This Christmas I got a great gift from my mom. “Longitudes and Attitudes,” by Thomas Friedman. This is a collection of his foreign affairs columns in the New York Times. He debunks the argument that Arab-Muslim hatred of America is the result of our wealth, power, and material success. He sees anti-Americanism overtaking soccer as […]
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The Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend my family and I awoke to four inches of sewage in our basement. While we have many close fiends, we didn’t call them for help. No doubt some would have interrupted their plans and come over. But we didn’t want to impose this big, unpleasant job on their Thanksgiving plans. […]
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Two questions nag America’s energy policy. First, when will America move from fossil fuels? Second, what is the next source of BTUs? No one knows the answers — but knowledgeable people agree the shift won’t come soon. Aside from temporary shortages caused by political disruptions, the world is awash in cheap oil and will be […]
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Montana Governor Judy Martz blamed this summer’s fires on Green groups, accusing them of “environmental terrorism.” But let’s be clear: drought, combined with hot, windy weather, was the chief culprit behind this season’s fires. The West has a history of sporadic big fires and it always will. While a few environmental groups do engage in […]
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“The first essential component of social justice is adequate food,” said Nobel laureate Norman Borlaug. He received the 1970 Peace Prize for improving agricultural productivity. His “Green Revolution” saved literally hundreds of millions from famine. The world’s population is expected to grow from today’s 6 billion to about 8 billion by 2030. It’s expected to […]
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The United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development concluded last month in Johannesburg, South Africa. Real progress was made in debunking a recurring and fundamental error. Here’s the error: Most environmental problems are due to modernization and affluence. In fact, across time and cultures, technological advances and economic growth have proved the only sure path […]
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Dear President Bush: Our industry is suffering from unfair competition from a foreign rival. His productivity is far superior and his labor costs much lower than ours. As a result, he is flooding the U.S. market with goods at very low prices. If you don’t take action, he’ll soon attract all our customers, our sales […]
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President Bush has just proposed a “healthy forests initiative” aimed at reducing the fire hazard on national forest lands. This calls for thinning 2.5 million acres of national forests a year for the next ten years. The total cost could exceed $100 billion. Mr. Bush proposes to expedite this process by exempting it from environmental […]
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Eight of the ten fastest-growing US states are in the West. Much new residential development is occurring in fire-prone areas close to federal public lands. This is known as the “wildland-urban interface.” These new residential areas are popular due to their proximity to the environmental quality and natural amenities offered by national forests, parks, and […]
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Social movements, like ecosystems, evolve. Although many challenges remain, there is little doubt that Americans have changed the way they think about the environment. In some cases, the results are dramatic. For example, in the 1960s the U.S. Navy occasionally used whales for target practice. A quarter century later, the Navy spent over a million […]
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