Now's the time to make the big leap to clean energy. It's a gas, gas, gas , by Mathew Gross. New Mexico ranchers are howling over reintroduction efforts. Sign up to get free environmental news updates by email. An immense landscape is going from one set of uses to another set of uses, from one way of life to another, in an astoundingly short time.
Trees are trendy in the New West.
A conjunction of economic, cultural, and ecological forces have radically transformed Western politics. From the Civil War until the first Earth Day in 1970, the West had a coherent politics, culture, and economy, glued together by the exploitation of its natural resources. But these resources have been high-graded. The richest ores, finest timber, and best dam sites have been exploited. The most beneficial opportunities are now largely exhausted.