Utah

One of the rationales frequently trotted out in support of a proposed uranium mill in western Montrose County is that it won’t impact outdoor recreation in the area, contrary to the contention of opponents who say an industry resurgence would have a chilling effect on tourism.
After all, proponents argued at county hearing last summer and [...]

No matter how much water it takes to cool a proposed nuclear power plant near Green River, Utah – the topic of thorny debate in an ongoing regulatory process — the specter of such a facility upwind and just 100 miles from the Colorado border is a necessary evil of energy independence, a Republican Utah [...]

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency documents obtained by Environment Colorado reveal behind-closed-doors negotiations between the EPA and Powertech USA that would allow the company to contaminate part of the underground aquifer beneath its proposed Centennial uranium mine north of Fort Collins, according to the Fort Collins Coloradoan.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, is accusing the Obama administration of playing politics by rushing three rail shipments of depleted uranium from Cold War weapons manufacturing in South Carolina to a storage facility in his state.
In a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu Tuesday, Herbert urged the Department of Energy to hold off on [...]

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar fired back at the oil and gas industry Tuesday, telling reporters on a conference call that recent attacks on the Obama administration’s policies have “all the flavor and deception of election-year politics,” according to the New York Times.

Tim DeChristopher, a University of Utah student who last December allegedly won 13 Bureau of Land Management oil and gas leases for $1.7 million he never intended to pay, came up with a unique defense in U.S. District in Salt Lake City Monday: “Global warming made me do it.”
Federal judge Dee Benson was having none [...]

Conservation groups and at least one federal agency are raising serious questions about a water grab for a proposed nuclear power plant near Green River, Utah, according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is already on the record questioning the proposed leasing of up to 24,000 acre feet of the [...]

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar blasted Republican senators Wednesday for voting down his pick for deputy secretary.

The Senate’s 57-39 vote fell three votes shy of the 60 votes required to thwart a threatened Republican filibuster against the nomination of David Hayes, an environmental lawyer who served as Interior’s No. 2 for the last three years of the Clinton administration. It was the first time the Senate has blocked an Obama nomination.

More people ski more days in Colorado than any other state, but you wouldn’t know it out on the open road, unless you’re stuck in weekend skier traffic on I-70.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar Wednesday did a 180 on an 11th-hour Bush administration oil and gas lease sale of 77 parcels on U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in Utah near such sensitive areas as Arches and Canyonlands national parks.