In the Rockies today, the rush is on to secure the best sites in Montana for wind energy, Wyoming groups are squabbling with the BLM over well limits on the Pinedale Anticline, and Utah and the NRC fight over who has the say on importing foreign nuclear waste.
A Spanish company is building what will be Montana's largest wind farm on the border of Glacier and Toole counties south of Ethridge.
And there may be many more to come, as companies from across the nation and, indeed across the ocean, are courting landowners across Montana to lease land for wind farms.
In Wyoming, groups are fighting with the Bureau of Land Management over its 700-well limit set out in the agency's 2000 record of decision on energy development on the Pinedale Anticline.
The BLM says the document limits just well pads from which directional wells may be drilled, but opponents said the 700 refers to producing wells.
And in Utah, where an Italian firm is negotiating with EnergySolutions to dispose of nuclear waste in its Tooele County facility, the state is debating with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission over who has the authority to allow -- or block -- nuclear waste from a foreign county.
And in our Environment section, wildfires are contained in Utah, Colorado and Montana, but crews are still fighting several in New Mexico.
Rockies today
Groups, BLM fight over number of wells on Wyoming Anticline
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management and environmental groups are wrangling about whether the BLM's "record of decision" issued in 2002 on energy development on Wyoming's Pinedale Anticline limits the number of producing wells to 700 or the number of well pads to 700.
Casper Star-Tribune; April 21
Wyoming groups lead inquiry into severance taxes paid in 10 states
Work done by the Wyoming-based Equality State Policy Center and the Powder River Basin Resource Council, along with citizens groups in 10 Western states, helped produce a preliminary report on mining taxes in 10 Western states that showed hardrock mining products aren't taxed as appropriately as other energy resources.
Casper Star-Tribune; April 21
Race is on to lock up locations for wind projects in Montana
Wind developers from Spain to Germany, Texas to Florida, and even some from Montana are scurrying across the Big Sky state courting landowners to secure the best sites for wind projects.
Great Falls Tribune; April 21
Spanish company building Montana's largest wind farm
NaturEner USA, whose global headquarters are in Spain, is building what will be Montana's largest wind farm in the northcentral portion of the state, with 140 265-foot wind turbines that will eventually produce 210 megawatts of power.
Great Falls Tribune; April 21
Montana asks Wyoming for some white-tailed prairie dogs
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission is expected to decide this week if the state, which has hundreds of thousands of acres inhabited by white-tailed prairie dogs, can fill Montana's request for up to 100 of the burrowing rodents to be trapped and relocated to open country south of Billings in the Big Sky State.
Casper Star-Tribune (AP); April 21
Utah, NRC dispute who has authority to make foreign n-waste decision
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. believes the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has the responsibility to decide if the U.S. should accept nuclear waste from a foreign country, but the NRC says it's up to the states to decide what waste they'll accept.
Salt Lake Tribune; April 21
More Arizona homeowners mail in their keys, walk away from loans
Homeowners who got into their Arizona homes with no money down at the peak of the market, and now owe much more than their home is worth, are mailing in their keys and walking away from their loans, deciding to live with the ding in their credit rating rather than living upside down on their mortgage for the next couple of decades.
Arizona Republic; April 21
Las Vegas development banks on ultra-wealthy buyers
The 300 lots on a Henderson mountainside aren't for sale yet, but developers of the Ascaya development in Nevada are hoping that the buyers who will have to shell out seven figures for a bare lot won't be impacted by current economic conditions.
Las Vegas Sun; April 21
Opinion
N.M. senators lead the charge to inject science into water debate
New Mexico Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Pete Domenici, along with Sens. Jon Tester of Montana, Ken Salazar of Colorado, Maria Cantwell of Washington and Tim Johnson of South Dakota are co-sponsoring the SECURE -- Science and Engineering to Comprehensively Understand and Responsibly Enhance -- Water Act, a push to be applauded and one that all federal lawmakers should join.
Santa Fe New Mexican; April 21
Wyomingites wonder how state will survive when energy bender ends
For the past 12 years, the United States has come calling for Wyoming's oil, gas and coal, with energy leases covering one-fifth to a quarter of the Cowboy State, but under the current administration many federal protections for the land have been lifted, and Wyoming residents are beginning to wonder if any portion of their state will remain untouched by the nation's quest for energy. A column by Alexandra Fuller.
New York Times; April 20
Beyond the region
Washington state homeowners want to sue W.R. Grace as a class
Attorneys representing Washington state homeowners who used Zonolite insulation contaminated with tremolite asbestos fibers in their homes will argue Tuesday that their clients should be allowed to bring a class-action lawsuit against the manufacturer of that insulation, W.R. Grace.
Spokesman-Review (Spokane); April 21
As need for grains grow, fears of genetically modified food shunted aside
Global grain shortages that have caused food riots in some nations have countries reassessing their opposition to genetically engineered crops.
New York Times; April 21
Attack on Japanese tanker, unrest in Nigeria sends oil to $117.40
A small boat attacked a Japanese oil tanker 270 miles off the coast of Yemen that resulted in hundreds of gallons of fuel leaking into the ocean, and militants claimed they had attacked two pipelines in Nigeria, sending the price of oil to a new record of $117.40 a barrel.
Toronto Globe and Mail; April 21
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Experts: Steadily rising price of oil indicates demand outpacing supply
Oil prices hit $116 a barrel last week, and with industry analysts predicting that global oil consumption will increase by more than 35 percent over the next 22 years, those analysts are forecasting the energy crunch may lead to a global scramble for resources, energy wars and much higher prices.
New York Times; April 21
Global trade, rising fuel prices put railroad industry back on track
In 2002, major railroad companies laid off 47,000 workers across the United States, but with rising fuel prices and an increase in global trade, profits in the railroad industry have doubled since 2003, and companies are reopening closed track lines and are building new track for the first time in eight decades.
New York Times; April 21
Scientists issue a call to arms over border fence's impact on species
The Bush administration's waiver of more than 30 environmental and federal land management laws to clear the way for 360 miles of fence along the United States' border with Mexico puts the last remaining 70 Sonoran pronghorns in Arizona's Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge at risk, as well other rare species such as jaguars, ocelots and long-nose bats, and researchers are considering acts of civil disobedience to stop the fence's construction.
Washington Post; April 20
In depth
Colorado College ranks Western states' counties for renewable energy
Colorado College's annual State of the Rockies Report Card ranked counties in the Rocky Mountain West for their renewable energy potential, and gave New Mexico's San Juan County an "A" for its solar-energy potential, but declined to rank the N.M. county's wind potential, a surprising omission given the stance of the San Juan Citizens Alliance and Dine CARE (citizens against ruining our environment) that wind power is a better alternative to the Desert Rock coal-fired power plant proposed for the area.
Farmington Daily Times; April 21
Washington-based company helps tribes harness wind energy
Seattle-based Native Green Energy was formed to help tribes build wind farms on reservations by providing them with low-cost turbines and helping with the installation.
Indian Country Today; April 21
Wind-energy developers come calling on Hutterite colonies in Montana
Montana's Hutterite colonies are among the state's largest landowners, with the colonies' large expanses of land attractive to wind developers.
Great Falls Tribune; April 21
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Politics, turf battles muddle efforts to integrate wind power into Montana grid
As more wind farms are poised to go online in Montana, the Public Service Commission is working on a formula to integrate the power produced by those wind farms into the power grid, but determining the costs of integration and who should pay those costs is mired in politics and energy-interest power struggles. An analysis.
Missoulian; April 21
N.M. labors to reduce energy use, increases reliance on wind energy
New Mexico's use of natural gas in its 48 state buildings has gone down over the past two years, but electricity consumption has gone up nearly 1 million kilowatt hours during that same period, due in part to "plug creep," caused by employees plugging heaters, radios and even refrigerators into power strips, but the good news is that half of the electricity used came from wind energy.
Santa Fe New Mexican; April 21
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