endangered #science #conservation 🧪

ICYMI, Great Salt Lake dust made it to Utah County. One environmental group says it highlights how big the problem of the lake’s decline has gotten: www.fox13now.com/news/great-s... #utpol #Utah

As California burns, new research shows smoke is wildfire’s silent killer. The official death count from the Palisades and Eaton fires was 30 — the real number may be 15 times higher. grist.org/health/calif... #CA #California #Wildfire #Fires #Smoke #Climate #LA #LosAngeles

“They’re letting down 50,000 Nevadans." Feds take back $150 million. This is an essential current and future industry for the state. Maybe someone needs to explain to POTUS that it's...always sunny in Nevada. thenevadaindependent.com/article/neva...

Hundreds of old EV batteries have new jobs in Texas: Stabilizing the grid. After reaching the end of their automotive lives, the batteries are being reused to provide lower-cost grid energy storage. grist.org/energy/hundr... #EV #Batteries #Climate #TX #Texas #Electricity

A guide to the 4 minerals shaping the world’s energy future. To address climate change, we're going to need a whole lot of metal. grist.org/energy/criti... #Minerals #Lithium #Cobalt #Nickel #Mining #Energy

Very small changes in groundwater depth and soil moisture can have dramatic impacts on the vegetation and wildlife habitat.

The momentum is unstoppable⚡️ The @iea.org says renewables will overtake coal as the world’s top electricity source by 2026 at the latest. Driven by booming wind & solar growth and rising global electricity demand 📈🌍 @carbonbrief.org www.carbonbrief.org/iea-renewabl...

On July 29, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake disturbed one of the most fragile ecosystems in the US: Devils Hole in Nevada’s Mojave Desert, where the critically endangered Devils Hole pupfish live. With only 38 fish counted during a March 2025 survey, any disturbance can have outsized consequences.

Deep in the Nevada desert, a huge lithium mine could fuel electric vehicles and help slow global warming. But conservationists say it would drive an endangered wildflower to extinction. I visited Rhyolite Ridge and wrestled with a high-stakes climate dilemma: www.latimes.com/environment/...

LeConte’s thrashers, native to arid desert habitats of the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico, have lost nearly 70% of their U.S. population over the past 50 years. Today we petitioned to protect them under the Endangered Species Act. Learn more: biodiv.us/4lZtfku

Should California connect its power grid with the rest of the American West, so everyone can share renewable energy more easily? Or would a regional market drown Californians in expensive coal? My column on the political battle that's dividing environmentalists: www.latimes.com/environment/...

Half of America’s only rare earth mine is now owned by the DoD. www.reuters.com/business/mp-...

Ioneer's lithium-boron mine has been delayed amid a lithium price crash caused by softer electric vehicle demand and an oversupply of the battery metal globally.

Cleaning up the minerals we need for clean energy, record-breaking carbon pollution, and how each of us can scale clean energy adoption--this week's newsletter connects the dots between science, policy, and action. Read the full edition of the newsletter here!

The past provides valuable context to our current condition. www.usatoday.com/story/news/w...

A decision Nevada is making right now.

Planting drought tolerant trees to reduce warming in Las Vegas. There’s a large coalition working on this, it’s nice to see them recognized. www.npr.org/2025/06/09/n...

🌾☀️ Solar panels + farming = a win for water & clean energy! Diamond Valley, NV is perfect for agrivoltaics, but limited power lines slow progress. Smart solar leases could help landowners & nature thrive. Read the full paper to learn more onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

"The Trump Administration plan to destroy NEPA is dangerously wrong. Federal agencies need better funding, staffing, and training to engage in NEPA work more effectively; new short-cuts, time-limits, exemptions, or statutes of limitations are not in the public interest."

Wildfire threatens Joshua trees in area considered a 'last refuge' for the species

In the state with the nation’s two fastest-warming cities, most believe in climate change and think officials should do something, polling from @yaleclimatecomm.bsky.social found. Story @reviewjournal.com, with input from UNR and @debrahendrickson.bsky.social: www.reviewjournal.com/news/politic...

For clarity, this decision was during the previous Admin. The ruling revolves around timeframes for climate change to impact species. This outcome signals lawsuits make a difference. I don’t like dealing with legal issues at work, but if courts uphold the law then they may be needed, a lot more.

Restoring forests is critical for stopping climate change — but, unfortunately, it costs money. 💰 Learn about which reforestation method, plantations or “natural regeneration," is a better "bang for the buck."

‘Beholden to the mine’: Does rural Nevada depend on mines’ goodwill to foot hidden costs? When large-scale developments move in to small towns, they strain infrastructure. Companies often help, but critics wonder whether it’s enough. thenevadaindependent.com/article/beho...