Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY)

"Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, is not known for being a friend of fossil fuels. ...So it was a bit of a surprise this month when Ritter told oil and gas executives that natural gas should not be seen as simply a bridge fuel."

"Rainbow trout are rebounding in the Madison River, the world-class fishing stream where Montana's first known outbreak of whirling disease occurred about 15 years ago, devastating the rainbow fishery."

"Should the federal government store 17,000 tons of mercury at the Idaho National Laboratory? 'The answer is no,' said Gov. Butch Otter."

It took a lawsuit by residents of Sunburst, Montana, to start cleanup of an underground spill of gasoline that took place 50 years earlier.

"The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday declared its first-ever 'public health emergency,' saying the federal government will funnel $6 million to provide medical care for people sickened by asbestos from a mine in northwest Montana."

"The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Wednesday on whether the Canadian corporation Barrick Gold will be allowed to construct and operate an open pit gold mine on Mt. Tenabo in Nevada."

"Hoover Dam generates some of the power that lights Las Vegas all night long. But there's something that's making that job a bit more difficult."

"A new $6 million federal grant could be the first step toward declaring a public health emergency in asbestos-contaminated Libby, Mont., the state's senior senator said Thursday."