In January of 1776, Philadelphia essayist Thomas Paine published a 47-page pamphlet that changed the world. Within three months, Common Sense had sold 150,000 copies -- in a land of just 2.5 million people -- framing the terms of debate for the American colony's epic break from British rule. By...

This week marks an historic turning point for people who love the wild canyon country and sweeping mesas of Southern Utah. For the first time, the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forest, and Public Lands will consider a bill designed to protect millions of acres of spectacular Utah lands...

I have welcomed several promising signs coming out of the Obama Administration, from the president's push for clean energy to Interior Secretary Salazar's efforts to block oil and gas leasing near some of Utah's most stunning landscapes.

But there is still something I am waiting to see: a...

This weekend, Iranian-born artist Shirin Neshat, a Sundance Institute Artist Trustee, sat at our annual Board Retreat and described in detail a terrifying situation that is not known well enough by any of us, including the media. As we gather this evening, we stand in solidarity with those recently arrested...

Anyone who knows Utah knows the power of wind, water and sun. You can see that power in Utah's sculpted arches of stone, in our majestic mountains capped with snow, and in the cracked earth of our deserts.

Nature's power is so obvious that you have to wonder why we've...

On its 39th anniversary, Earth Day still feels vital to me, but I know that some of you out there think that its time has passed. Everyday should be Earth Day, you say. Choosing just one, single day to say you care about the planet we call home -- what...

America is on the verge of a renewable energy gold rush. Hundreds of applications for wind and solar projects have been filed on public lands. I think this is long overdue. We need sustainable energy to help us reduce global warming pollution, and we need it fast. But if we...

In his State of the Union address, President Obama noted that although America invented solar energy technology, we have fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing it. He is right of course.

I remember when America was leading the pack on clean energy in the...

The American public just scored a major victory on behalf of our public lands. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has announced that he is canceling all 77 contested leases surrounding some of Utah's most stunning national parks. Now, instead of being drilled and industrialized, this redrock wilderness can remain part...

For the past several days, America has been swept up by a wave of hope and possibility. It was fitting, therefore, that a federal court acted last weekend to protect more than 110,000 acres of stunning Utah wilderness that otherwise would have been sold by the outgoing Bush administration to...

Democracy is working. At least that's the news for now from my friends at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has filed a lawsuit against last-minute Bush administration plans to lease huge swaths of majestic wilderness in Utah for oil and gas extraction.

Late last night, NRDC and a coalition...

You can't put a price on silence or solitude. You can't quantify the beauty of wilderness. And yet that's not going to stop the Bush administration from trying to sell off what should be the birthright of future generations.

In three days, this Friday, 110,000 acres of...

Part of the change Americans just voted for in overwhelming numbers was to move away from the failed energy philosophy of "drill, baby, drill" to a more farsighted strategy, emphasized by Barack Obama, based on clean, renewable energy and efficiency. Yet on the very day that we raised our voices...