The first episode of The Read, the new UNWON segment where I narrate my investigative reporting straight from the page, no cuts.
We open with “Pay to Play,” an investigation into REAL AZ Economic Development Group: a Navajo County, Arizona nonprofit run by sitting county officials, out of county offices, that took in more than a million dollars from the same wind and solar developers those officials were voting on.
It started with a multigenerational rancher named Casey Murph and a European solar company that turned up at his family’s grazing allotment. The question we set out to answer is the one that runs through the whole report: did that company just happen to find Casey Murph, or was he handed to them?
The Source Material:
"Pay-to-play": How a nonprofit run by county officials recruited Big Wind & Solar to Arizona ranch country
Weeks after fifth-generation Arizona rancher Casey Murph raised the alarm about a foreign solar company trying to access his family’s grazing allotment, he met with representatives from the Arizona State Land Department.
Arizona rancher fears he may lose ranch to foreign solar company
Casey Murph has warned the ranching community for years about the threat of renewable energy projects taking over Western rangeland. Now, he may be big solar’s latest victim.UNWON is reader-supported. To support independent journalism for the American West, become a subscriber.
