The tangled fates of Arizona and Arabia

Aaron and Kate are joined by author and professor Natalie Koch, whose new book—Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia—explores the ways in which Arizona and Saudi Arabia have worked together to promote desert agriculture, and how that work is connected to a global obsession with engineering our way out of ecosystem collapse. Koch is a professor of geography and the environment at Syracuse University.

Aaron and Kate also talk to Jenny Rowland-Shea, public lands director at the Center for American Progress, about three major Biden administration announcements affecting Alaska, including the Willow Project decision.

News

• Biden Administration Approves Huge Alaska Oil Project – New York Times
• Interior secretary rejects Izembek Refuge land exchange but commits to new process to get a road for King Cove – Alaska Public Media
• Alaska protections announced as Biden reportedly set to approve huge oil project – The Guardian

Credits

Hosts: Kate Groetzinger & Aaron Weiss

Feedback: podcast@westernpriorities.org

Music: Purple Planet

(Featured image: A cotton field outside Phoenix, near Goodyear, AZ; Jennifer A. Johnson, Wikimedia)

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