An almighty shitstorm has been brewing in the Californian desert for the last decade or so. Everything finally erupted in September 2014, when a group of federal and state agencies released the draft of an eye-wateringly ambitious proposal they’d been working on for six years: the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, or DRECP. Among the many things at stake here are: state, and so national, and so global progress on climate change; unique and endangered desert environments; endangered species; delicate ecosystems; public health; local economies; the justification for an enormous amount of public spending; and a fair few political reputations.
Read moreExperiments in Living 1: How Minorities Conquered the Wild West
Little beacons of freedom in the middle of the desert, attracting those wanting to escape the force of straight white male privilege pretty much everywhere else.
Read moreMeet America’s Hairstorian
Jeff Hafler has three thousand pieces of beauty-industry history in the tiny desert town of Wonder Valley. Now all he needs is a museum.
Read moreThere’s (Still) Gold in the Hills of California!
The First Class Miners are keeping one of California’s founding traditions alive—and hoping to find some gold while they’re at it.
Read moreExperiments in Living 2:Reclaiming Old Homestead Cabins
“There’s a romance in having a very simple life in this great expanse.”
Read moreThe Urge to Disappear:How a Poet Lost in the Desert Became a Little Part of Large Things
Ed Rosenthal shouldn’t really be alive. He spent six and a half days lost in Joshua Tree National Park in September 2010. How did he survive?
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