The best predictor of switching to a bike for commuting around town is no doubt a DUI. The next best is probably a high PPG, or price per gallon. Naturally, as gas hit and then surpassed $4.00 this summer, the number of bikes on Bozeman streets appeared to increase substantially. This reflects a national trend. […]
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I’m convinced that I have discovered a new social law. It seems to have the validity of Newton’s Laws. Here it is: rising energy prices cause IQs and body temperatures to converge. Convergence is most rapid in the political arena, especially in a presidential election year. For thirty years our politicians have blathered on about […]
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With the price of oil flirting around $150 a barrel, Americans’ views on energy and the environment are changing. Polling by the Pew Research Center indicates that people across party lines believe that expanding oil drilling and building new power plants should take priority over energy conservation. Have Americans abandoned support for environmental protection? The […]
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Governor Brian Schweitzer is a swashbuckling policy entrepreneur. He’s charmed the elite East Coast media with his Western swagger and tough talk about turning Montana’s abundant coal reserves into synthetic fuels: “Why wouldn’t we create an economic engine that will take us into the next century, and let those sheiks and dictators and rats and […]
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Montana’s culture, economy, housing patterns, transportation, and politics all evolved assuming we’d enjoy cheap and plentiful energy over the long-term. Low priced energy guided our development and social patterns. I recall occasionally driving to Butte just for dinner in the ‘70s. Many Bozeman friends did likewise, and Billings was a casual destination with little thought […]
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For over two decades FREE has sought to constructively work with responsible environmentalists, e.g., folks with Environmental Defense and the National Wildlife Federation. Our conference last week featured Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, authors of Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility. They joined us (and a dozen others), seeking […]
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Record high energy prices and a recent trip to Europe prompt these thoughts on our energy future. The current energy situation, i.e., high prices, high demand, and tight supplies, is a glimpse of what life in a carbon constrained world looks like. We’re entering the early stages of a transition from fossil fuels that will […]
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The World Bank reports that over the past three years global food prices have nearly doubled. I see three primary reasons, and greed isn’t one of them. First, as populations grow and people become wealthier, they change their diet. They demand not only staples, but also now regularly eat once out-of-reach luxuries like meat, dairy, […]
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A friend recently passed on a chain letter urging independence from Middle Eastern oil. It’s a seductive idea. Here’s the gist: “Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Just buy from gas companies that don’t import their oil from the Saudis. Nothing is […]
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Last week the price of a barrel of oil hit $100. This raised fears of an economic slowdown akin to the one in the 1970s when oil prices quadrupled almost overnight. That shock was largely responsible for the worst decade of global economic performance since the Great Depression. Today, however, the world is a much […]
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