The San Juan Basin in the Four Corners region of the Southwest emits substantially more methane per unit of energy produced than most major gas-producing areas, according to a Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting analysis of industry data reported to the federal government.
Author Archives: Tom Knudson
Senior Reporter
Tom Knudson is a reporter for Reveal, covering the environment. He is the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes and a 2004 award for global environmental reporting from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Reuters. Over the years, he has reported on a wide range of subjects, including the abuse of migrant forest workers in the American West, overfishing in Mexico's Sea of Cortez and the environmental degradation of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range. Knudson is based in Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.
Posted inSustainability
How America’s tallest dam nearly overflowed
After the water in Lake Oroville reached the highest level since 1985, officials released more water from the dam through its main spillway. But a massive sinkhole split the spillway, prompting the evacuation of 180,000 in nearby communities. We built a 3D flyover of the time and charts to show what lead up to these events,
Posted inSustainability
He was supposed to protect the sea. Then he vanished from his ship
Hundreds of miles out to sea, fisheries observer Keith Davis was the odd man out, a scientific monitor and conspicuous informant in the company of mariners he did not know. He carried no badge, no weapon. One day, he disappeared from the ship.
Lifelines: A guide to the best reads on climate change and food
Two stories about how global warming is shaping human destinies top Tom Knudson’s list of the most interesting recent reporting about climate. Not far behind is a much different story, one that signals hope for a less carbon-intensive future.
Lifelines: The best reporting about food and climate
The web is a worldwide wilderness of information, a heaping digital banquet of articles about food and climate, some good, many mediocre, others superficial. Perhaps you would like some suggestions. Every month, Reveal’s Tom Knudson is going to be selecting the best stories on food and climate that you should read.
More than 100 countries ban this cruel trap. The US isn’t one of them
For years, wildlife advocates have struggled to determine how many nations ban steel-jaw traps. Now, thanks to a new analysis by the Law Library of Congress, they have an answer: more than 100.
The boom in bobcat trapping spurs environmental lawsuit
Fur trapping might seem like a relic of bygone days. But in recent years, the practice has boomed in America, driven by demand for fur overseas.
Wyoming won’t legalize mountain lion trapping
The Wyoming Legislature’s vote occurred against a backdrop of growing concern about the grisly and unintended consequences of trapping, which has injured and killed dozens of species by mistake in recent years.
Posted inEnvironment
7 proposals that could save animals from cruel traps
Trap reform efforts are stirring in Congress, which has not held hearings on the issue in more than 30 years, and more than a half-dozen states.
The Quick Read: The animal cruelty behind America’s trapping boom
Fur coats fell out of fashion years ago in the United States. But foreign demand for luxury fur garments made from the pelts of American wildlife has surged in recent years, sparking a Gold Rush-like trapping boom across parts of rural America. The activity is legal and regulated by state wildlife agencies. But it is […]