Colorado College’s 12th annual State of the Rockies Project Conservation in the West Poll released today showed a spike in concern over issues like drought, inadequate water supplies, wildfires, the loss of wildlife habitats and natural spaces, and climate change among voters in the Mountain West. Those concerns align with […] Read more »
The Unbearable Summer
… This has been the West’s summer of extremes. In every direction, the consequences of climate change across the region have become more tangible, immediate, inescapable. “It feels like the first inkling of an apocalyptic movie,” Jay Inslee, the Washington governor and a longtime leader on climate issues, told me […] Read more »
California’s vaccinated say unvaccinated are adding risk; strong support for mandates
As Californians express widespread concern about the Delta variant, they overwhelmingly say the state’s recent rise in cases was preventable, had more people gotten vaccinated and taken more precautions. … Meanwhile, as the effort to recall Governor Gavin Newsom heads into its final month, Newsom faces what looks like a […] Read more »
California: Water Supply and Drought Are Now Top Environmental Concern
When asked to name the most important environmental issue facing the state today, Californians are most likely to mention water supply and drought—a shift from a year ago. About six in ten Californians approve of Governor Newsom’s handling of environmental issues, and a similar share approve of President Biden on […] Read more »
Californians don’t see the need to adapt to wildfires unless they have close experience with them
In recent years, wildfires have ravaged the Western American landscape with greater intensity and frequency. California has been especially hard hit. According to CALFire statistics, in 2018 alone, nearly 8,000 California wildfire incidents burned almost two million acres of land, destroyed over 24,000 structures, and claimed the lives of at […] Read more »