Solar Episodes

Laura Cunningham and Kevin Emmerich trace Greenlink West from the Amargosa Valley toward northern Nevada, arguing that the transmission line will accelerate utility-scale solar, gas generation and hyperscale data-center development across intact desert.

Caroline Tracey discusses Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History, tracing how water diversion transforms terminal lakes while using natural history, queer theory and personal narrative to challenge the idea that saline landscapes are barren or disposable.

Gilberto Manzanarez of Valle Imperial Resiste explains why Imperial County residents are demanding a moratorium on data centers until officials address their enormous energy, water, noise and community impacts.

Drawing on geographer Diana K. Davis, Chris challenges the idea that deserts are failed landscapes, traces the colonial politics embedded in ‘desertification’ and argues for precise descriptions of degradation in drylands.

A 1,600-mile journey from the Mojave through Tucson to El Paso reveals shared threats, passionate local defenders and the possibility of a cross-desert movement built through relationships and regular communication.

Michael E. Ketterer's plutonium fingerprinting reveals that eastern California received Nevada Test Site fallout comparable to recognized downwind areas, strengthening the case for expanded mapping and compensation.

Brendan Cummings explains California's Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan, the compromises behind the 2023 law and the difficult work of protecting climate refugia while development and fire continue.

Poet and former wildland firefighter Ruth Nolan reads work about Ruby Mountain, the Dome Fire, invasive grasses and renewable-energy development, joining personal memory to the desert's ecological wounds.

Writer Morgan Sjogren reads from Path of Light, tracing the beauty of Glen Canyon alongside the lasting damage uranium mining has inflicted on Indigenous communities, wildlife, water and public lands.

Prompted by the loss of the Grand Canyon Lodge, Chris shares nine desert destinations he hopes to experience—from Kofa and El Pinacate to the Ruby Mountains and the Wave—and reflects on visiting while we can.

Basin and Range Watch co-founder Kevin Emmerich explains how Nevada's Greenlink West transmission project threatens desert tortoise habitat, rare plants, cultural sites and intact landscapes while serving industrial growth.

Chris Clarke critiques Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's Abundance, arguing that environmental review is being blamed for failures more accurately explained by economics, corporate power and poor project choices.