Articles by Regional Reporter, Utah Leia Larsen
Leia Larsen is the Utah regional reporter for Grist and The Salt Lake Tribune, where she reports on how climate change is reshaping lives, economies, and ecosystems across the state.
All Articles
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![A picture of the National Security Agency's data facility with a wind turbine in the foreground]()
![A picture of the National Security Agency's data facility with a wind turbine in the foreground]()
To power Utah’s data center boom, companies are turning to fossil fuels
The rush to meet AI's energy needs is sure to rely on natural gas, raising worries about air pollution in the state's urban corridor.
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![A snow-covered mountain range behind a data center]()
![A snow-covered mountain range behind a data center]()
Can you build data centers in a desert without draining the water supply? Utah is finding out.
Politicians are pushing for one of the driest states to become a haven for data centers.
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![A sprawling industrial site with a large, unfinished barrier wall trenched into a lake playa]()
![A sprawling industrial site with a large, unfinished barrier wall trenched into a lake playa]()
The country’s largest magnesium supplier shut down. Now what?
What US Magnesium's bankruptcy means for the supply of a critical mineral -- and the environment.
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![An industrial site with a circular waste pond and mountains in the background.]()
![An industrial site with a circular waste pond and mountains in the background.]()
The country’s biggest magnesium producer went bankrupt. Who’s going to clean up the $100M mess?
US Magnesium, on the shores of Utah’s Great Salt Lake, left a legacy of environmental problems.
