I recently met with a Bozeman writer about my opposition to subsidies for alternative fuels. Am I opposed to all subsidies, including those for fossil fuels, or just for wind, solar, and synfuels? Of course, I responded, I’m opposed to all commodity subsidies on ethical and environmental grounds. But I support federal investments in basic […]

Most folks who make New Year’s resolutions begin today. The first three items on the official U.S. Government web site are: lose weight, pay off debt, and save money. But of course these goals don’t apply to the federal government. (Nobel Prizes are given to economists who explain why these goals are antithetical to modern […]

This year, I believe for the first time since 1957, Christmas and Hanukkah begin on the same day. (Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of Lights commemorating the rededication to Judaism of the Temple in Jerusalem.) This concurrence of celebratory dates reminds me of a childhood Christmas on our family farm. Far more importantly, this conjunction […]

I was recently in Texas meeting with folks devoted to the preservation and improvement of their state’s wildlife habitat — university researchers, ranchers, public officials, and NGO leaders. The take-home lesson was that private ownership offers no magic elixir. Texas conservationists face problems that challenge us in Montana — habitat fragmentation, water allocation, and invasive […]

How will we meet our future energy demands and what are the environmental consequences of our choices? We’ll have a better chance at crafting successful policies if we recognize three vexing realities. First, fossil fuels are our cheapest, most available sources of energy. “Renewables” (e.g., solar and wind) will play only a limited role in […]

Some measures of university success are clear: SAT scores of students enrolled, passing rates for professional certification, and the win-loss records of sports teams. Others are murky: morale of students and faculty, and ambition toward excellence. One commonly misunderstood feature involves the overhead rate for sponsored research. Grant writers must incorporate indirect costs — IDCs […]

My story starts like that of many other 24-year-old Bozeman immigrants. Last spring I was looking for a job. I wanted to stay in Bozeman, be challenged to think, have the opportunity to write, and work with interesting, thoughtful people. So I sent letters and resumes to a number of Bozeman environmental nonprofits. I approached […]

Creating the national parks was one of America’s best ideas, but inevitable political pressures jeopardize their mission. The parks’ strongest supporters warn of dangers from political management. Consider a recent New York Times editorial. After noting Americans’ overwhelming support for national parks, the Times opines: “Yet in the past two months we have seen two […]

Mark Twain’s observation, “Whisky is for drinking, water is for fighting,” arose from his experiences in the arid West. Some claim that more westerners have been killed with irrigation shovels than with guns. An old neighbor told me that a man was killed on our place during the drought of the 1930s. In Montana — […]

Here’s an early suggestion for your holiday gift lists. Soldiering for Freedom: A GI’s Account of World War II, by Herman “Obe” Obermayer, was published this year by Texas A&M Press in its military history series. Obe is a dear friend so this isn’t a neutral review. I strongly recommend it, not only as history […]