Oak Flat Sacred Area Threatened by Roger Featherstone; Director, Arizona Mining Reform Coalition In the desert southwest we have been facing a boom in mine projects. The boom is supported by mining industry rhetoric that we can "mine our way out of the climate change crisis." This new mining industry spin boils down to sacrificing … Continue reading The Resolution Copper Mine
35 Minutes of Humanity
Humans in Geologic Time by Marli Miller You don't see many rocks where I live in western Oregon. Lush forests or savannah-like areas dotted with Oak, yes, but the bedrock mostly lies beneath the vegetation and a thick mantle of soil. Just south of town though, the highway cuts through a hillside to expose rock … Continue reading 35 Minutes of Humanity
Groundwater & SGMA
Action That Is Long Overdue by William Martin & Charming Evelyn Let's discuss groundwater! You can find many definitions of groundwater - it is basically water stored underground through millennia via the process of snowmelt and rain seeping through the porous earth to an aquifer. Groundwater fills the spaces between rocks, gravel, and soil beneath … Continue reading Groundwater & SGMA
The Lithium Industry in Imperial County
The Importance of Health Impact Assessments by Candice Youngblood In October 2022, Comite Civico Del Valle held its 11th Environmental Health Leadership Summit at Imperial Valley College - the first in three years since the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 300 government leaders, academics, advocates, and supporters came together to discuss questions on equity in minerals extraction, … Continue reading The Lithium Industry in Imperial County
Protection for Joshua Trees
Nothing is Simple by Cameron Mayer Endangered species conservation remains controversial in the realm of environmental management. The case of the western Joshua tree in California's Morongo Basin provides an example. This issue has been framed as a winner-take-all scenario wherein conservation interests or development proponents garner either complete victory or defeat in pursuit of … Continue reading Protection for Joshua Trees
Cooking with Sunshine
A Zero Emission Alternative by Lorraine Anderson Local solar is the key to a clean, safe, and reliable energy future, as the August 2022 issue of Desert Report makes abundantly clear. In my vision of that future, solar panels on every rooftop go hand in hand with solar cookers in every backyard. Cooking meals outdoors … Continue reading Cooking with Sunshine
Revised General Plan for Red Rock Canyon State Park
Does it Adequately Protect Park Resources? by Jeff Aardahl and Mark R. Faull The California Department of Parks and Recreation completed the revised General Plan for Red Rock Canyon State Park and Environmental Impact Report (EIR).1 Both were approved by the California State Park and Recreation Planning Commission at a public meeting on March 3, … Continue reading Revised General Plan for Red Rock Canyon State Park
June 2023 – Latest
In This Issue • The Resolution Copper Mine • Revised General Plan For Red Rock Canyon State Park • The Lithium Industry In Imperial County • Permanently Protecting An 'Island In The Sky' • Groundwater & CA Sustainable Groundwater Management Act • Cooking With Sunshine • This Water Has Magic: A Poem By Christiana Saldana … Continue reading June 2023 – Latest
The Anthropocene
A Changed Planet by Jan Zalasiewicz, Martin J. Head, Colin N. Waters, Simon Turner, Mark Williams, John R. McNeill, Jaia Syvitski, Anthony Barnosky, Naomi Oreskes, and Peter Haff Anthropocene: when atmospheric chemist and Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen spontaneously coined the term during a meeting of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme at Cuernavaca, Mexico in 2000, a … Continue reading The Anthropocene
Self-Devouring Serpents in the Anthropocene
Human Systems and Earth Systems Are One by Julia Adeney Thomas Rat snakes have died from eating their own tails. Suicide by self-devouring may seem preposterous, something no creature would do, but it happens, and not only with rat snakes. Our species too seems hell-bent on destroying ourselves and taking much of the web of … Continue reading Self-Devouring Serpents in the Anthropocene