Our Stories

The Latest by Ted Zukoski

Staff Attorney

Ted was an attorney in the Rocky Mountain regional office from 2003–2018. He protected wilderness, roadless areas and the planet's climate on behalf of conservation groups in the Four Corners' states.

How the Obama administration responds to a precedent setting proposal for oil shale mining in Utah poses a key test for the President’s climate commitments ratified in Paris last year.
August 16, 2016

Testing Obama's Climate Commitment In the Utah Desert

By Ted Zukoski  /  Rocky Mountain Office

How the Obama administration responds to a precedent setting proposal for oil shale mining in Utah poses a key test for the president’s climate commitments ratified in Paris last year.

Decker coal mine Montana WildEarth Guardians/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
January 26, 2016

How Obama Can Prove He’s Changing Direction on Federal Coal

By Ted Zukoski  /  Rocky Mountain Office

The Obama administration needs to step up and keep coal in the ground on federal lands where mining coal has huge known impacts.

colorado forest
November 9, 2015

Building on Keystone, Obama Should Shed More Fossil Fuel Baggage

By Ted Zukoski  /  Northern Rockies Office

Allowing coal mining in a roadless Colorado forest—and denying the climate impacts of that mining—are just a couple of ways the administration is undermining its climate credibility.

Animas River near Durango, Colorado
August 12, 2015

As River Runs Orange, Mining Industry Attacks Tool to Prevent Toxic Spills

By Ted Zukoski  /  Northern Rockies Office

The National Mining Association fights to make it impossible for the Interior Department to wield an important environmental protection tool: putting large areas of public land off-limits to mining.

The iconic Grand Canyon in Arizona may soon be ground zero for two massive development projects.
June 4, 2015

Feds May Okay Mega-Mall at Grand Canyon’s Doorstep

By Ted Zukoski  /  Rocky Mountain Office

Forest Service approval will pave the way for a sprawling urban development within spitting distance of one of America’s most treasured national parks.

Wolverine in snow
March 5, 2015

Letter To The Editor: Wolverines in Wyoming

By Ted Zukoski  /  Rocky Mountain Office

Earthjustice attorney Ted Zukoski responds to a New York Times article about the effects of recreation on wolverines in Wyoming.

Endangered Places: Lady Liberty.
October 29, 2014

President Obama Should Embrace Disclosure of Climate Damage

By Ted Zukoski  /  Rocky Mountain Office

We have the tools available today to enable our federal agencies to account for the damage caused by carbon pollution.

Aspens in Gunnison National Forest.
October 16, 2014

Why These Colorado Aspen Trees Should Quake

By Ted Zukoski  /  Rocky Mountain Office

Autumn’s beauty was on full display in Colorado’s aspen forests late last month. So was the Obama administration’s schizophrenic approach to climate and public lands policy.

A uranium mine at the edge of the Grand Canyon.
August 12, 2014

Radioactive Redux Near Colorado River

By Ted Zukoski  /  Rocky Mountain Office

As World War II ended and the Cold War heated up, the American military (and later, utilities) propelled a uranium rush in America’s southwest, creating a toxic legacy for the Navajo Nation.

Aspens in the lease expansion area.
July 14, 2014

A Win For Roadless Forest, Climate

By Ted Zukoski  /  Rocky Mountain Office

Earthjustice prevailed after four years of fighting to protect the roadless forest in western Colorado from a coal mine that would deal a double whammy of damage.