On last night’s episode of the Late Show, host Stephen Colbert ripped into Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar for boycotting Pope Francis’ address to a joint session of Congress. “As a Catholic, I’m a total Francis fan-boy, but not everyone likes what he’s doing,” Colbert told the audience. “Anger at the…
The federal government is making shooting up the desert harder and harder to do. The latest loss to Arizona target shooters is a portion of the Sonoran Desert National Monument just southwest of metro Phoenix. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, acting on a court order from March, this week…
A new tree-ring study from the University of Arizona shows that snow levels in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, the central-California mountain range that supplies much of that state’s fresh water, haven’t been this low for 500 years. The study’s lead author, Valerie Trouet, tells Californians to brace for more record…
One day after Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye formally requested that the Federal Emergency Management Agency help his government deal with the fallout of last month’s Gold King Mine spill, the FEMA team from Region IX is set to meet and discuss a possible response today. Begaye’s letter specifically requested a…
Amid both the national conversation about water pollution following the Animas River spill and a controversial debate over whether to tighten laws within the Clean Water Act, a recent U.S. Geological Survey study found that human activity is causing an alarmingly high concentration of toxins in one of our most important…
While Arizona Senator John McCain is “pleased” that a federal judge in North Dakota issued an injunction against the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Rule, his critics – some of whom have their own, separate concerns about the ruling – say his reasoning is just another example of how he…
In the wake of both the recent Gold King Mine disaster that unleashed more than 3 million gallons of toxic mining waste into the Animas River earlier this month, and the impending resumption of uranium mining at Canyon Mine near the Grand Canyon, a coalition of 15 environmental organizations, three…
The 100 or so free-roaming horses that the Tonto National Forest Service marked for roundup earlier this month aren’t the only animals that are in danger of getting ousted from their homes along the banks of Arizona’s Salt River. But it’s not the Forest Service that’s threatening these animals. It’s…
A mother-and-daughter activist duo are nearing the end of their walk from Washington state to Arizona in protest of the pending destruction of the Oak Flat area near Superior because of copper mining. Sally Noedel, 54, and her daughter, Emma Bigongiari, 19, braved heat waves and talked to people in…
An excessive-heat warning is predicted for metro Phoenix on a day in early August, with a high of 111 anticipated. At noon, only a few people are strolling the residential streets of Tempe near Arizona State University. Yet in spite of the intense heat, and in seeming defiance of the…
Images of a mustard-orange river in Colorado shocked the nation last week after the Environmental Protection Agency accidentally released 3 million gallons of waste water and sludge from the inactive Gold King Mine into a tributary of the Animas River near Silverton, Colorado, on August 5. As of late Monday…
According to a letter sent by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and 15 other state AGs to the Environmental Protection Agency, the federal agency has until 1 p.m. PST today to respond to a request for a stay on a section of the finalized Clean Power Plan it released earlier…
Arizona just got one step closer to enacting a new, controversial plan for dealing with air pollution and visibility problems emanating from the Cholla Power Plant in Joseph City. The public comment period for the new plan closed yesterday, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency now has a few weeks…
As the monsoon season makes its annual return, so too will the mosquitoes—particularly the ones carrying West Nile Virus. In fact, the Arizona Department of Health Services announced today that a Maricopa County man in his late 50s has already contracted the disease this year. And though he has recovered,…
The Gila River Indian Community is the latest group to sue the Arizona Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration over a planned extension of Loop 202, called the South Mountain Freeway pass. The lawsuit filed this week alleges that the two agencies violated the National Environmental Policy Act and…
The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently published its annual list of the most endangered historical places in the country, and it included two sites in Arizona: the Grand Canyon and Oak Flat. The Grand Canyon, and the adjacent 1.7 million acres of its watershed, face threats from mining, development,…
In November, New Times reported that the $2 billion Solana solar plant near Gila Bend had produced only two-thirds of its advertised electricity output. Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that the plant is producing only “half” of the expected output. New Times talked to Arizona Public Service…
Friends and neighbors of a Phoenix family whose home burned down last week are rallying to raise money to feed and clothe them. Alex Maples, his girlfriend, and their three children, ages 3, 4, and 9, have been staying with his twin sister and her family since they narrowly escaped their…
The Arizona Chapter of the Sierra Club released its 21st annual Environmental Report Card for the state Legislature and governor, concluding that the two are “moving Arizona backwards, one bill at a time.” The club gave all but one Republican legislator an F, and Governor Doug Ducey a D. At…
A coalition of environmental groups is joining the Havasupai Tribe in appealing a U.S. District Court decision last month that Energy Fuels Inc. can resume uranium mining at Canyon Mine in Northern Arizona. The groups had filed a preliminary injunction in March 2013 to stop the company from completing construction…
When it comes to the environment, we don’t often get a lot of good news in Arizona. But in honor of Earth Day, here’s one victory to celebrate: Governor Doug Ducey vetoed two important “land-grab” bills. Earlier this month, the Arizona Legislature gleefully passed a series of bills that demanded…
A U.S. District Judge has ruled that the uranium mining company, Energy Fuels Inc., can resume operations at Canyon Mine in Northern Arizona. The decision comes after environmental groups and the Havasupai tribe filed a lawsuit in March 2013 to stop the company from completing construction of the mine and…
